Remedy if estate settlement venue improper

What is the remedy of a party if the venue of proceeding settling the estate of the decedent has been improperly laid? Generally, the remedy is ordinary appeal; the party invoking improper venue must wait until the final disposition of the case and assign improper venue as an error. However, if impropriety of venue is patent, appearing on the record of the case, certiorari may be availed of. Such want of proper venue may also be contested in the original case.

Note that impropriety of venue may be due to the residence of the decedent or the location of the estate.

If the decedents is an inhabitant of the Philippines at the time of his death, whether a citizen or an alien, his will shall be proved, or letters of administration granted, and his estate settled, in the Court of First Instance in the province in which he resides at the time of his death, and if he is an inhabitant of a foreign country, the [Regional Trial Court or RTC] of any province in which he had estate. The court first taking cognizance of the settlement of the estate of a decedent, shall exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion of all other courts. The jurisdiction assumed by a court, so far as it depends on the place of residence of the decedent, or of the location of his estate, shall not be contested in a suit or proceeding, except in an appeal from that court, in the original case, or when the want of jurisdiction appears on the record. (Section 1 of Rule 73 of the Rules of Court)