In re: Will and Testament of Reverend Sancho Abadia. Vda  case, however, Fr.

, however, Fr. Abadia executed the will and died even before
de Enriquez, et al v. Abadia, et al (1954)  holographic wills were permitted by the law.

Montemayor, ​J.
I. FACTS:  (not folio or sheet) in letters and signing on the left hand margin
September 6, 1923 - ​Father Sancho Abadia (parish priest of
Talisay, Cebu) executed his Last Will and Testament (Exhibit
“A”).
January 14, 1943 - ​Father Abadia died, leaving an estimated of
8k worth of properties.
October 2, 1946 - ​Andres Enriquez, one of the legatees listed in
the will, filed a petition for probate of the said will. Some cousins
and nephews who would inherit the estate of Fr. Abadia if he left
no will, filed an opposition.
During the hearing, one of the attesting witnesses testified
without contradiction that he was present when Fr. Abadia wrote
out his will in longhand in Spanish (language that the testator
spoke and understood), signed the left hand margin of the front
page of each of the 3 sheets of the document, numbered the
pages with Arabic numerals, and finally signed his name at the
end of the last page. The testator did this in the presence of his 3
witnesses who signed their names on the last page after the
attestation clause.
The oppositors, on the other hand, were not able to submit any
evidence.
“The law at the time imposed certain requirements for the
execution of wills, such as numbering correlatively each page
by the testator and by the three attesting witnesses, requirements
which were not complied with in the will because the back pages
of the first two folios of the will were not signed by any one, not
even by the testator and were not numbered, and as to the three
front pages, they were signed only by the testator.”
Previous cases say that the failure of the testator and the
witnesses to sign on the left hand margin of every page is a
radical defect that totally vitiates the testament.
Article 795 of the new Civil Code says: ​"the validity of a will as to
its form depends upon the observance of the law in force at the
time it is made."​ This provision emphasizes that the law that
should be followed in determining the validity of a will is the law in
force at the time of the execution.
While there is the view that the intention of the testator should be
the controlling factor when it comes to interpreting and executing
the contents of the will, it should not be forgotten that from the
day of the death of the testator, if he leaves a will, the title of the
legatees and devisees under it becomes a vested right. This right
is protected by the constitution against any subsequent changes
in the statutes that will add new requirements that could
invalidate the will.

RTC: ​The will is a holographic will, one that is handwritten by the
testator. At the time of the execution and the death of the
testator, holographic wills were not permitted. Only during the
time of the hearing, when the new Civil Code was already in
force, were holographic wills already allowed. Contending that
the intention of the testator should be the controlling factor and
may override any defect in form, the will was admitted to probate.
Oppositors appealed.
When a will is not executed in accordance with the law in force at
that time, it will be regarded as invalid and upon the testator’s
death, he will be considered as having died intestate. His heirs
will then inherit through intestate succession. Moreover, no
subsequent law with liberal requirements as to execution should
be allowed to validate a defective will thereby divest the heirs of
their vested rights in the estate by intestate succession. The
general rule is that the Legislature can not validate void wills.

CA: ​Certified the case to the SC because the appeal only IV. DISPOSITIVE: ​WHEREFORE, the order appealed
contained questions of law. from is reversed, and the will is DENIED probate.  

II. ISSUE: 

W/N the New Civil Code applies to Fr. Abadia’s will. ​No, the NCC 
will not apply to Fr. Abadia’s will.  

III. RATIONALE: 

Under the new Civil Code, Article 810, a person may execute a
holographic will which must be entirely written, dated, and signed
by the testator himself and need not be witnessed. In the instant