Case Digest (G.R. No. L-10134) Core Legal Reasoning Model
Core Legal Reasoning Model
Facts:
In Testate Estate of the Late Vicente Cagro, Vicente Cagro died in Laoangan, Pambujan, Samar, on February 14, 1949, leaving a will. The Court of First Instance of Samar, in proceedings initiated by his daughter Jesusa Cagro as petitioner and appellee, admitted the instrument to probate despite the oppositors—Pelagio Cagro and others—contesting its validity. The sole ground of objection was that, although the three attesting witnesses had signed the will on the left-hand margin of each page in compliance with the margin-signature requirement, they did not place their signatures immediately below the attestation clause, rendering that clause formally unsigned. The trial court nonetheless admitted the will, prompting this appeal.Issues:
- Whether a will is fatally defective and cannot be admitted to probate if its attestation
Case Digest (G.R. No. L-10134) Expanded Legal Reasoning Model
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model
Facts:
- Parties and procedural history
- Jesusa Cagro, petitioner and appellee, sought probate of the will of her late husband, Vicente Cagro.
- Pelagio Cagro and others, oppositors and appellants, appealed the decision of the Court of First Instance of Samar admitting the will to probate.
- Execution and contents of the will
- Testator Vicente Cagro died on February 14, 1949 in Laoangan, Pambujan, Samar.
- The will contained an attestation clause but the three subscribing witnesses did not sign at the bottom of that clause; instead, they signed on the left-hand margin of the page.
- Lower court decision and grounds of opposition
- The CFI of Samar admitted the will to probate.
- The oppositors contended that the omission of the witnesses’ signatures at the end of the attestation clause rendered the will fatally defective.
Issues:
- Whether an attestation clause unsigned at its bottom by the witnesses invalidates the will.
- Whether signatures on the left-hand margin of the will can be deemed substantial compliance with the statutory requirement for attesting witnesses.
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)