Section 2.
Meaning of word GENERAL GUARDIAN AND
"incompetent." Under this rule, the word
"incompetent" includes persons suffering
the penalty of civil interdiction or who are
hospitalized lepers, prodigals, deaf and
dumb who are unable to read and write,
those who are of unsound mind, even
though they have lucid intervals, and
persons not being of unsound mind, but by
reason of age, disease, weak mind, and
other similar causes, cannot, without
outside aid, take care of themselves and
manage their property, becoming thereby
an easy prey for deceit and exploitation.
Notes:
1. Civil interdiction - deprivation of right
to manage his property and of any
right to dispose of such property by
any act or any conveyance inter vivos.
Such persons, are deemed
incompetent for whom guardians may
be appointed.
2. Prodigality - Must show a morbid mind
and disposition to spend or waste the
estate so as to expose his family to
want or to deprive his forced heirs of
their inheritance.
3. Insanity - An insane is a person
afflicted with insanity, which in the
intendment of the law, is a
manifestation in language or conduct
of disease or defect of the brain, or a
more or less permanently diseased or
disordered condition or the mental,
functional or organic, and
characterized by perversion, inhibition
or disordered function of the sensory
GUARDIANSHIP OF INCOMPETENTS
(who are not minors)
Rule 92:
Section 1. Where to institute proceedings.
Guardianship of a person or estate of a
minor or incompetent may be instituted in
the Court of First Instance of the province,
or in the justice of the peace court of the
municipality, or in the municipal court
chartered city where the minor or
incompetent persons resides, and if he
resides in a foreign country, in the Court of
First Instance of the province wherein his
property or the party thereof is situated;
provided, however, that where the value of
the property of such minor or incompetent
exceeds that jurisdiction of the justice of
the peace or municipal court, the
proceedings shall be instituted in the Court
of First Instance.
In the City of Manila the proceedings shall
be instituted in the Juvenile and Domestic
Relations Court.
Note:
Venue:
Place of residence of the minor or
incompetent person if within the
Philippines (RTC).
Residing outside the Philippines - where
the property of such minor or incompetent
may be situated.
Residence - Normally understood to mean
the domicile of the minor or incompetent.
behalf of a resident minor or incompetent
who has no parent or lawful guardian, or
the minor himself if fourteen years of age
or over, may petition the court having
jurisdiction for the appointment of a
general guardian for the person or estate,
or both, of such minor or incompetent. An
officer of the Federal Administration of the
United States in the Philippines may also
file a petition in favor of a ward thereof,
and the Director of Health, in favor of an
insane person who should be hospitalized,
or in favor of an isolated leper.
Distinguish incompetency of Guardian
from Incompetency of Person under
Guardianship:
Incompetency to act as executor or
administrator cannot be equated with the
incompetency that justifies the placing of a
person under guardianship. From the Fact
that a person may be incompetent to act
as executor or administrator, it does not
follow that he could be placed under
guardianship. But if a person is
incompetent to act as executor or
administrator, then he is not the
incompetent person envisaged in the law
of guardianship.
Section 2. Contents of petition. A
petition for the appointment of a general
guardian must show, so far as known to
the petitioner:
(a) The jurisdiction facts;
(b) The minority or incompetency
rendering the appointment necessary or
convenient;
or of the intellectual faculties or by
impaired or disordered volition. Every
adult is presumed sane. However,
where the question of insanity is put in
issue in guardianship proceedings,
and a guardian is named for the
person alleged to be incapacitated, a
presumption of the mental infirmity of
the ward is created.
Section 3. Transfer of venue. The court
taking cognizance of a guardianship
proceeding, may transfer the same to the
court of another province or municipality
wherein the ward has acquired real
property, if he has transferred thereto his
bona-fide residence, and the latter court
shall have full jurisdiction to continue the
proceedings, without requiring payment of
additional court fees.
Limitation: A settlement made in the court
in which letters of guardianship was
granted. A court may refuse a transfer if
the settlement is insufficient to show the
condition of the estate, the properties of
the ward, and the guardians just charges.
RULE 93:
GENERAL GUARDIANS AND
GUARDIANSHIP:
APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIANS
Section 1. Who may petition for
appointment of guardian for resident.
Any relative, friend, or other person on
Corrections of Minors name in whose
behalf a petition for Guardianship was filed
may be made by a way of petition.
Section 3. Court to set time for hearing.
Notice thereof. When a petition for the
appointment of a general guardian is filed,
the court shall fix a time and place for
hearing the same, and shall cause
reasonable notice thereof to be given to
the persons mentioned in the petition
residing in the province, including the
minor if above 14 years of age or the
incompetent himself, and may direct other
general or special notice thereof to be
given.
Notes:
Notice for the hearing of the petition shall
be served by the court to (1) the persons
mentioned in the petitioned residing in the
Philippines and (2) the minor himself if
above 14 years of age and the
incompetent himself.
Service of the notice upon the minor if
above 14 years of age or upon the
incompetent, is jurisdictional. Without such
notice the court acquire no jurisdiction to
appoint a guardian.
Section 4. Opposition to petition. Any
interested person may, by filing a written
opposition, contest the petition on the
ground of majority of the alleged minor,
competency of the alleged incompetent, or
the insatiability of the person for whom
letters are prayed, and may pray that the
petition be dismissed, or that letters of
guardianship issue to himself, or to any
suitable person named in the opposition.
(c) The names, ages, and residence of the
relatives of the minor or incompetent, and
of the person having him in their care;
(d) The probable value and character of
his estate;
(e) The name of the person for whom
letters of guardianship.
The petition shall be verified; but no defect
in the petition or verification shall render
void the issuance of letters of
guardianship.
Notes:
1 The facts which must appear in the
application for guardianship and which
give the court authority to act over the
following:
a) Minority or incompetency of the
person for whom guardianship is
sought; and
b) his domicile;
When certain Jurisdiction facts may be
dispensed with:
The same may not be necessary where
the petition was filed by the minors
relatives themselves, to wit, the minors
great-grandmother, grand-aunt and grand-
uncles, with the written consent of her
widowed father.
Issuance of letters during the pendency of
an Appeal:
Upon urgent and compelling reasons,
execution pending appeal is a matter of
sound discretion on the trial court. This
stems from the primary objective for the
institution of guardianship, namely for the
protection of the ward, justifying the
immediate execution of the lowers courts
judgement for the replacement of the 1st
guardian.
No order of preference in appointment of
Guardian unlike in settlement or
distributing of the estate of deceased
persons.
Finality of appointment - The execution of
the final judgment or order shall issue as a
matter of right only upon the expiration of
the period to appeal therefrom if no appeal
has been duly perfected.
Section 6. When and how guardian for
non-resident appointed. Notice. When a
person liable to be put under guardianship
resides without the Philippines but the
estate therein, any relative or friend of
such person, or any one interested in his
estate, in expectancy or otherwise, may
petition a court having jurisdiction for the
appointment of a guardian for the estate,
and if, after notice given to such person
and in such manner as the court deems
proper, by publication or otherwise, and
hearing, the court is satisfied that such
non-resident is a minor or incompetent
rendering a guardian necessary or
convenient, it may appoint a guardian for
such estate.
Notes:
Opposition must be in writing, It need not
be verified.
Grounds:
1) Majority of the alleged minor;
2) Competency of the alleged
incompetent;
3) Incompetency of the person for whom
letters are prayed.
Cannot be appointed guardian of the
person and property of the latter if the
interested person is a creditor and
mortgagee of the estate of the minor.
opposition - first be addressed to and
resolve by the lower court and not for the
first time on appeal. Such opposition may
be ventilated on appeal in the event that
the lower court makes an unfavorable
decision thereon.
Section 5. Hearing and order for letters to
issue. At the hearing of the petition the
alleged in competent must be present if
able to attend, and it must be shown that
the required notice has been given.
Thereupon the courts shall hear the
evidence of the parties in support of their
respective allegations, and, if the person in
question is a minor, or incompetent it shall
be appoint a suitable guardian of his
person or estate, or both, with the powers
and duties hereinafter specified.
Notes:
For good reasons the court may, however,
appoint another suitable person.
*check changes
Notes:
A father or mother, as the natural guardian
of the minor under parental authority, does
not have the power to dispose or
encumber the property of the latter, such
power is granted by law only to a judicial
guardian of the wards property.
The disposal of minors property by the
mother as natural guardian is null and
void, having been done without power and
authority.
Remedy against the Guardian who
disposed of the property:
Vendees prejudice by the illegal
transactions of a natural guardian involving
the property of his minor child have no
cause of action against subsequent legal
owners of said property. Their remedies
lies only against the natural guardian, not
however, to recover ownership and
possession of the properties sold but only
to recover damages.
Section 8. Service of judgment. Final
orders or judgments under this rule shall
be served upon the civil registrar of the
Notes:
Ancillary guardianship means a
guardianship in a state other than that in
which guardianship is originally granted
and which is subservient and subsidiary to
the latter.
Personal notice to an alleged incompetent
who is a resident of the Philippines but is
temporarily outside, traveling abroad, is
jurisdictional and service of notice by
publication will not suffice. It was held that
a person temporarily absent from the
Philippines for the purpose of traveling
abroad is not one who resides out of the
Philippines.
It is generally considered that a proceeding
to inquire into the insanity of alleged
incompetent for the purpose of appointing
a guardian of his person is in personam
and some courts broadly state that the
personal service, distinct from service by
publication, is essential to give the court
jurisdiction.
Section 7. Parents as guardians. When
the property of the child under parental
authority is worth two thousand pesos or
less, the father of the mother, without the
necessity of court appointment, shall be
his legal guardian. When the property of
the child is worth more than two thousand
pesos, the father or the mother shall be
considered guardian of the child's property,
with the duties and obligations of
guardians under this rules, and shall file
the petition required by section 2 hereof.
rules and such other times as the courts municipality or city where the minor or
directs, and at the expiration of his trust to incompetent person resides or where his
settle his accounts with the court and property or part thereof is situated.
deliver and pay over all the estate, effects,
and moneys remaining in his hands, or
due from him on such settlement, to the
person lawfully entitled thereto;

RULE 94
(d) To perform all orders of the court by
him to be performed.
Bonds of Guardians

Notes:

Mandatory
Section 1. Bond to be given before
issuance of letters. Amount. Condition.
Section 2. When new bond may be
Before a guardian appointed enters upon
required and old sureties discharged.
the execution of his trust, or letters of
Whenever it is deemed necessary, the
guardianship issue, he shall give a bond,
court may require a new bond to be given
in such sum as the court directs,
by the guardian, and may discharge the
conditioned as follows:
sureties on the old bond from further
liability, after due notice to interested
(a) To make and return to the court, within
persons, when no injury can result
three (3) months, a true and complete
therefrom to those interested in the estate.
inventory of all the estate, real and
personal, of his ward which shall come to
Notes:
his possession or knowledge of any other
insufficiency and when receiving new person for him;
funds not in contemplation when the
(b) To faithfully execute the duties of his
original bond was executed.
trust, to manage and dispose of the estate
Section 3. Bonds to be filed. Actions according to these rules for the best
thereon. Every bond given by a interests of the ward, and to provide for the
guardian shall be filed in the office of the proper care, custody, and education of the
clerk of the court, and, in case of the ward;
breach of a condition thereof, may be
(c) To render a true and just account of all
prosecuted in the same proceeding or in a
the estate of the ward in his hands, and of
separate action for the use and benefit of
all proceeds or interest derived therefrom,
the ward or of any other person legally
and of the management and disposition of
interested in the estate.
the same, at the time designated by these
A petition must first be filed before the
court for such sale or encumbrance.
A guardian has no authority to sell real
estate of his ward merely by reason of his
general powers; and in the absence of any
special authority to sell conferred by will,
statute or order of court, a sale of the
wards realty by the guardian without
authority from the court is void.
Section 2. Order to show cause
thereupon. If it seems probable that
such sale or encumbrance is necessary, or
would be beneficial to the ward, the court
shall make an order directing the next of
kin of the ward, and all persons interested
in the estate, to appear at a reasonable
time and place therein specified to show
cause why the prayer of the petition should
not be granted.
Notes:
Next of in is defined to mean not the next
of kindred but those relatives who share in
the estate according to the statute of
distribution, including those claiming per
stirpes or by representation.
Notice to the next kin mandated under the
provision is a jurisdictional requirement
which may not be dispensed with.
Notice is not necessary when the next kin
to the ward are her mother and guardian,
uncles and aunts who agreed to make the
transfer of their respective shares in the
property to the corporation to be
organized.
RULE 95
Selling and Encumbering Property of
Ward
Section 1. Petition of guardian for leave to
sell or encumber estate. When the
income of the estate under guardianship is
insufficient to maintain the ward and his
family, or to maintain and educate the ward
when a minor, or when it appears that it is
for the benefit of the ward that his real
estate or some part thereof be sold, or
mortgaged or otherwise encumbered, and
the proceeds thereof put out at interest, or
invested in some productive security, or in
the improvement or security or other real
estate of the ward, the guardian may
present a verified petition to the court by
which he was appointed setting forth such
facts, and praying that an order issue
authorizing the sale or encumbrance.
Notes:
When:
1) income of the estate of the minor or
incompetent under guardianship is
insufficient to maintain the ward and
his family;
4) The income is insufficient to maintain
and educate the ward when a minor;
5) Benefit of the ward
Necessity of Order Authorizing the Sale or
Encumbrance of the estate:
subject to such conditions as to the time
and manner of payment, and security
where a part of the payment is deferred as
in the discretion of the court are deemed
most beneficial to the ward. The original
bond of the guardian shall stand as
security for the proper appropriation of the
proceeds of the sale, but the judge may, if
deemed expedient, require an additional
bond as a condition for the granting of the
order of sale. No order of sale granted in
pursuance of this section shall continue in
force more than one (1) year after granting
the same, without a sale being had.
Notes:
Generally held that, while the wards title
passes only on the execution of a deed by
the guardian and not on the confirmation of
the sale by the court, in order that a sale
may be of such validity that, upon the
execution of a deed, title may pass tot he
purchaser, it is essential that the sale first
be confirmed by the court, and that until
such confirmation, not even equitable title
passes.
Nonetheless, where the authority to sell
does nor impose the condition that the
deed of sale executed by the guardian
should be approved by the court, the
approval of the sale by the court would be
merely pro forma, where the sale was
already a fait accompli and within the
authority given by the court.
XP:
Confirmation may not be necessary where
the courts order expressly authorized the
guardian to execute and deliver to the
If the notice omits to state the time or
states a subsequent to that at which the
application was acted on, the court
acquires no jurisdiction to order the sale,
and the sale is void.
Section 3. Hearing on return of order.
Costs. At the time and place designated
in the order to show cause, the court shall
hear the proofs and allegations of the
petitioner and next of kin, and other
persons interested, together with their
witnesses, and grant and refuse the prayer
of the petition as the best interest of the
ward require. The court shall make such
order as to cost of the hearing as may be
just.
Notes:
The court may not inquire into the title of
the property
Section 4. Contents of order for sale or
encumbrance, and how long effective.
Bond. If, after full examination, it
appears that it is necessary, or would be
beneficial to the ward, to sell or encumber
the estate, or some portion of it, the court
shall order such sale or encumbrance and
that the proceeds thereof be expended for
the maintenance of the ward and his
family, or the education of the ward, if a
minor, or for the putting of the same
interest, or the investment of the same as
the circumstances may require. The order
shall specify the causes why the sale or
encumbrance is necessary or beneficial,
and may direct that estate ordered sold be
disposed of at either public or private sale,
authority and sold the property. the
authority had already been exhausted,
after it was fulfilled by the guardian and
there was nothing to cancel.
When a sale is binding upon the minors:
When at the time of the sale, the vendor
was the appointed guardian of her minor
children, and she made the transfer not
only in her own right but in behalf of her
children and the sale was submitted to the
court in the guardianship proceeding and
the court approved the sale, the sale was
binding upon the children.
sale of conjugal property with the courts
approval has superior rights than those of
a purchased on prior extrajudicial sale of
the property by the widow, at least where
the land is registered and the prior sale
had not been noted on the title certificate
at the time of the subsequent sale.
there being a presumption that the sale of
the wards estate is valid, the same cannot
be attacked collaterally in the registration
proceedings A separate action to avoid or
rescind the sale on the grounds specified
by law should have been filed.
the order empowering the guardian to sell
property belonging to the ward shall not be
effective for more than 1 year after it has
been granted.
Remedy against order of the court
authorizing the guardian to sell the wards
property: Appeal
Section 5. Court may order investment of
proceeds and direct management of
purchased definitely named, a deed of
conveyance to a parcel of land specifically
described at a price already fixed and it
was intended to be the approval itself of
the sale that was already perfected or
agreed upon by the seller and the buyer,
needing only a judicial go-ahead signal to
reduce the agreement to the statutory form
and it had been made without departure
from the terms of the order, it would be a
useless formality ti submit the deed to the
court for action in the absence of any clear
requirement or direction to that effect.
Guardian cannot acquire by purchase even
a public or judicial auction, either in person
through the mediation of another.
Annulment of Authority of Guardian to Sell:
When court authority was obtained by a
guardian for sale of property of her wards,
without disclosing the fact that the property
had previously been sold at sheriffs sale to
another pursuant to execution and the sale
duly noted on the title certificate, the court,
on being advised of such fact, properly
annulled the guardians sale, particularly in
view of the suspicious circumstances
indicative of fraud and collusion.
Nonetheless, the cancellation of the
authority of the guardian to sell the
property of the ward did not and could not,
affect the rights of the buyer, where at the
time that the order cancelling the authority
to sell was entered, the guardian had
already acted in accordance with the
estate and investment of other funds is
covered by section 5 of Rule 95. Section 5
while requiring judicial authority in order
that a guardian may invest the wards
money, does not provide that said authority
must always be either prior to or
expressed. The rule seeks principally to
protect the funds of the ward against the
imprudent or unsafe investments by the
guardian.
Lease: A guardian may lease the property
of the ward. However, if the lease would be
recorded, the same should be by proper
authority of the court. The same rule
probably applies if the term of the lease is
longer than 1 year. This is deemed an act
of dominion.
estate. The court may authorize and
require the guardian to invest the proceeds
of sales or encumbrances, and any other
of his ward's money in his hands, in real
estate or otherwise, as shall be for the best
interest of all concerned, and may make
such other orders for the management,
investment, and disposition of the estate
and effects, as circumstances may require.
Notes:
As distinguished from Section 1 and 2,
Rule 95:
Section 1 and 2 of this rule requiring
judicial authority of the investments by the
guardian, relate only to the investment of
proceeds from sale or encumbrance of the