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!
Wills fall into the following groups:
1.) Ordinary/Notarial
2.) Holographic
3.) Nuncupative/Oral
The Civil Code doesn't recognize oral/nuncupative wills, but allows heirs to divide property extra-judicially.
Formalities of an Ordinary/Notarial Will (Art. 805, Civil Code)
1.) Must be in writing
2.) Written in a language/dialect the testator knows
3.) Signed (subscribed) by the testator himself at the end or by his name written by another person in his presence and under his orders (anything written after the end of the signature that disposes of property is not considered part of the will unless it's a codicil)
4.) Attested and subscribed to by at least 3 credible witnesses (instrumental witnesses) in the presence of each other and the testator himself.
5.) The left margin of every page (except the last) shall be signed by the witnesses and the testator (or the person signing for him)
6.) All pages shall be numbered in letters on the upper part of each page (ex. Page A, Page B, etc.) but using regular numbers (Page 1, Page 2, etc.) is allowed
7.) The attestation clause, which is at the end of the will, shall state the following:
a.) Number of pages the will is written on
b.) Testator signed or expressly had someone else sign for him in the presence of the instrumental witnesses
c.) Instrumental witnesses signed the will in the testator's presence
8.) Acknowledgment of the will before a notary public (he's not a witness)
Additional Requirements:
1.) If the testator is deaf/deaf-mute he must read the will personally or have 2 persons read and communicate it to him in a practicable manner if he can't read it.
2.) If the testator is blind, the will must be read to him twice: first by one of the instrumental witnesses and second by the notary.
Defects in the will in the form, attestation or language won't invalidate the will if it is proven that there was substantial compliance with the requirements of Art. 805 of the Civil Code and there was no fraud, undue/improper influence/pressure, bad faith or forgery present.
Qualifications of Witnesses to Notarial Wills
1.) Sound mind
2.) At least 18 years old
3.) Can read and write
4.) Not blind, deaf or mute
5.) Domiciled in the Philippines
6.) Hasn't been convicted of any other the following crimes: falsification of documents, perjury or false testimony
A witness to a notarial will can't inherit unless there are at leas 3 other witnesses to the will. The will, however, remains valid.
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