I.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

A. Definition and Concept

Art. 712. Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.

Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by estate and
intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts, by tradition.
They may also be acquired by means of prescription.   

Art. 774. Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and obligations to the
extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his
will or by operation of law. 

Art. 1311. Contracts take effect only between the parties, their assigns and heirs, except in case where the rights
and obligations arising from the contract are not transmissible by their nature, or by stipulation or by provision of
law. The heir is not liable beyond the value of the property he received from the decedent.

B. Laws governing form

1. As to time of execution

Art. 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.

2. As to place of execution

Art. 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be governed by the
laws of the country in which they are executed.

Art. 810. A person may execute a holographic will which must be entirely written, dated, and signed by the
hand of the testator himself. It is subject to no other form, and may be made inor out of the Philippines, and need not
be witnessed

Art. 815. When a Filipino is in a foreign country, he is authorized to make a will in any of the forms established
by the law of the country in which he may be. Such will may be probated in the Philippines. (n)

Art. 816. The will of an alien who is abroad produces effect in the Philippines if made with the formalities
prescribed by the law of the place in which he resides, or according to the formalities observed in his country, or in
conformity with those which this Code prescribes. (n)

Art. 817. A will made in the Philippines by a citizen or subject of another country, which is executed in
accordance with the law of the country of which he is a citizen or subject, and which might be proved and allowed
by the law of his own country, shall have the same effect as if executed according to the laws of the Philippines. (n)

Art. 818. Two or more persons cannot make a will jointly, or in the same instrument, either for their reciprocal
benefit or for the benefit of a third person. (669)
 Art. 819. Wills, prohibited by the preceding article, executed by Filipinos in a foreign country shall not be valid
in the Philippines, even though authorized by the laws of the country where they may have been executed.