Case Digest (G.R. No. L-14322)
Facts:
In the Matter of the Testate Estate of Petronila Tampoy, Deceased, G.R. No. L-14322. February 25, 1960, the Supreme Court En Banc, Bautista Angelo, J., writing for the Court.
The petition for probate was filed to admit to probate a two‑page instrument alleged to be the last will and testament of Petronila Tampoy. The petitioner before the trial court and appellant to this Court is Diosdada Alberastine (the proponent), who claimed under the will as successor to Carmen Alberastine, an instituted heir who predeceased her a fortnight after the testatrix's death.
At the trial level the petition was published in accordance with law and oral and documentary evidence was presented. The trial court made detailed factual findings: on 19 November 1939 Bonifacio Minoza read the will aloud to the testatrix in her house in Argao, Cebu, in the presence of three instrumental witnesses (Rosario K. Chan, Mauricio de la Pena and Simeona Omboy). The testatrix requested Minoza to write her name at the foot of the will on page two; the testatrix then impressed her thumbmark between her name and surname on page two; Minoza signed page two; and the three instrumental witnesses signed at the foot of the attestation clause on page two and on the left margins of page two and page one in the presence of the testatrix and others. Importantly, neither the testatrix nor Minoza signed or impressed the testatrix's thumbmark on the left margin or elsewhere of the first page. The testatrix died on 22 February 1957; the instituted heir Carmen died on 7 March 1957, leaving her mother, the petitioner, as claimant.
There was no opposition to the petition for probate; the three instrumental witnesses testified that the document truly reflected the testatrix’s voluntary will. Despite the unopposed proof of testamentary intent and the witnesses’ attestations on page two and marginal signatures, the trial court de...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the petition to admit the two‑page instrument to probate properly denied because the first page lacked the testatrix’s thumbmark, notwithstanding uncontroverted testimony and attestation on the second page?
- May a court cure or dispense with a will’s defective execution where statutory formalities (signature/thumbmark on each page and witness attestation on each page)...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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