Case Digest (G.R. No. 35586)
Facts:
Caridad Alcantara de Gorostiza executed a will that was denied probate by the trial court because its attestation clause allegedly failed to state that the testatrix signed every page of the will as required by section 618, as amended, of the Code of Civil Procedure. The attestation clause certified that the testatrix, “whose name is signed hereinabove,” had published unto the witnesses the “foregoing will” of two pages and had “signed the same,” while the witnesses signed “the same and each page thereof” in the testatrix’s presence and in the presence of each other. The probate denial was appealed by Consorcia Dichoso de Tics on against Marino de Gorostiza.
Issues:
- Whether the attestation clause is fatally defective for failing to expressly state that the testatrix signed every page of the will in the presence of the attesting witnesses.
- Whether the will should nevertheless be admitted to probate despite any claimed imprecision in the attestation clause.
Ruling:
The Supreme Court reversed the trial court and ordered that the will be admitted to probate. The Court held that the attestation clause, when read as a whole, reasonably complied with the statutory requirement that the testatrix signed the will and every page thereof.
The Court also ruled that while evidence may not supply omissions in an attestation clause, the will itself could be examined, and the will showed that the testatrix and witnesses signed on the margins of the two pages and at the end.
Ratio:
The Court rejected the trial court’s strict view and construed the attestation clause’s wording—particularly “the same” and the statement that the will consisted of two pages—as necessarily implying that the testatrix signed the will and every page thereof. It emphasized that an attestation clause need not reproduce the statute verbatim, so long as compliance with what the law expects can reasonably be deduced from the language used.
Addressing another concern, the Court maintained that the attestation clause must show compliance on its face and cannot be supplemented by external evidence, but it may still be read together with the contents of the will, which in this case reflected the required marginal and end signatures.
Doctrine:
- An attestation clause is sufficient if, from its language, compliance with section 618, as amended, of the Code of Civil Procedure can reasonably be deduced, even if it does not copy the statute word for word.
- Evidence may not be used to supply omissions in an attestation clause, but the will itself may be examined to confirm the required signing.
- When attestation requirements are met, legal formalities should not defeat the testator’s validly expressed intention in the absence of fraud or bad faith.
- An attestation clause is defective if it fails to state that the testatrix signed “the will and every page thereof” in the presence of the attesting witnesses.