G.R. No.

124371 November 23, 2000

PAULA T. LLORENTE, petitioner,
vs.
COURT OF APPEALS and ALICIA F. LLORENTE, respondents.

FACTS:
Lorenzo N. Llorente, deceased, was an enlisted serviceman of the United States who married
petitioner Paula Llorente before a parish priest, Roman Catholic Church, in Nabua, Camarines
Sur. Later, Lorenzo departed to the United States and was admitted to United States
citizenship through naturalization.

When Lorenzo went back to the Philippines, he found his wife Paula pregnant with his brother
Ceferino Laurente’s child. They were having an adulterous relationship. Later on, Lorenzo
divorced Paula and he remarried Alicia Llorente of which he had three (3) children.

On March 13, 1981, Lorenzo executed a Last Will and Testament leaving all of his properties
exclusively to his wife Alicia and their children.and designating Alicia as his sole executor. He
filed a petition in the court for the probate and allowance of his last will and testament and
while it was pending in court Lorenzo died. More than a year after Lorenzo died, Paula filed the
same petition in court, contending that she was the surviving spouse of Lorenzo, that various
properties were bought during their marriage and that Lorenzo’s will encroached on her
legitime and ½ conjugal share. The lower court found Paula’s entitled to the ½ conjugal share.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed the lower court’s decision with modification. It
declared Alicia as a co-owner of whatever properties she and the deceased may have
acquired during the twenty-five (25) years of cohabitation. Hence, this present petition.

ISSUE:
WON Paula Llorente is entitled to inherit from Lorenzo.

RULING:
NO. Paula Llorente has lost her right to inherit from Lorenzo by virtue of the divorce decree
that he successfully obtained in the State of California in 1951. This is pursuant to the
landmark case of Van Dorn v. Romillo, Jr., where the Court held that the nationality principle
embodied in Article 15 of the Civil Code only covers Philippine nationals against absolute
divorces and that aliens may obtain divorces abroad, provided they are valid according to their
national law. Here, Lorenzo was already an American citizen through naturalization when he
obtained the divorce decree of his marriage with Paula.

Also, it is worthy to note that the lower court and the Court of Appeals disregarded the
existence of Lorenzo’s will in deciding the case. As such, this case is remanded back to the
trial court for the for determination of the intrinsic validity of Lorenzo N. Llorente’s will and
determination of the parties’ successional rights allowing proof of foreign law with instructions
that the trial court shall proceed with all deliberate dispatch to settle the estate of the deceased
within the framework of the Rules of Court.

DIGESTED BY: APRIL GEM B. BALUCANAG