GENATO vs. DE LORENZO- Donation in a Public Document

Category: Property, Ownership and Its Modifications

The delivery by the donor and the acceptance by done must be simultaneous and the acceptance by a person other than the true done must be authorized by a proper power of attorney set forth in a public document

FACTS:

The property under dispute in this case is the 530 shares of stocks of Genato Commercal Corporation, which has P100 par value, of the deceased Simona B. De Genato (Director and secretary-treasurer of the said company). The petitioners herein, 2 heirs of Simona, are claiming that they own 530 shares of stocks of Genato Commercal Corporation because of the donation made by Simona to them.

Respondents (other remaining heirs), however, are trying to recover from the petitioners, their co-heirs, the said stocks so they can include it in the intestate estate which should later be distributed among all the surviving children of the decedent.

Four or five days after having Florentino Genato elected and designated as Assitant Secretary-Treasurer of the Corporation, 265 shares were issued in favour of Florentino Genato and another 265 were issued in favour of Francisco G. Genato. These were not presented as evidence in the course of the trial; they were merely mentioned by Florentino Genato in the course of his testimony as a witness.

ISSUE: Whether or not there was a valid donation?

RULING:

NO. There was no valid donation for lack of proper acceptance. Incontestably, one of the two donees was not present at the delivery, and there is no showing that Francisco Genato had authorized his brother, Florentino to accept for both of them. The delivery by the donor and the acceptance by done must be simultaneous and the acceptance by a person other than the true done must be authorized by a proper power of attorney set forth in a public document. None has been claimed to exist in this case.

GENATO vs. DE LORENZO- Donation in a Public Document