I'm Giancarlo Enrico S. Pozon, a Wushu instructor, investor and Barrister... That's right, Barrister; I graduated from law school and took the Bar Exams, now I'm waiting for the results. I created this blog to make Philippine Law easy to understand for the average person. It's all about free legal advice. There are many law blogs. But the problem is that many of them are written for lawyers and law students. They use words that can't be understood by ordinary people.
Many lawyers, judges and law students consider themselves as superior to most human beings because of their knowledge of the law. It bothers me since the law is supposed to serve society. Since the law is meant to serve society as a whole, it is important that is must be understood by everybody.
This does not mean that we should all become lawyers. It means that although law is a highly specialized profession, the first duty of everybody in this profession is to make the law understandable to all; that's why all these articles are free legal advice.
Like I said, this blog is about law -but it's for the ordinary people, not the lawyers. It's for the ordinary folk so they will know what is good and bad for them, and that making them aware of the law will help us all improve society as a whole. This is free legal advice for everybody!
A holographic will is a will written, dated and signed entirely in the testator's own hand. That means, it's completely handwritten by the testator himself (not typewritten or printed!) It's also valid as far as Philippine law is concerned and the formalities are not as stringent. It is also called a "secret will" because it doesn't need to be signed by witnesses and notarized by a lawyer.
Formalities
1.) Written in a language known to the testator
2.) Entirely handwritten by the testator himself
3.) The will must be dated by the testator himself
4.) The will must be signed by the testator himself
5.) There must be animus testandi/intent to make a will
6.) It must be executed at at the time holographic wills are allowed
Probate of Holographic Wills
Like ordinary/notarial wills, holographic wills have to be brought into probate. In the probate of a holographic will, it is important to prove that the signature and handwriting are the testator's; if not, the will is invalid. Regarding witnesses, their job is to prove that the handwriting in the holographic will belongs to the testator. Remember the following:
1.) If the will is not contested/questioned, at least 1 witness is required to prove that there was no fraud present.
2.) If the will is questioned/contested, at least 3 witnesses are needed.
In both cases, if there are no witnesses available, experts may be called on.
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