Testamentary capacity

DearPAO,

Our grandmother recently passed away with a notarized last will and testament. Some of our relatives are con testing her last will because they do not agree with its contents. They insist that our grandmother was out of her mind during the time of the execution of the will. They claim that this is enough basis for us to set aside her last will. Although our grandmother was very old when she passed away, she was never diagnosed from the usual forgetfulness that she experienced from time to time like most people her age. Because of this, we want to know what the law says about questioning the mental state of a person who made a last will and whether we have to do anything to prove that our grandmother was of sound mind when she made her last will. We appreciate any advice you can give us. Thank you in advance!

Alecs Dear Alecs,

The Civil Code of the Philippines contains the pertinent provisions regarding your concern about the mental state of your grandmother in connection with her last will. Article 798 states that “in order to make a will it is essential that testator be of sound mind at the time of its execution.” This expresses the requirement of having a sound mind

of the execution of the will. The last part of this provision is

the mental state of the testator is important only at the time of the execution of her will. Thus, regardless if the testator had mental problems before or even after the execution of her will, what is important is that she was of sound mind at the time of the preparation of her will. This

is supported by another provision of the said law which states that:

“Article 801. Supervening incapacity does not invalidate an effective will, nor is the will of an incapable validated by the supervening of capacity.”

Having a sound mind for purpos

by the same law as follows:

“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 unshattered by disease, injury or other cause.

was able at the time of making the will to know the nature of the estate to be disposed of, the proper objects of his bounty, and the character of the testamentary act” (Ibid.).

Considering this provision, your grandmother’s legal capacity to make a will is unhampered by her old age. As mentioned above, it is the testator’s awareness and knowledge on the nature of her estate disposed, the particular object involved, and the character of his testamentary act, which are ultimately considered in determining whether she is of sound mind when she executed the will.

Furthermore, it is important to note that there is a legal presumption that testators are of sound mind when they made their will. And it is for those who intend to contest it to prove otherwise. Article 800 Civil Code of the Philippines states:

“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.”

In view of this legal presumption, you are not obligated to prove the sound mental state of your grandmother for purposes of proving that her last will is effective. Rather, it is the burden of your relatives who are alleging the unsound mental state of your grandmother to prove that she was indeed out of her mind when she made her will. Since there is no mention of the fact that your grandmother was publicly known to be insane a month before the execution of her will, the latter part of the aforementioned provision is not applicable to your case. Thus, the burden of proving that your grandmother was of unsound mind when she made her last will remains with your relatives and not on your end.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Editor’ s note: Dear PA O is a daily column of the Public Attorney’ s Ofbesenttodearpao@manilatimes.net