Succession Flashcards
What is succession
Mode of acquisition by which the PRO to the extent of the value of the inheritance , of a person are transmitted to another through his death either through a will or by operation of law
What does inheritance include?
All PRO of a person which are not extinguished by death.
Also all of those which have accrued thereto since the time of death
When are rights to the succession transmitted?
Rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of death
What are the kinds of Successions?
Testamentary - Results from the designation of an heir, made in a VALID will in a form prescribed by law
Legal/Intestate - When a person dies without a will; Will is void or loses its validity; Will does not institute heirs; heirs instituted are incapable of succeeding the decedent
Mixed - Effected partly by will and partly by operation of law
What is a will
A will is an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control a certain degree of his estate to take effect after his death
Kinds of wills?
Notarial Will - Complies with the requirements under Art. 804 and 809 of the CC
Holographic Will - One which is entirely written, dated and signed by the hand of the testator.
Characteristics of a Will
- Strictly Personal - The making of a will is a strictly personal act, whose execution cannot be left to the discretion of a third person
- Act mortis causa - Takes effect only after the death of the testator
- Ambulatory - May be revoked any time before the death of the testator
- Individual Act - joint wills cannot be executed by Filipinos, even if made abroad
- Purely Statutory - The right to dispose of property by will is a statutory right, not a natural one
- Unilateral - Testator’s heirs are not required to aquiesce to the testementary dispositions to make a will valid.
What can the testator entrust to a third person?
Article 786.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.
What law governs the validity of a will?
The law in force at the time of the execution of the will
What governs the intrinsic validity of the will?
The law of the decedent’s nationality at the time of his death
What are the contents of the will which shall be governed by the national law of the decedent?
- Order of succession;
- Amount of successional rights;
- Intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions;
- Capacity to succeed.
What formalities should be complied with if a Filipino who is abroad decided to execute a will therein?
Article 815.When a Filipino is in a foreign country, he is authorized to make a will in any of the forms established by the law of the country in which he may be. Such will may be probated in the Philippines. (n)
What formalities should be complied with if an aliien who is abroad wants to have his or her will probated in the Philippines?
Article 816.The will of an alien who is abroad produces effect in the Philippines if made with the formalities prescribed by the law of the place in which he resides, or according to the formalities observed in his country, or in conformity with those which this Code prescribes. (n)
What formalities should be complied with if an alien wants to execute a will in the Philippines?
Article 817.A will made in the Philippines by a citizen or subject of another country, which is executed in accordance with the law of the country of which he is a citizen or subject, and which might be proved and allowed by the law of his own country, shall have the same effect as if executed according to the laws of the Philippines. (n)
What governs the instrinsic validity of a will
The law of the decedent’s nationality at the time of his death
What are the requisites for capacity to make a will?
- The testator must not be expressly prohibited by law to make a will
- The testator must at least be 18 years old
- The testator must be of sound mind at the time of the execution of the will
Is the will invalidated if after execution thereof, the testator becomes incapacitated?
No. Supervening capacity does not invalidate an effective will.
Conversely, a will made by an incapacitated does not become valid if he/she later becomes capacitated.
What are the criteria to consider the testator of sound mind at the time of the execution of the will?
At the time of the making of the will, the testator should know:
1. the nature of the estate to be disposed of;
2. the proper object of his/her bounty
3. Character of the testamentary act
2 kinds of wills. Explain Each
Notarial Will - needs to comply with the formal requirements under Arts. 804-808 for its validity
Holographic Will - one which is entirely written, dated and signed by the testator
Most BASIC requirement for wills?
It must be in the writing and be made in a language or dialect know to the testator
What are the additional requirements for notarial wills?
- It must be subscribed at the end thereof, either by the testator himself or some other person in the testator’s presence under his express direction;
- It must be attested and subscribed by at least 3 credible witnesses in the presence of the testator and of one another
- The testaor and the witnesses must sign every page on the left margin in the presence of one another
- All pages must be numbered correlatively in letters on the upper part of each page
- It must contain an attestation clause
- It must be acknowledged before a notary public
Contents of the attestation clause?
- Number of pages on which the will is written
- The fact that the testator signed the will and every page thereof, or caused some other person to sign his name under his express direction in the presence of the three witnesses
- The fact that all the witnesses witnessed and signed the will and all the pages thereof in the presence of the testator and of one another
What is the rule if the testator is blind or a deaf-mute?
Blind - Will shall be read to him twice, once by the subscribing witness and again by the notary public before whom the will was acknowledged
Deaf/Deaf-mute - He/she must personally read the will, if able to do so . Otherwise she/he shall designate two other persons to read it and communicate it to him the contents thereof
What is the substantial compliance rule in relation to succession?
- In the absence of bad faith, forgery, fraud or undue influence, defects and imperfections in the form of the attestation clause or in the language used therein shall not render the will invalid if it is proved that iw was executed and attested in substantial compliance with Art. 805
Formal Requirements of a Holographic Will
- It must be in writing
- It must be in a language or dialect known to the testator
- It must be entirely written, dated and signed by the tetator.
How can the testator validate the dispositions written below his/her signature?
The dispositions of the testator written below his signature must be dated and signed to make them valid.
When dispositions are signed without being dated, and the last signature has a signature and date, such date validates the dispositions preceding it, whatever be the time of the prior dispositions.
Purpose of Reserva Troncal
To assure the return of a reservable property to the third degree relatives belonging to the line from which the property originally came, and to avoid it being dissipated into and by the relatives of the inheriting ascendant.
Requisites for Reserva Troncal
- Property was acquired by a descendant from an ascendant or from a brother or sister by gratuitous title;
- The descendant died without an issue;
- Property inherited by another ascendant is by operation of law;
There are relatives within the third degree from which the said property came.
Requisites for a valid Disinheritance (VELETSIR)
- Must be made in a Valid will
- Must be made Expressly
- Must be for a Legal cause
- Must be for an Existing cause
- Must be Total or Complete
- The cause must be Stated in the will
- The heir disinherited must be clearly Identified
- The will must not have been Revoked
Preterition vs. Valid Disinheritance
- P - The omission may either be intentional or unintentional
D - Disinehritance is ALWAYS intentional - P - may be with cause or without cause
D - Cause must always be stated in the will; must be true and legal - P - Pretertion annuls the institution, hence the omitted inherits
D - The disinherited inherits NOTHING (either by legitime or free portion)
4.
P - May exist with or without a will (as when everything is given to heirs by way of donation inter vivos)
D - A will is always required
- P - institution is always void XP: When the preterited heir predeceases the testator
D - may be VALID when requirements are followed
Can a will still be revoked?
Yes. A will may still be revoked by the testator at any time prior his death and any waiver of this right is void. The same rule holds true even if the will has already been probated
Modes of revocation of wills
- Implication of law
- Will, codicil or some other writing executed as provided in the case of wills
- By burning, tearing, cancelling or obliterating the will WITH THE INTENTION OF REVOKING it, by the testator himself or some other person is his presnce and by his direct expression
Theory of Dependent Relative Revocation
Where the act of destruction is connected with the making of another will so as fairly to raise the inference that the testator meant the revocation of the old to depend on the eficacy of the new disposition intended to be substituted, the revocation will be conditional and dependent upon the efficacy of the new disposition;
if for any reason the new ill intended to be made as a substitute is inoperative, the revocation fails and the original remains in full force.
Effect of Revocations based on a false cause
The will shall remain valid, the revocation which was based on a false or illegal cause shall be void.
Who are compulsory heirs
- Legitimate Children and descendants, with respect to their legitimate parents and descendants
- In default of the foregoing, legitimate parents and ascendants, with respect to their legitimate children and descendants;
- The widow or widower;
- Illegitimate Childnen.
Primary vs Secondary vs Concurring compulsory heirs
Primary compulsory heirs - those who have precedence over and exclude other compulsory heirs
ex. Legitimate children and descendants
Secondary compulsory heirs - Those who succeed only in the absence of PCH
ex. Legitimate parents and ascendants
Concurring compulsory heirs - Succeed with the PCH or SCH
ex. Illegitimate Children or Surviving Spouse
Is the will valid even if the testator did not institute any heir?
Yes. A will shall be valid even though it does not contain an institution of an heir, or such institution does not comprise the entire estate.
In such cases, the testamentary disposition made shall be complied with and the remainder of the estate shall pass to the legal heirs
Requisities of fideicommissary substitution
- There must be a first heir called primarily to the enjoyment of the estate.
- There must be a second heir (fideicommissary)
- There must be an obligation imposed upon him to preserve and transmit to a third person the whole or part of the estate.
Define Legitime
- It is that part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for certain heirs who are therefore called compulsory heirs
Who are obliged to collate?
Every compulsory heirs who wsucceeds with other compulsory heirs, must bring into the mass of the estate any property or right which he may have received from the decedent by way of donation or gratuitous title
Who are not obliged to collate
- If expressly stated in the deed of donation that the property shall not be subject to collation, it shall not be charged to the legitime
- If the donee who is a compulsory heirs repudiates his inheritance, he is not obliged to collate the property. Donation shall be charged to the disposable free portion.
- A suriving spouse who, during the marriage, received a donation from a deceased spouse is not required to collate
What must be brought to collation?
- Donation Inter Vivos by gratuitous title
- Any sums paid by a parent in satisfaction of debts of his children, election expenses, fines and similar expenses
- Wedding gifts by the parents and ascendants consisting of jewelry, clothing and outfit, except if the value exceeds one tenth of the disposable free portion
What need not be brought to collation?
- Expenses for support, education, medical attendance, even in extraordinary illness, apprenticeship
- Expenses incurred by parents in giving their children a professional, vocational, or other career
XP: Parents otherwise provide or they impair the legitime - Donations to the spouse of the child
XP: given to spouses jointly, then the other half must be brought to collation
What are the ways in which a testator may deprive a compulsory heir of his legitime?
- Disinheritance for causes expressly provided for by law.
- Preterition or omission of one, some or all of the comoulsory heirs whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator
- By an incomplete legitime
Effect of an incomplete legitime
Any compulsory heirs to whom the testator has left by any title less than the legitime belonging to him may demand that the same be fully satisfied
Effect of inofficious testamentary dispostions
They shall be reduced on petition of the same insofar as they may be inofficious or excessive
Preterition
Omission of one, some or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living ath the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator.
Effect of preterition
annuls the institution of heirs ; but the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.
Can the descendants of validly disinherited heirs take he place of the latter in inheriting from the testator
YES. They shall take their place and preserve the rights of compulsory heirs with respect to the legitime; but the disinherited parent shall not have the usufruct or administration of the property which constitutes the legitime
