The document discusses a court case regarding the testamentary capacity of Placido Valmonte at the time he executed his last will and testament. It provides background on Placido, including that he was 83 years old at the time. It describes the contents and execution of the will, and discusses competing testimony from those involved in the case regarding Placido's mental state. The issue before the court was whether Placido had testamentary capacity despite claims he was in an advanced state of senility. Applying legal guidelines, the court determined Placido understood the nature of his estate, his beneficiaries, and the testamentary act, and thus had capacity to make the will.
The document discusses a court case regarding the testamentary capacity of Placido Valmonte at the time he executed his last will and testament. It provides background on Placido, including that he was 83 years old at the time. It describes the contents and execution of the will, and discusses competing testimony from those involved in the case regarding Placido's mental state. The issue before the court was whether Placido had testamentary capacity despite claims he was in an advanced state of senility. Applying legal guidelines, the court determined Placido understood the nature of his estate, his beneficiaries, and the testamentary act, and thus had capacity to make the will.
The document discusses a court case regarding the testamentary capacity of Placido Valmonte at the time he executed his last will and testament. It provides background on Placido, including that he was 83 years old at the time. It describes the contents and execution of the will, and discusses competing testimony from those involved in the case regarding Placido's mental state. The issue before the court was whether Placido had testamentary capacity despite claims he was in an advanced state of senility. Applying legal guidelines, the court determined Placido understood the nature of his estate, his beneficiaries, and the testamentary act, and thus had capacity to make the will.
The document discusses a court case regarding the testamentary capacity of Placido Valmonte at the time he executed his last will and testament. It provides background on Placido, including that he was 83 years old at the time. It describes the contents and execution of the will, and discusses competing testimony from those involved in the case regarding Placido's mental state. The issue before the court was whether Placido had testamentary capacity despite claims he was in an advanced state of senility. Applying legal guidelines, the court determined Placido understood the nature of his estate, his beneficiaries, and the testamentary act, and thus had capacity to make the will.
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SUCCESSION DIGEST #26 ART 799
SOUNDNESS OF MIND PRELIM
G.R. No. 157451 December 16, 2005
LETICIA VALMONTE ORTEGA, Petitioner, vs. JOSEFINA C. VALMONTE, Respondent. STATE OF SENILITY Sound mind FACTS: Placido lived for a long time in the United States In 1980, Placido finally came home to stay in the Philippines He lived in the house and lot in Makati, which he owned in common with his sister Ciriaca Valmonte and it was titled in their names [TCT 123468]. At the age of 80 he wed Josefina who was then 28 years old, which was solemnized by Judge Perfecto Laguio, Jr. [February 5, 1982] But Placido died on October 8, 1984 of a cause written down as COR PULMONALE. Placido executed a notarial last will and testament: 1. written in English and 2. consisting of two (2) pages, and 3. dated June 15, 1983 but acknowledged only on August 9, 1983 The first page contains the: 1. entire testamentary dispositions and a 2. part of the attestation clause, and was 3. signed at the end or bottom of that page by the testator and on the left hand margin by the three instrumental witnesses The second page contains the:
1. continuation of the attestation
clause and the acknowledgment, and was 2. signed by the witnesses at the end of the attestation clause and again on the left hand margin It provides in the body among others that: - He was 83 years old and being of sound and disposing mind and memory as he declared his last will and testament Leticia opposed the allowance of the will and one of the grounds was that: - The testator was mentally incapable to make a will at the time of the alleged execution he being in an ADVANCE STATE OF SENILITY Petitioner Josefina testified and called as witnesses: 1. notary public Atty. Floro Sarmiento, who prepared and notarized the will, and 2. instrumental witnesses spouses Eugenio Gomez, Jr. and Feliza Gomez and Josie Collado For the opposition, the oppositor Leticia and her daughter Mary Jane Ortega testified. According to Josefina: A. It was in one of his travels by his lonesome self when the notarial will was made. The will was witnessed by the: 1. spouses Eugenio and Feliza Gomez, who were their wedding sponsors, and 2. Josie Collado B. She had no knowledge of the existence of the last will and testament of her husband, but just serendipitously found it in his attache case after his death.
C. The value of property both real and
personal left by the testator is worth more or less P100,000.00. D. The testator never suffered mental infirmity because despite his old age: 1. he went alone to the market which is two to three kilometers from their home 2. cooked and cleaned the kitchen and sometimes if she could not accompany him 3. even traveled to Manila alone to claim his monthly pension 4. her husband was in good health and that he was hospitalized only because of a cold but which eventually resulted in his death Notary Public Floro Sarmiento, the notary public who notarized the testators will, testified: 1. it was in the first week of June 1983 when the testator together with the three witnesses of the will went to his house cum law office and requested him to prepare his last will and testament 2. after the testator instructed him on the terms and dispositions he wanted on the will, the notary public told them to come back on June 15, 1983 to give him time to prepare it 3. after he had prepared the will the notary public kept it safely hidden and locked in his drawer 4. the testator and his witnesses returned on the appointed date but the notary public was out of town so they were instructed by his wife to come back on August 9, 1983, and which they did. 5. before the testator and his witnesses signed the prepared will, the notary public explained to them each and every term thereof in Ilocano, a dialect which the testator spoke and understood
6. explained that though it appears
that the will was signed by the testator and his witnesses on June 15, 1983, the day when it should have been executed had he not gone out of town, the formal execution was actually on August 9, 1983 7. reasoned that he no longer changed the typewritten date of June 15, 1983 because he did not like the document to appear dirty. 8. to his observation the testator was physically and mentally capable at the time he affixed his signature on the will Attesting witnesses to the will corroborated the testimony of the notary public, testifying that the: - testator executed the will in question in their presence while he was of sound and disposing mind and that he was strong and in good health Oppositor Leticia attacked the mental capacity of the testator, declaring that at the time of the execution of the notarial will the testator: 1. was already 83 years old and 2. was no longer of sound mind She knew because she lived with him and they took care of him. During that time, the testators physical and mental condition showed 1. deterioration, 2. aberrations and 3. senility This was corroborated by her daughter Mary Jane Ortega for whom Placido took a fancy and wanted to marry.
ISSUE: W/N Placido Valmonte has testamentary capacity at the time he allegedly executed the subject will as he was then in an ADVANCED STATE OF SENILITY [physical and mental infirmity of old age] In determining the capacity of the testator to make a will, the Civil Code gives the following guidelines: "Article 798. In order to make a will it is essential that the testator be of sound mind at the time of its execution. "Article 799. To be of sound mind, it is not necessary that the testator be in full possession of all his reasoning faculties, or that his mind be wholly unbroken, unimpaired, or shattered by disease, injury or other cause. "It shall be sufficient if the testator was able at the time of making the will to know the: 1. nature of the estate to be disposed of, the 2. proper objects of his bounty, and the 3. character of the testamentary act. "Article 800. The law presumes that every person is of sound mind, in the absence of proof to the contrary. "The burden of proof that the testator was not of sound mind at the time of making his dispositions is on the person
who opposes the probate of the will; but if
the testator, one month, or less, before making his will was publicly known to be insane, the person who maintains the validity of the will must prove that the testator made it during a lucid interval." Article 799, the three things that the testator must have the ability to know to be considered of sound mind are as follows: (1) the nature of the estate to be disposed of, (2) the proper objects of the testators bounty, and (3) the character of the testamentary act. Applying this test to the present case, Placido had testamentary capacity at the time of the execution of his will. It must be noted that: 1. despite his advanced age, he was still able to identify accurately the kinds of property he owned, the extent of his shares in them and even their locations 2. as regards the proper objects of his bounty, it was sufficient that he identified his wife as sole beneficiary As we have stated earlier, the omission of some relatives from the will did not affect its formal validity. There being no showing of fraud in its execution, intent in its disposition becomes irrelevant.
