Special Proceedings
Special Proceedings
Special Proceedings
Special proceedings
• A special proceeding is a remedy by which a party
seeks to establish a status, right, or a particular fact.
(SRP) [Sec. 3, Rule 1]
• In the absence of special provisions, the rules
provided for in ordinary civil actions shall be, as far as
practicable, applicable in special proceedings. [Sec. 2,
Rule 72]
14 Special proceedings
• Rules of special proceedings are provided for in the following cases:
a) Settlement of estate of deceased persons;
b) Escheat;
c) Guardianship and custody of children;
d) Trustees;
e) Adoption;
f) Rescission and revocation of adoption;
g) Hospitalization of insane persons;
h) Habeas corpus;
i) Change of name;
j) Voluntary dissolution of corporations;
k) Judicial approval of voluntary recognition of minor natural children;
l) Constitution of family home;
m) Declaration of absence and death;
n) Cancellation or correction of entries in the civil registry. [Sec. 1, Rule 72]
The enumeration is NOT EXCLUSIVE
• The list under Section 1, Rule 72 is not exclusive.
• Any petition which has for its main purpose the
establishment of a status, right or a particular fact may be
included as special proceeding. [Festin, Special
Proceedings, A Foresight to the Bar Exam: Question and
Answer Noted, Bar Questions, Cases and Updated Laws,
2011]
• For instance, a land registration proceeding, petition for
the issuance of a writ of amparo or a writ of habeas data, a
liquidation proceeding, and proceedings under the Special
ADR Rules.
Other special proceedings
1) Summery Rroceedings under the Family Code;
2) Actions in the Family Court, such as annulment of marriage
[Rayray v. Chae Kung Lee, (1966)];
3) Proceedings under the Chiid & Youth Welfare Code, Child
Abuse Act, and Child Employment Act;
4) Domestic and Inter-Country Adoption;
5) Corporate Rehabilitation under FRIA;
6) Liquidation (Pacific Banking Corp, supra);
7) Writs of Amparo and Kalikasan;
8) Arbitration (Special ADR Rules); and Recognition and
Enforcement of an Arbitral Award
Can a special proceeding be joined with
ordinary civil actions?
• NO, by express provision of Sec. 5, Rule 2
which requires that the joinder of causes of
action must not involve special civil actions or
actions governed by special rules, (which
includes special proceedings).
Insolvency proceedings and settlement are
actions in rem
• Insolvency proceedings end settlement of a decedent’s estate are
both proceedings in rem which are binding the whole world. All
persons having interest in the subject matter involved, whether
they were notified or not, are equally bound. Consequently, a
liquidation of similar import or other equivalent general
liquidation must also necessarily be a proceeding in rem so that
all interested persons whether known to the parties or not may
be bound by such proceeding. [Philippine Savings Bank v. Lantin
(1983)]
• Special proceedings, such as the settlement of a decedent's
estate, are actions in rem—they entail a binding effect on the
whole world. [Leonen, Dissenting Opinion; Treyes v. Larlar (2020)]
Modes of settlement of estate
• The following are the different modes of
settlement of estate:
a) Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate [Sec. 1, Rule 74]
a) Extrajudicial settlement and/or Partition; or
b) Self-adjudication;
b) Summary Settlement of Estate of Small Value [Sec.
2, Rule 74]
c) Judicial Settlement of Estate; and
d) Partition [Rule 69].
Settlement of estate of deceased persons,
venue and process
• A special proceeding for the settlement of an estate
is filed and intended to settle the entire estate of the
deceased is obvious and elementary.
• It would be absurd for the heirs to intentionally
excluded or leave a parcel of land or a portion
thereof undistributed or undivided because the
proceeding is precisely designed to end the
community of interests in properties held by co-
partners pro indiviso without designation or
segregation of shares. [Vda. De Reyes v. CA (1989)]
Which court has jurisdiction (MTC/RTC –
300/400k)
• Section 19 (4) of BP 129 provides that the RTC
shall have jurisdiction over all matters of probate,
both testate and intestate, where the gross value
of the estate exceeds Php300,000.00 or, in
probate matters in Metro Manila, where such
gross value exceeds Php400,000.00.
• Otherwise, it shall be with the appropriate MTC.
• It is the gross value of the estate that will be the
principal factor.
Venue in judicial settlement of estate
• If the decedents is an inhabitant of the Philippines
at the time of his death, whether a citizen or an
alien, his will shall be proved, or letters of
administration granted, and his estate settled, in
the Court of First Instance in the province in which
he resides at the time of his death; and
• If he is an inhabitant of a foreign country, the
Court of First Instance of any province in which he
had estate. [Sec. 1, Rule 73]
Venue in judicial settlement of estate (cont.)