Javellana vs.

Ledesma
G.R. No. L-7179

Doctrine:
The certification of acknowledgement need not be signed by the notary in the presence of
the testator and the witnesses.

Facts:
1. The CFI of Iloilo admitted to probate a will and codicil executed by the deceased
Apolinaria Ledesma in July 1953. This testament was executed on May 1950 and May
1952. Apolinarias sister and nearest surviving kin, Javellana, contested the validity of the
will. She appealed from the CFIs decision alleging that the will were not executed in
accordance with law.

2. Accordingly, the testament was executed at the house of the testatrix while the codicil
was executed just after the enactment of the New Civil Code (NCC), and therefore had to
be acknowledged before a notary public. Now, the contestant (Javellana), who happens
to be one of the instrumental witnesses asserted that after the codicil was signed and
attested at the San Pablo hospital, Gimotea (the notary) signed and sealed it on the same
occasion. Gimotea, however, said that he did not do so, and that the act of signing and
sealing was done afterwards.

3. One of the allegations was that the certificate of acknowledgement to the codicil was
signed elsewhere, most probably in the office of the notary.

RTC :
Court of First Instance of Iloilo admitted to probate the will and the codicil.

CA :
N/A. Appeal was made directly to SC because the value of the properties involved
exceeded two hundred thousand pesos.

Issue:
Whether or not the signing and sealing of the will or codicil in the absence of the testator
and witnesses affects the validity of the will

Ruling:
NO. Unlike in the Old Civil Code of 1899, the NCC does not require that the signing of the
testator, the witnesses and the notary be accomplished in one single act. All that is
required is that every will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator
and witnesses. The subsequent signing and sealing is not part of the acknowledgement
itself nor of the testamentary act. Their separate execution out of the presence of the
testator and the witnesses cannot be a violation of the rule that testaments should be
completed without interruption.