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ROMARICO G. VITUG v. CA

FACTS:

Romarico G. Vitug filed a motion to sell certain shares of stock and real properties belonging to the estate of his deceased wife, Dolores Luchangco Vitug, to cover his alleged advances to the estate. He claimed that these advances were personal funds. The appointed executrix of Mrs. Vitug's estate, Rowena Faustino-Corona, opposed the motion and argued that the funds withdrawn by Mr. Vitug from a savings account were conjugal partnership properties and part of the estate. She also sought his ouster for failure to include the sums in question for inventory and for concealing funds belonging to the estate. Mr. Vitug argued that the funds were his exclusive property based on a survivorship agreement he entered into with his late wife and the bank. The trial court upheld the validity of the agreement and granted the motion to sell the estate to pay Mr. Vitug's personal funds. The Court of Appeals, however, held that the survivorship agreement constituted a conveyance mortis causa and did not comply with the formalities of a valid will. The Court of Appeals set aside the trial court's order but directed to include provisionally the deposits in the inventory of properties possessed by the spouses. Mr. Vitug filed a petition assailing the Court of Appeals' ruling, arguing that survivorship agreements are valid contracts.

ISSUES:

  1. Whether the survivorship agreement executed by Romarico Vitug and his late wife constitutes a conveyance mortis causa.

  2. Whether the survivorship agreement is a valid contract.

RULING:

  1. The survivorship agreement executed by Romarico Vitug and his late wife does not constitute a conveyance mortis causa. The monies subject of the savings account were in the nature of conjugal funds and not the exclusive property of Romarico Vitug.

  2. The survivorship agreement is a valid contract. It is an aleatory contract and not a donation inter vivos as claimed by the Court of Appeals.

PRINCIPLES:

  • A will pertains to the testator's disposition of his property and rights to take effect after his death.

  • A survivorship agreement is an aleatory contract and not a donation inter vivos.