Heirs of Lorenzo Yap v. CA Digest

Heirs of Lorenzo Yap v. Court of Appeals

G.R. No.. 133047 August 17, 1999

Facts: 

1. Petitioners as heirs of Lorenzo Yap filed an action against Ramon Yap and co-respondent for the reconveyance of land, with buildings and improvement on it. They alleged that the said property was held in trust by Ramon and that it was their father Lorenzo who purchased the said land and constructed the apartment building on it. However, alleging that since at that time, Lorenzo was still a Chinese citizen, hence prohibited from owning land, he caused it to be registered in the name of respondent Ramon.

2. The said property was sold by Ramon to his co-respondent which caused the petitioners to file this action.

3. The lower court ruled in favor of the respondents or the ownership of Ramon. This was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Hence this petition.

Issue: Whether or not a trust was constituted between Lorenzo and Ramon

RULING: No, and even it there was an implied trust, it could not have been valid as it was in contravention of applicable laws. There is a basic distinction between implied and express trusts. Express trusts cannot be proved by parole evidence. Even then, in order to establish the existence of an implied trust in real property by parole evidence, the prove should be as fully convincing as the facts as if the acts giving rise to the trust obligation are proven by an authentic document. The petitioners' evidence was insufficient to prove clearly that a trust was constituted between their father and Ramon.

Related Digest on Trusts: See Saltiga v. Romeo for detailed discussion on implied and express trusts