Executor or administrator may have access to partnership books.
SEC. 664. Executor or administrator may have access to partnership books. — The executor or administrator of a deceased partner shall at all times have access to, and may make examination and take copies of the books and papers relating to the partnership business; and shall at all times have the right to examine and make invoices of the property belonging to such partnership, and the surviving partner or partners, on request, shall exhibit to him all such books, papers, and property in their hands or control.
Court may enforce compliance.
SEC. 665. Court may enforce compliance. — The court having charge of the settlement of the estate of such deceased partner, on application therefor in writing, by such executor or administrator, may cite such surviving partner or partners before it, and by a proper order or decree compel the granting of the rights given in the preceding section, and may enforce such order or decree by commitment to jail.
To keep buildings in repair.
SEC. 666. To keep buildings in repair. — An executor or administrator shall maintain in tenantable repair the houses, buildings, and fences belonging to the estate, and deliver the same in such repair, when directed by the court, to the heirs or devisees.
Executor to administer estate not willed.
SEC. 667. Executor to administer estate not willed. — An executor shall administer the estate of the testator not disposed of by will.
INVENTORY. APPRAISAL AND ACCOUNT
Inventory to be returned.
SEC. 668. Inventory to be returned. — Every executor or administrator, unless he is residuary legatee and has given the bond prescribed for the residuary legatee, shall, within three months after his appointment, return to the court a true inventory of the real estate and all the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of the deceased which come into his possession or knowledge.
Committee to be appointed.
SEC. 669. Committee to be appointed. — The court at the time of granting letters testamentary or of administration, or at such other times as it deems proper, shall, by warrant, appoint a committee of two or more disinterested persons to appraise the estate of the deceased and allow claims against the estate, and the executor or administrator shall cause the estate and effects in the inventory to be appraised by such committee.
Committee to be sworn.
SEC. 670. Committee to be sworn. — Such committee shall be sworn to make a true appraisal, and shall appraise its value in money, and shall return their warrant with such appraisal to the court within the time specified in the warrant, and shall deliver a copy of the appraisal to the executor or administrator.
Apparel, and so forth, not to be inventoried.
SEC. 671. Apparel, and so forth, not to be inventoried. — The wearing apparel of the surviving husband or wife, and of the minor children, and such provisions and other articles as will necessarily be consumed in the subsistence of the family of the deceased, under the direction of the court, shall not be considered as assets, nor administered as such, and shall not be included in the inventory.
Account to be rendered and examination to be under oath.
SEC. 672. Account to be rendered and examination to be under oath. — Every executor or administrator shall render an account of his administration within one year from the time of receiving letters testamentary or of administration, unless the court extends the time on account of an extension of time for selling the estate and paying the debts; and he shall render further accounts of his administration as may be required by the court until the estate is wholly settled; and he may be examined upon oath upon every matter relating to account.
For what to account.
SEC. 673. For what to account. — The executor or administrator shall be chargeable in his account with the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of the deceased which come to his possession; also with the proceeds of the real estate sold for the payment of the debts and legacies, and with the interest, profit, and income which come to his hands from the estate of the deceased; and for the personal estate of the deceased at its appraisal, except as hereafter provided.
Not to profit by increase or lose by decrease in value.
SEC. 674. Not to profit by increase or lose by decrease in value. — The executor or administrator shall not profit by the increase nor suffer loss by the decrease or destruction, without his fault, of any part of the personal estate; and he shall account for the excess when he sells any personal estate for more than the appraisal; and if he sells for less than the appraisal he shall not be responsible for the loss, if it appears to be beneficial to the estate to sell it. When he sells personal estate under the special order of the court, he shall account for same at the price for which it was sold.
Accountable for proceeds of real estate sold.
SEC. 675. Accountable for proceeds of real estate sold. — The proceeds of real estate sold for the payment of the debts and charges of administration, shall be assets in the hands of the administrator, as if the same had been part of the goods and chattels of the deceased. The executor or administrator and sureties on his bond shall be accountable therefor.
When not accountable for debts due.
SEC. 676. When not accountable for debts due. — No executor or administrator shall be accountable for the debts due the deceased if it appears that they remain uncollected without his fault.
Accountable for income from realty.
SEC. 677. Accountable for income from realty. — The executor or administrator shall account for the income of real estate while it remains in his possession; and if he uses or occupies any part of it himself, he shall account for it as may be agreed upon between him and the parties interested, or adjusted by the court with their assent; and if the parties do not agree upon the sum to be allowed, the same may be ascertained by the court, whose determination in this respect shall be final.
Accountable if he improperly neglects to raise money.
SEC. 678. Accountable if he improperly neglects to raise money. — When an administrator neglects, or unreasonably delays, to raise money, by collecting the debts or selling the real or personal estate of the deceased, or neglects to pay over the money he has in his hands, and the value of the estate is thereby lessened or necessary cost or interest accrues, or the persons interested suffer loss, the same shall be deemed waste, and the damage sustained may be charged and allowed against him in his account, and he shall be liable therefor on his bond.
To be allowed money paid as costs, when.
SEC. 679. To be allowed money paid as costs, when. — The amount paid by an executor or administrator for costs awarded against him shall be allowed in his administration account, unless it appears that the suit or proceedings in which the costs are taxed was prosecuted or resisted without just cause, and not in good faith.
How allowed for services.
SEC. 680. How allowed for services. — The executor or administrator shall be allowed necessary expenses in the care, management, and settlement of the estate, and for his services, two dollars per day for the time actually and necessarily employed, and a commission of three per cent upon all sums disbursed in the payment of debts, expenses, and distributive shares, if the amount of such disbursements does not exceed one thousand dollars. If the amount exceeds one thousand dollars and does not exceed five thousand dollars, then three per cent upon the first one thousand dollars and one and one-half per cent upon the excess, if the whole amount does not exceed five thousand dollars. If the total disbursements exceed five thousand dollars, then the percentage as above provided, and one percent on the excess above five thousand dollars. But in any special case, where the estate is large, and the settlement has been attended with great difficulty, and has required a high degree of capacity on the part of the executor or administrator, a greater sum may be allowed. But if objection to the fees allowed be taken, the allowance may be reexamined by the Supreme Court on appeal.
When the administrator or executor is a lawyer, he shall not be allowed to charge against the estate any professional fees, as such, for services rendered by himself. When the deceased by will makes some other provision for compensation to his executor, that provision shall be a full satisfaction for his services, unless by a written instrument filed in the court he renounces all claim to the compensation provided by the will.
Account, how verified.
SEC. 681. Account, how verified. — The court shall examine every executor and administrator upon oath as to the correctness of his account, before the same is allowed, except when no objection is made to the allowance of the account, and its correctness is satisfactorily established by competent testimony; the heirs, legatees, and distributees, and creditors of an estate, shall have the same privilege of being examined on oath on any matter relating to an administration account that the executor or administrator has.
Account to be settled on notice.
SEC. 682. Account to be settled on notice. — Before the account of an executor or administrator is allowed, notice shall be given to persons interested of the time and place of examining and allowing the same; and such notice may be given personally to such persons interested, or by advertisement in a newspaper or newspapers, or both, as the court directs.
Surety on bond may be party to accounting.
SEC. 683. Surety on bond may be party to accounting. — Upon the settlement of the account of an executor or administrator, trustee, or guardian, a person liable as surety in respect to such account may, upon application, be admitted as a party to such accounting, and may have the right to appeal as hereinafter provided.
Allowance to widow and family, and descent of estate.
SEC. 684. Allowance to widow and family, and descent of estate. — The widow and minor children of a deceased person, during the settlement of the estate, shall receive therefrom, under the direction of the court, such allowances as are provided by the law in force in the Philippine Islands, on and immediately prior to the thirteenth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and the descent of all property and estates to heirs shall be regulated by that law as to all property belonging to intestate estates, and as to all property belonging to testate estates, but not disposed of by the will of the testator. A husband or wife of the deceased person shall receive such portion of his or her estate not disposed of by will as the said law in force on the thirteenth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, gives to him or to her.
Community property.
SEC. 685. Community property. — One-half the community property, as determined by the law in force in the Philippine Islands before the thirteenth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, belonging to a husband and wife, shall be deemed to belong to the deceased husband or wife, and shall be inventoried and accounted for, and distributed as a part of the estate, in the same manner as all other property belonging to the estate.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
