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    PEREGRINO - Tanchanco v. Santos - G.R. No. 204793

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    Precious Grace F. Peregrino
    The document discusses a case regarding the probate of a will. It summarizes the facts of the case, which involve two daughters contesting the will of their mother. It discusses two issues: whether the will complied with legal formalities and whether the witnesses were competent. It finds that the will substantially complied with requirements and that the witnesses were qualified. It allows the probate of the will.

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    PEREGRINO - Tanchanco v. Santos - G.R. No. 204793

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    Precious Grace F. Peregrino
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    The document discusses a case regarding the probate of a will. It summarizes the facts of the case, which involve two daughters contesting the will of their mother. It discusses two issues: whether the will complied with legal formalities and whether the witnesses were competent. It finds that the will substantially complied with requirements and that the witnesses were qualified. It allows the probate of the will.

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    The document discusses a case regarding the probate of a will. It summarizes the facts of the case, which involve two daughters contesting the will of their mother. It discusses two issues: whether the will complied with legal formalities and whether the witnesses were competent. It finds that the will substantially complied with requirements and that the witnesses were qualified. It allows the probate of the will.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    5 views2 pages

    PEREGRINO - Tanchanco v. Santos - G.R. No. 204793

    Uploaded by

    Precious Grace F. Peregrino
    The document discusses a case regarding the probate of a will. It summarizes the facts of the case, which involve two daughters contesting the will of their mother. It discusses two issues: whether the will complied with legal formalities and whether the witnesses were competent. It finds that the will substantially complied with requirements and that the witnesses were qualified. It allows the probate of the will.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Peregrino, Precious Grace F.

    JD 2B

    Tanchanco v. Santos
    G.R. No. 204793, June 08, 2020
    HERNANDO, J :

    DOCTRINE: Any person of sound mind and of the age of eighteen years or more, and not blind,
    deaf or dumb, and able to read and write, may be a witness to the execution of a will. Lawyers are
    not disqualified from being witnesses to a will; the subscribing witnesses testified to the due
    execution of the will.

    TOPIC: Art 820-Art 824 Civil Code

    FACTS:

    Consuelo Santiago Garcia passed away on August 14, 1985. She has two daughters, Remedios
    Garcia Tanchanco (Remedios) and Natividad Garcia Santos (Natividad), Remedios predeceased
    Consuelo in 1985 and left behind her children, which included Catalino and Ronaldo Tanchanco
    (collectively the Tanchanco’s). Consuelo left a notarial will.

    Natividad prayed that letters testamentary be issued in her favor. The Tanchanco’s filed an
    opposition to Natividad’s petition for probate alleging that: (a) the will’s attestation clause did not
    state the number of pages, (b) the will was written in Tagalog and not the English language usually
    used by Consuelo in most of her legal documents, (c) Consuelo could have not gone to Makati
    where the purported will was notarized considering her failing health and the distance of her
    residence in Pasay City, (d) and that her signature was forged. They prayed for the disallowance
    of probate and for the proceeding to be converted into an intestate one.
    Natividad contended that there was substantial compliance with Article 805 of the Civil Code.
    Although the attestation clause did not state the number of pages comprising the will, the same
    was clearly indicated in the acknowledgment portion. Tanchanco's allegations are not supported
    with proof. The Tanchanco’s rebutted that the number of pages be found in the body of the will
    and not just in the acknowledgment portion.

    ISSUE:

    1. Whether or not the will faithfully complied with the formalities required by law or whether
    there was substantial compliance in this case.
    2. Whether or not the witnesses present on the execution of the will were competent and
    credible.

    RULING:

    Yes, the will faithfully and substantially complied with the formalities required by law.
    It is settled that "the law favors testacy over intestacy" and hence, "the probate of the will cannot
    be dispensed with. Article 838 of the Civil Code provides that no will shall pass either real or
    personal property unless it is proved and allowed in accordance with the Rules of Court.
    Peregrino, Precious Grace F.
    JD 2B

    Thus, unless the will is probated, the right of a person to dispose of his property may be rendered
    nugatory." In a similar way, "testate proceedings for the settlement of the estate of the decedent
    take precedence over intestate proceedings for the same purpose." The rule, as it now stands, is
    that omissions which can be supplied by an examination of the will itself, without the need of
    resorting to extrinsic evidence, will not be fatal and correspondingly, would not obstruct the
    allowance to probate the will being assailed. However,those omissions which cannot be supplied
    except by evidence alone would result in the invalidation of the attestation clause and ultimately,
    of the will itself. In the instant case, the attestation clause is indisputably omitted to mention the
    number of pages comprising the will. Nevertheless, the acknowledgment portion of the will
    supplied the omission by stating that the will has five pages, to wit: "Ang HULING HABILING
    ito ay binubuo ng lima (5) na dahon, kasama ang dahong kinaroroonan ngPagpapatunayat
    Pagpapatotoong ito." Undoubtedly, such substantially complied with Article 809 of the Civil Code.
    Although there should be strict compliance with the substantial requirements of the law in order
    to insure the authenticity of the will, the formal imperfections should be brushed aside when they
    do not affect its purpose and which, when taken into account, may only defeat the testator's will."

    2. Yes, the witnesses present on the execution of the will were competent and credible.

    Article 820 of the Civil Code provides that, "any person of sound mind and of the age of eighteen
    years or more, and not blind, deaf or dumb, and able to read and write, may be a witness to the
    execution of a will mentioned in Article 805 of this Code."

    Here, the attesting witnesses to the will in question are all lawyers equipped with the
    aforementioned qualifications. In addition, they are not disqualified from being witnesses under
    Article 821 of the Civil Code, even if they all worked at the same law firm at the time. As pointed
    out by Natividad, these lawyers would not risk their professional licenses by knowingly signing a
    document which they knew was forged or executed under duress; moreover, they did not have
    anything to gain from the estate when they signed as witnesses. All the same, petitioners did not
    present controverting proof to discredit them or to show that they were disqualified from being
    witnesses to Consuelo's will at the time of its execution.

    The lawyer-witnesses unanimously confirmed that the will was duly executed by Consuelo who
    was of sound mind and body at the time of signing. The Tanchancos failed to dispute the
    competency and credibility of these witnesses; thus, the Court is disposed to give credence to their
    testimonies that Consuelo executed the will in accordance with the formalities of the law and with
    full mental faculties and willingness to do so.

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