SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has granted the petition to depart from Carolinian custom and distribute family land based on a family’s consent and agreement.
Marcus Laniyo Lisua, a grandson of Mariano Taroligai Lisua, is applying for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance to fix his house that was damaged by Super Typhoon Yutu in Oct. 2018.
Judge Camacho granted the partition of the Carolinian family land because all family members agreed.
Marcus Laniyo Lisua, the administrator of the estate of Mariano Taroligai Lisua, through attorney Stephen Nutting, has petitioned the court for final distribution and requested that the court issue a decree of final distribution as follows: (A) a portion of Lot 368-1, namely Lot 368-2, to be distributed to Marcus Laniyo Lisua; and (B) the remaining portion of Lot 368-1 to be distributed to all of the eight heirs of Mariano Taroligai Lisua, namely: (1) Juanita Brigida Laniyo Lisua Nekaifes, (2) Mariano Laniyo Lisua, (3) Ronaling Ann Lisua Brown, (4) Remedio Laniyo Lisua Decena, (5) Gloria Laniyo Lisua Mendiola, (6) Marcus Laniyo Lisua, (7) Lourdes Laniyo Lisua San Nicolas, and (8) Karen Laniyo Lisua Pablo as tenants in common, with each having equal undivided interest.
After a review of the testimonies and exhibits admitted at the evidentiary hearing as well as the law and rules of probate, Judge Camacho granted the petition for final distribution.
The judge said the land in question is Carolinian family land.
Additionally, Judge Camacho finds that the stipulation of the heirs represents the family’s consent and agreement to depart from custom in partitioning the family land pursuant to 8 CMC Section 2909.
Court documents stated that Mariano Taroligai Lisua was born on March 19, 1892, and according to family knowledge, he was present at the wedding of his son Roman and his bride Perpetua Laniyo in 1959.
In 1959, Mariano was between 67 and 68 years old.
The judge noted that there is no one alive in the family at the present time who has knowledge of when, where, or how Mariano passed away.
“It is known only that Mariano was alive in 1959. In the absence of any government record or knowledge of the date of death of Mariano, the court will apply the common law presumption that persons who are absent for a continuous period of five years are deceased, as codified in Section 2106(d) of Title 8 of the Commonwealth Code,” the judge said.
“Given that 1959 is the last date when it is known that Mariano was alive, the court will consider 1959 as the start of the continuous period of five years, such that the presumption of death takes effect at the end of that period, in 1964,” the judge added.
Marcus Laniyo Lisua, grandson of Mariano, stated that Mariano was a sea voyager who sailed back and forth between Saipan and the Northern Islands, and it is therefore possible that he disappeared during one of his sea voyages.
Judge Camacho’s order also noted the testimony of Juanita Lisua Nekaifes, the eldest female heir of Mariano. She testified that she understood that as the oldest surviving female of the family, she could hold the property as a customary trustee on behalf of the family.
But she said the family had met, and together they had all decided that they wanted the distribution to be made as provided in the stipulation of the heirs to help their brother and his family who were left homeless after their house, located in Lot 368-1-2, which is a portion of the family land, was destroyed in Super Typhoon Yutu.
She said all the heirs recognize the need for Marcus Laniyo Lisua to prove his title to Lot 368-1-2 to FEMA to receive disaster home reconstruction assistance.
Judge Camacho’s order stated that the stipulation of heirs has been agreed to and is signed by all surviving heirs of Roman and Maria, the two deceased heirs of Mariano T. Lisua.
