Case Summary (G.R. No. 13431)
Relevant Facts
The probated instrument consists of two sheets. The first sheet contains all testamentary dispositions and is signed at the bottom by Martin Montalban (in the name and under the direction of the testatrix) and by three witnesses. The second sheet contains only the attestation clause and is signed at the bottom by the same three instrumental witnesses. Neither sheet bears signatures in the left margin by the testatrix and the three witnesses, nor are the sheets numbered in letters at the top. The appellants argued that these omissions rendered the will noncompliant with Act No. 2645 and thus not provable.
Legal Issue
Whether the omissions—(1) lack of signatures on the left margin of each sheet and (2) absence of correlatively lettered page numbers on the sheets—constitute fatal defects under Act No. 2645, and whether the attestation clause required the signature of the testatrix. A subsidiary issue was whether the record sufficiently established that the testatrix knew the dialect in which the will was written.
Statutory Purpose of Margin Signatures and Pagination
The court construes Act No. 2645 as aiming to prevent substitution or removal of sheets and thereby to guarantee the truth and authenticity of testamentary dispositions. The margin signatures and the correlatively lettered page numbering are formal means to detect tampering or replacement of sheets in wills composed of multiple pages. The statutory requisites are therefore instruments to secure authenticity and to guard against fraud.
Court’s Interpretation Regarding Multi‑Sheet and Single‑Sheet Wills
The court distinguishes between wills composed of several sheets and wills whose dispositive provisions are entirely contained in a single sheet. Where the dispositive text is wholly on one sheet that has been signed at the bottom by the testator and witnesses, requiring duplicative signatures on the left margin would be purposeless. The statutory safeguards (marginal signatures and pagination) primarily address multi‑sheet instruments; applying them rigidly to a single‑sheet dispositive page would produce an interpretation that is unnecessary and that would unduly frustrate the testator’s right to make a will.
Reasoning on the Sufficiency of Bottom Signatures
The court reasons that, because the signatures at the bottom of the dispositive sheet are written in the presence of each other (testator and witnesses), they sufficiently guaranty the authenticity of that sheet. A second signature on the margin would add nothing of substance. The court rejects an interpretation that treats the location of necessary signatures as determinative of authenticity—i.e., that bottom signatures are insufficient but marginal signatures would suffice—because such a view would ascribe an irrational technicality to the statute and would elevate form over the statute’s substantive protective purpose.
Attestation Clause and the Testator’s Signature
The court holds that the attestation clause belongs to the witnesses’ function and not to the testator’s attestation role. Accordingly, the testatrix’s signature is not necessary on the attestation clause; the witnesses’ signatures thereon fulfill the attestation requirement. Thus, a second sheet containing only the attestation clause, signed at the bottom by the instrumental witnesses but not by the testatrix or bearing margin signatures, does not fail for lack of the testatrix’s signature on that clause.
Application to the Present Case
Applying these principles, the court finds that the first sheet, containing all testamentary dispositions and signed at the bottom by the testatrix (through Martin Montalban acting in her name and direction) and by three witnesses, meets the protective purpose of Act No. 2645. The second sheet, containing only the attestation clause and duly signed at the bottom by the three witnesses, likewise complies with the statute’s purpose. Therefore, the omissions of left‑margin signatures and page numbering are mere formalities unnecessary in the circumstances and do not defeat probate.
Presumption as to Knowledge of Dialect
On the ancillary contention that the record fails to show the testatrix’s knowledge of the dialect used, the court draws a reasonable presumption from the will’s own recital that it was executed in the city of Cebu and in the loc
...continue readingCase Syllabus (G.R. No. 13431)
Case Citation and Decision
- Reported at 40 Phil. 476; G.R. No. 13431; decision dated November 12, 1919.
- Decision authored by Avancea, J.
- Judgment affirmed by the Court; Arellano, C.J., Torres, Johnson, Araullo, Street, and Malcolm, JJ., concur.
- Final disposition: judgment affirmed with costs against the appellants.
Procedural History
- On September 19, 1917, the Court of First Instance of Cebu admitted to probate the will of Ana Abangan, executed July, 1916.
- Opponents appealed from that probate decision, contending defects in formalities required for valid execution and admission to probate.
- The appeal was resolved by the Supreme Court, resulting in affirmation of the probate judgment.
Facts
- The instrument probated as the will of Ana Abangan consists of two sheets.
- The first sheet contains all the testamentary dispositions and is signed at the bottom by Martin Montalban (in the name and under the direction of the testatrix) and by three witnesses.
- The second sheet contains only the attestation clause and is signed at the bottom by the three instrumental witnesses.
- Neither sheet is signed on the left margin by the testatrix and the three witnesses.
- Neither sheet is numbered by letters.
- Appellants contended that the absence of marginal signatures and paging were defects requiring denial of probate.
Statutory Provision at Issue
- Act No. 2645 is the statute applicable to execution formalities in this case.
- The statute requires, inter alia, that each and every sheet of a will be signed on the left margin by the testator and three witnesses and that the pages be numbered correlatively in letters placed on the upper part of the sheet (as interpreted in the opinion).
Issue Presented
- Whether the absence of marginal signatures by the testatrix and witnesses and the absence of lettered page numbering on the two-sheet will required denial of probate under Act No. 2645.
- Subsidiarily, whether the record shows that the testatrix knew the dialect in which the will was written.
Court’s Legal Analysis — Purpose of Statutory Formalities
- The Court reads Act No. 2645 as seeking to prevent substitution of sheets and thereby alteration of the testator’s dispositions.
- The requirement that each sheet be signed on the left margin aims to avoid substitution of any of several sheets that compose the dispositive body of the will.
- The requirement of numbering pages correlatively in letters on the upper part of the sheet serves to reveal whether any sheet of a multi-sheet will has been removed.
- The essential end of these solemnities is to guard against bad faith and fraud, to avoid substitution of wills and testa