Succession

Question 1

What is succession?

Answer 1

Art. 774. Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his will or by operation of law.

Question 2

What is a decedent and a testator?

Answer 2

In this Title, “decedent” is the general term applied to the person whose property is transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will. If he left a will, he is also called the testator.

Question 3

What is an inheritance?

Answer 3

Art. 776. The inheritance includes all the property, rights and obligations of a person which are not extinguished by his death.

Question 4

How is the right of succession transmitted?

Answer 4

Art. 777. The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent.

Question 5

What are the kinds of succession?

Answer 5

1. Testamentary;
2. Legal or intestate
3. Mixed

Question 6

What is testamentary succession?

Answer 6

Testamentary succession is that which results from the designation of an heir, made in a will executed in the form prescribed by law.

Question 7

What is a mixed succession?

Answer 7

Mixed succession is that effected partly by will and partly by operation of law.

Question 8

What constitutes the inheritance?

Answer 8

Art. 781. The inheritance of a person includes not only the property and the transmissible rights and obligations existing at the time of his death, but also those which have accrued thereto since the opening of the succession.

Question 9

Define an heir, devisees and legatees

Answer 9

Art. 782. An heir is a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law.

Devisees and legatees are persons to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given by virtue of a will.

Question 10

What is a will?

Answer 10

Art. 783. A will is an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of this estate, to take effect after his death.

Question 11

What is the provision regarding the making of a will?

Answer 11

Art. 784. The making of a will is a strictly personal act; it cannot be left in whole or in part of the discretion of a third person, or accomplished through the instrumentality of an agent or attorney.

Question 12

What is the prohibition with regard to the duration or efficacy of the designation of heirs, devisees or legatees, or the determination of the portions which they are to take?

Answer 12

Art. 785. The duration or efficacy of the designation of heirs, devisees or legatees, or the determination of the portions which they are to take, when referred to by name, cannot be left to the discretion of a third person.

Question 13

What will the testator entrust to the third person?

Answer 13

The testator may entrust to a third person the distribution of specific property or sums of money that he may leave in general to specified classes or causes, and also the designation of the persons, institutions or establishments to which such property or sums are to be given or applied.

Question 14

What is prohibited by the testator with regard to testamentary disposition?

Answer 14

Art. 787. The testator may not make a testamentary disposition in such manner that another person has to determine whether or not it is to be operative.

Question 15

What is the provision regarding the interpretation of the testamentary disposition?

Answer 15

Art. 788. If a testamentary disposition admits of different interpretations, in case of doubt, that interpretation by which the disposition is to be operative shall be preferred.

Question 16

How to interpret the will when there is an imperfect description?

Answer 16

Art. 789. When there is an imperfect description, or when no person or property exactly answers the description, mistakes and omissions must be corrected, if the error appears from the context of the will or from extrinsic evidence, excluding the oral declarations of the testator as to his intention; and when an uncertainty arises upon the face of the will, as to the application of any of its provisions, the testator’s intention is to be ascertained from the words of the will, taking into consideration the circumstances under which it was made, excluding such oral declarations.

Question 17

What is the rule regarding the words of a will?

Answer 17

Art. 790. The words of a will are to be taken in their ordinary and grammatical sense, unless a clear intention to use them in another sense can be gathered, and that other can be ascertained.

Technical words in a will are to be taken in their technical sense, unless the context clearly indicates a contrary intention, or unless it satisfactorily appears that he was unacquainted with such technical sense.

Question 18

What are the two modes of interpreting a will?

Answer 18

Art. 791. The words of a will are to receive an interpretation which will give to every expression some effect, rather than one which will render any of the expressions inoperative; and of two modes of interpreting a will, that is to be preferred which will prevent intestacy.

Question 19

What is the rule regarding the invalidity of one of several dispositions contained in a will?

Answer 19

Art. 792. The invalidity of one of several dispositions contained in a will does not result in the invalidity of the other dispositions, unless it is to be presumed that the testator would not have made such other dispositions if the first invalid disposition had not been made.

Question 20

What is the rule if property acquired after the making of a will?

Answer 20

Art. 793. Property acquired after the making of a will shall only pass thereby, as if the testator had possessed it at the time of making the will, should it expressly appear by the will that such was his intention.

Question 21

What is covered in every devise or legacy?

Answer 21

Art. 794. Every devise or legacy shall cover all the interest which the testator could device or bequeath in the property disposed of, unless it clearly appears from the will that he intended to convey a less interest.

Question 22

What is the validity of a will?

Answer 22

Art. 795. The validity of a will as to its form depends upon the observance of the law in force at the time it is made.

Question 23

Who are not expressly prohibited by law to make a will?

Answer 23

Art. 796. All persons who are not expressly prohibited by law may make a will.

Question 24

What is the age limit in the making of a will?

Answer 24

Art. 797. Persons of either sex under eighteen years of age cannot make a will.

Question 25

What is required in the making of a will at the time of its execution?

Answer 25

Art. 798. In order to make a will it is essential that the testator be of sound mind at the time of its execution.

Question 26

What is the context of being in a “sound mind”?

Answer 26

Art. 799. To be of sound mind, it is not necessary that the testator be in full possession of all his reasoning faculties, or that his mind be wholly unbroken, unimpaired, or unshattered by disease, injury or other cause.

It shall be sufficient if the testator was able at the time of making the will to know the nature of the estate to be disposed of, the proper objects of his bounty, and the character of the testamentary act.

Question 27

What is the presumptive principle with regard to having a sound mind? Who has the burden of proof?

Answer 27

Art. 800. The law presumes that every person is of sound mind, in the absence of proof to the contrary.

The burden of proof that the testator was not of sound mind at the time of making his dispositions is on the person who opposes the probate of the will; but if the testator, one month, or less, before making his will was publicly known to be insane, the person who maintains the validity of the will must prove that the testator made it during a lucid interval.

Question 28

How is supervening incapacity affects a will?

Answer 28

Art. 801. Supervening incapacity does not invalidate an effective will, nor is the will of an incapable validated by the supervening of capacity.

Question 29

Can a married woman make a will on his own accord?

Answer 29

Art. 802. A married woman may make a will without the consent of her husband, and without the authority of the court.

Question 30

Can a married woman dispose her properties through a will?

Answer 30

Art. 803. A married woman may dispose by will of all her separate property as well as her share of the conjugal partnership or absolute community property.

Question 31

What is the language of a will?/

Answer 31

Art. 804. Every will must be in writing and executed in a language or dialect known to the testator.

Question 32

What are the formal requirements of an ordinary or notarial will?

Answer 32

W2-Sampal
a. in WRITING
b. Executed in a LANGUAGE or dialect known to the testator
c. SUBSCRIPTION- Subscribed at the end thereof by the testator himself or by testator’s name written by some other person in his presence and by his express direction
d. Attested and subscribed by 3 or more credible WITNESSES in the presence of the testator and of one another
e. MARGINAL signature- All of the pages are signed, except the last, on the left margin by:
i. The testator or the person requested by him to write his name, in the presence of the witnesses; and
ii. The instrumental witness, in the presence of the testator and of one another;
f. PAGE numbering- all the pages are numbered correlatively in letters placed on the upper part of each page
g. ATTESTATION clause executed by the witnesses; and
h. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT- Properly acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the said witnesses

Question 33

What is required in a notarial will?

Answer 33

Art. 806. Every will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses. The notary public shall not be required to retain a copy of the will, or file another with the Office of the Clerk of Court.

Question 34

What is the provision regarding a deaf or deaf-mute testator?

Answer 34

Art. 806. Every will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses. The notary public shall not be required to retain a copy of the will, or file another with the Office of the Clerk of Court.

Question 35

What is the provision if the testator is blind?

Answer 35

Art. 808. If the testator is blind, the will shall be read to him twice; once, by one of the subscribing witnesses, and again, by the notary public before whom the will is acknowledged