Vías v. Succession of Pérez

17 P.R. 894
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided June 24, 1911·No. No. 657·Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice Aldrey

delivered the opinion of the court.

The sworn complaint of the plaintiff in this case, filed in the District 'Court for the District of Humacao on April 23, 1908, against the estate of Isabel Pérez Sánchez, composed of her widower, Francisco Buso Cabrera, and of her children, Francisco, Poncio, and Julio Buso Pérez, and also against Buso 'Cabrera as the heir of his other son, Oscar Pablo Bus6 Pérez, substantially alleges:

1. That in January, 1903, the plaintiff, and Francisco Buso ' Cabrera, who acted in his own behalf and as the legal repre[896]*896sentative of the Succession of Isabel Pérez Sánchez, composed of her three minor children, the defendants herein, and also of another son named Oscar Pablo, who died after his mother, verbally agreed to form a partnership for the cultivation of cotton on a property belonging to said Succession.

2. Under this agreement the plaintiff, Vías, was to advance the money to pay the weekly wages and general expenses, which would be reimbursed him at the end of each harvest, it being further agreed that the property should- be appraised so that upon payment by the plaintiff of one-half of the value thereof ownership should pass to the firm of Vías & Buso.

3. According to the agreement and because a mortgage weighed on the property, the plaintiff delivered to Francisco Buso Cabrera the sum of $165, which was half of the amount necessary to satisfy an instalment due, which, by adding an equal amount thereto, Buso paid.

4. In the following month, February, 1903, wishing to extend their business, they agreed that the plaintiff should buy another similar property adjacent to theirs. Such purchase he made from Mr. Valdejuli under deed of the 9th of same month and year.

5. Because of the lack of resources of the Succession of Pérez they also agreed that each property would continue to belong to its respective owner and that the partnership would continue only with a view to securing greater advantages in the cultivation of cotton and other crops; and it was only under this condition that the plaintiff placed his property, free from all liens for which the partnership might be held responsible, at the disposal of Buso; That the stipulated price of the property acquired by Vías was paid by the latter out of his own private funds, and that thenceforth the Succession of Pérez should have repaid him the $165 which he had advanced to them.

6. The plaintiff alleges that he punctually paid to Vías & Buso all the money which they needed for the agricultural [897]*897enterprise up to September, 1905, when "the: partnership was dissolved, and that he never received: any (-profits, but,, on the contrary, had to pay interest on th,e sums. advanced, by .him.

.. 7. That the books .of the partnership,. wer e; kept; by Buso Cabrera in his own right and as representative .of the Succession of Pérez, said books showing at fié tiíhé-’óf the dissot-lution a balance in favor of the plaintiff ; of $5;4’71.'63, of which Buso himself acknowledged that he owes $1,207.61,

8. That in June, 1903, ' Bilsó' Cabrera1 and his children, represented by a defensor, liquidated the estate left by Isabel Pérez without taking into account the partnership existing since January, 1903, which they did not liquidate, for the purpose of ascertaining the true value of the'property they contributed to the partnership and-the result Of the latter, the property having been adjudicated to Buso Cabrera for $2,500, notwithstanding that the' same had ' been' improved with funds of the plaintiff furnished to Vías & Buso. In regard to such adjudication, the plaintiff-was hot consulted and neither did he consent thereto.

9. That the whole or the greater part of the suin' claimed was expended in improving the property of, thej Succession of Pérez, the value of which was thereby increased by more fhan $1,000.

10. That during the first days of the month of September, 1905, before the dissolution of the partnership, Buso Cabrera pulled up 130 cocoanut palms from the property of. the plaintiff and transplanted them to his own, thus causing bi-m dam-a,ges to the amount of . $150. , ■ ....

11.- That he had previously filed a suit for $1,772.61, which is the amount the defendants really owed, but that in order to simplify his claim he withdrew that complaint and reduced the same to the amounts now mentioned. .

12. That under the present complaint he claims- $1,522.61,. plus legal interest for two and a half years, which amounts: to $235.91, and also that which has subsequently accrued. •.

[898]*898The paragraph of the summons issued in this ease wherein the parties .defendant are mentioned states the following:

“To the Succession of Isabel Pérez Sánchez composed of her husband, Francisco Buso Cabrera, and of her- minor- children, Francisco, Poncio, and Julio Buso Pérez, and to Francisco Buso as the heir of his deceased son, Oscar Pablo- Buso Pérez, all of them represented by Buso Cabrera — that is, the defendants hereinbefore mentioned.”

The marshal’s return shows that he personally served .Franciso Buso Cabrera with notice of the complaint, both in his individual capacity and as the representative of the Succession of Isabel Pérez, and that he also delivered to him a copy of the summons and of the complaint.

At the request of the plaintiff and after the period allowed to the defendants to appear had elapsed, the secretary of the court entered default against them and later a judgment was entered against all of them, the same having been reversed on appeal by this Supreme Court, which also annulled the entry of default made against the defendant minors, although allowing said default to remain in effect as to the defendant Buso Cabrera.

Subsequently to this, the defendant, Buso Pérez, filed a writ ©f demurrer and answer, Buso Cabrera having done likewise some time later. At the commencement of the trial, the court overruled the demurrer of the former and disregarded that of the latter on account of his default.

The grounds of the demurrer filed by the Buso Pérez' children were that the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and the ambiguity of the same.

The answer filed by the Buso Pérez brothers, which was sworn to by one of them, only admitted that the plaintiff and Buso Cabrera, the latter on behalf of the Succession of Isabel Pérez of which they form- part, formed an agricultural partnership, and the eleventh and twelfth allegations of the complaint, namely, that another complaint was formerly filed and the amounts which are now claimed. In opposition they [899]

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Vías v. Succession of Pérez, 17 P.R. 894 (prsupreme 1911).

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