Spousal Inheritance Certificate Recall and Cost Allocation Appeal

The court addressed a dispute concerning the recall of an inheritance certificate issued to a surviving spouse, who was recognized as the sole heir based on a marriage contract, despite the existence of other statutory heirs. The initial certificate was deemed flawed because it failed to list all members of the heir community as required by law, even when the estate was entirely allocated to the survivor by contract. The appellate court reasoned that while the first instance correctly ordered the certificate's return due to its substantive error (omitting other heirs), it erred procedurally by not awarding costs to the appealing spouse, who was successful in having the initial decision's procedural defects rectified and obtaining compensation for representation costs incurred in that lower appeal, ultimately partially granting the appeal on the cost issue while upholding the core obligation to return the incorrectly issued certificate.