Case Digest (G. R. No. 33430)
Facts:
Testamentaria de la Pinada Andrea Torres y Rulz Trasmonte, G.R. No. 33430, December 05, 1931, the Supreme Court, Villa-Real, J., writing for the Court.
The petitioning/appellant was Concepcion Torres (solicitante y apelante); the respondents/opponents included Marla Torres and others (opositores y apelados). The decedent and testatrix was Andrea Torres y Ruiz Trasmonte.
On 22 September 1928 the testatrix expressed her desire to make a will. She summoned the lawyer Vicente Araneta, who took down her dictation in the presence of Cr. Maximiano S. Villanueva, Timoteo C. Diaz and Vicente C. Torres. Araneta asked whether the will should be in Spanish or Visayan; the testatrix replied she was indifferent and said she also understood Spanish. Araneta drafted the testament (Exh. “A”) in Spanish, had it typed, and Timoteo C. Diaz read it aloud in Spanish before the testatrix and the others. After she affirmed understanding and assent, Araneta nevertheless translated it into Visayan; signatures were then affixed in the statutory form.
After Andrea’s death on 16 September 1929, Concepcion presented Exh. “A” for legalization in the Juzgado de Primera Instancia of Negros Occidental. Opponents (Cresenciano, Maria, Manuel and Angela Torres) objected alleging the will was not written in a language understood by the testatrix, that she suffered paralysis and mental incapacity, and that she acted under undue influence. At the legalization hearing only two instrumental witnesses testified — Dr. Maximiano E. Villanueva and Vicente Araneta; the third witness, Pascual Bailon, though present, was not called by the applicant’s counsel, who declared suspicions of his hostility and left the decision to the trial court.
The trial court denied legalization of Exh. “A”, concluding the testatrix did not understand Spanish and that legalization could not proceed on the testimony of only two instrumental witnesses absent the third. Conc...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the testatrix understand the Spanish language sufficiently for a will drafted and read in Spanish to be valid?
- Did the failure to present the third instrumental witness (Pascual Bailon) bar legalization where there was evidence the omitted wit...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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