TESTATE ESTATE OF ABADA vs. ABAJA

TESTATE ESTATE OF ABADA vs. ABAJA

January 31, 2005

FACTS: 

Abada executed his will in 1932.  Abada died in 1940.  It was asserted that the will of Abada does not indicate that it was written in a language or dialect known to the testator and that the will was not acknowledged before a notary public, citing Articles 804 and 806 of the New Civil Code. 

ISSUE:

            What law shall govern the validity of the will?

HELD: 

The law that governs the validity of the will of Abada is the Code of Civil Procedure.  Although the laws in force at that time are the Civil Code of 1889 and Act No. 190 or the Code of Civil Procedure (which governed the execution of wills before the enactment of the New Civil Code), the Code of Civil Procedure repealed Article 685 of the Old Civil Code.  Under the Code of Civil Procedure, the intervention of a notary is not necessary in the execution of any will.  Abada’s will does not require acknowledgement before a notary public. Under Article 795, the validity of a will as to its form depends upon the observance of the law in force at the time it is made.