ABANGAN vs ABANGAN [G.R. No. L-13431 November 12, 1919]

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ABANGAN vs ABANGAN

G.R. No. L-13431 November 12, 1919

SUBJECT: LAW ON WILLS AND SUCCESSION

Topic: Formalities of a Will

FACTS: On September 19, 1917, CFI of Cebu admitted to probate Ana Abangan’s will executed July, 1916. From this decision the opponents appealed.

The will consists of 2 sheets. The first contains all the disposition of the testatrix, duly signed at the bottom by Martin Montalban (in the name and under the direction of the testatrix) and by three witnesses. The following sheet contains only the attestation clause duly signed at the bottom by the three instrumental witnesses. Neither of these sheets is signed on the left margin by the testatrix and the three witnesses, nor numbered by letters. These omissions, according to appellants’ contention, are defects whereby the probate of the will should have been denied. It is from this decision which the opponent appealed. They also alleged that the records do not show the testatrix knew the dialect in which the will was written.

 

ISSUE: Whether or not the will was validly probated.

 

RULING:

Yes. The purpose of Act No. 2645 (the applicable law in this case), which stipulates that each sheet of the will must be signed on the left margin by the testator and three witnesses in each other's presence, is to prevent any of the said sheets from being substituted and the testator's intentions from being altered. However, their signatures on the left margin would serve no purpose whatsoever if these dispositions were entirely written on a single page that was signed at the bottom by the testator and three witnesses (as in the present case).

 

Every page of a will must be numbered correlatively in letters placed on the upper part of the page in order to determine whether any pages have been omitted. But when all the dispositive parts of a will (as in the instant case) are written on one sheet only, the object of the statute disappears, because the removal of this single sheet cannot be hidden. The attestation clause does not require the testatrix's signature because it only applies to the witnesses and not to the testator as the latter does not attest but rather executes the will.

The object of the solemnities surrounding the execution of wills is o to close the door against bad faith and fraud, o to avoid substitution of wills and testaments or to guaranty their truth and authenticity. The laws on this subject should be interpreted in such a way as to attain these primordial ends. So when an interpretation that adds nothing but demands more requisites entirely unnecessary, useless and frustrative of testator’s will, such interpretation must be disregarded.

On the ground for appeal: The court stated that, in the absence of any proof to the contrary, it is reasonable to assume that the testatrix recognized the dialect in which the will is written because it was drafted in Cebu City and in that area's dialect, where she was a neighbor.

 

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