- CASE DIGEST -
Sps. Ajero
v. CA
G.R. No.
106720, September 15, 1994
FACTS: The holographic will of Annie San was submitted for probate.
Private respondent opposed the petition on the grounds that: neither the
testament’s body nor the signature therein was in decedent’s handwriting; it
contained alterations and corrections which were not duly signed by decedent;
and, the will was procured by petitioners through improper pressure and undue
influence.
The petition was also contested by Dr. Ajero with respect to the
disposition in the will of a house and lot. He claimed that said property could
not be conveyed by decedent in its entirety, as she was not its sole owner.
However, the trial court still admitted the decedent’s holographic will
to probate. The trial court held that since it must decide only the question of
the identity of the will, its due execution and the testamentary capacity of
the testatrix, it finds no reason for the disallowance of the will for its
failure to comply with the formalities prescribed by law nor for lack of
testamentary capacity of the testatrix.
On appeal, the CA reversed said Decision holding that the decedent did
not comply with Articles 813 and 814 of the NCC. It found that certain
dispositions in the will were either unsigned or undated, or signed by not
dated. It also found that the erasures, alterations and cancellations made had
not been authenticated by decedent.
Articles
813 and 814 of the New Civil Code, which read, as follows:
Art. 813: When a number of dispositions appearing in a
holographic will are signed without being dated, and the last disposition has a
signature and date, such date validates the dispositions preceding it, whatever
be the time of prior dispositions.
Art. 814: In case of insertion, cancellation, erasure
or alteration in a holographic will, the testator must authenticate the same by
his full signature.
ISSUE: Whether the holographic will should be admitted
to probate.
RULING: YES. Article 813 shows that its requirement affects the validity
of the dispositions contained in the holographic will, but not its probate. If
the testator fails to sign and date some of the dispositions, the result is
that these dispositions cannot be effectuated. Such failure, however, does not
render the whole testament void.
Likewise, a holographic will can still be admitted to probate
notwithstanding non-compliance with the provisions of Article 814.
Unless the authenticated alterations, cancellations or insertions were
made on the date of the holographic will or on testator’s signature, their
presence does not invalidate the will itself. The lack of authentication will
only result in disallowance of such changes.
Section 9, Rule 76 of the Rules of Court and Article 839 of the Civil Code enumerate the grounds for disallowance of wills. These lists are exclusive; no other grounds can serve to disallow a will. In a petition to admit a holographic will, the only issues to be resolved are:
1.whether the instrument submitted is, indeed, the decedent’s last will and testament;
2.whether said will was executed in accordance with the formalities prescribed by law;
3.whether the decedent had the necessary testamentary capacity at the time the will was executed; and
4.whether the execution of the will and its signing were the voluntary acts of the decedent.
In the case of holographic wills, what assures authenticity is the requirement
that they be totally authographic or handwritten by the testator himself.
Failure to strictly observe other formalities will no result in the
disallowance of a holographic will that is unquestionable handwritten by the
testator.
No comments:
Post a Comment