Manila, July 22 -- The Supreme Court has fined a disbarred lawyer for notarizing an agreement between siblings who passed away years before the actual signing of the document.

In an eight-page decision made public recently, the SC 2nd Division found lawyer Glenn Peralta, who was disbarred in 2022, guilty of violating the rules of notarial practice and Code of Professional Responsibility.

The complainant in the case, Loreta Hedocil-Menioria, accused Peralta of notarizing a partition agreement over a common property in Zamboanga del Sur between her brothers Melecio and Artemio in 2017, long after they died in 1984 and 2005, respectively.

In defense, Peralta claimed he had depended on the statements made by the wives of the two brothers, ...