PROVISIONS COMMON TO TESTATE AND INTESTATE SUCCESSION

Capacity to succeed

Requisites

Art 1024. Persons not incapacitated by law may succeed by will or ab intestate.

The provisions relating to incapacity by will are equally applicable to intestate succession.

Art 1025. In order to be capacitated to inherit,

the heir, devisee or legatee
must be living at the moment the succession opens,
except in case of representation, when it is proper.

A child already conceived at the time of the death of the decedent

is capable of succeeding
provided it be born later under conditions in Art 41 1

Art 1026. A testamentary disposition may be made

to the State, provinces, mun corporations, private corps, orgs, or assns. For religious, scientific, cultural, educational,
or charitable purposes.

All other corporations or entities may succeed under a will,

unless there is a provision to the contrary in their charter or the laws of their creation,
and always subject to the same.

Art 1029.

Art 1030.

Art 1034.

1
Testate estate of the late Rev Fr Pascual Rigor, Parish Priest of Victoria, Tarlac v Belina, Nestora Rigor, Francisca
Escobar de Rigor, Jovita Escobar de Fausto (1979, Aquino)

- Deceased: Father Pascual Rigor, in 1935

o Parish priest of Pulilan, Bulacan
o Will:
 Heirs: sisters Florencia, Belina, Nestora
 Devise to Fortunato Gamalinda
 Devise of ricelands at Guimba, NE, 44 ha. To nearest male relative to study for priesthood
 Conditions: absolute prohibition of sale of lands; owner if remains in priesthood;
celebrate 20 masses per year for repose of soul, deceased; if excommunicated, no
ownership and administration to parish priest of Victoria
 Administrator if no qualified devisee as above: pastor and successors of Victoria,
Tarlac. Pastor to celebrate each ear, deposit estate products in bank, on behalf of
estate
- Administratrix Florencia: project of partition
- CFI, Tarlac:
o Project of partition OK
o Devise not delivered since parish priest had no right to administer ricelands
o 13 years later
 Parish priest: Appointment of new administrator since Florencia died
 New administrator to deliver to church the ricelands + accounting
 Intestate heirs: devise inoperative. Entitled to ricelands since no nearest male relative has
ever studied for priesthood
o Devise inoperative. Riceleands to legal heirs
o MR: Edgardo Cunanan, grandnephew, seminarian in San Jose Seminary, QC
 Administrator directed to deliver to parish priest of V as trustee
- CA: Reversed
o Rigor created testamentary trust for nearest male relative to take holy orders
 But trust to exist only for 20 years else violative of rule against perpetuities and nobody
claimed land 20 years from death. Therefore, should pass on || 870
- SC:
o Parish priest: Father Rigor created public charitable trust. Liberal construction of provisions to
render trust operative and prevent intestacy
o Parish priest cannot administer property
 Intent of the tor is the life and sould of a will. The first greatest rule, the sovereign guide, the
polestar, in giving effect to a will
 Here, question of how long after death would it be determined that he had a
nephew who would pursue vocation
 Corollarily, question of intent as to the time when the nearest male relative who
would study for priesthood should be determined
o Nearest male relative at time of death? Y
 Reasonable view: nearest male relative living at time of death who
would like to be a priest, not yet in seminary, during which parish
priest can administer property
o Nearest male relative anytime after death? N
 To construe it as such would render provisions difficult to apply and
create uncertainty as to disposition of estate—could not have been
his intention
 + || 1025: in order to be capacitated to inherit, the heir, devisee,
legatee must be living at the moment the succession opens, except
in case of representation, when proper
  Here, when tor died, nearest legal heirs = three sisters
 Also, tor could not prognosticate exact date of death or
state with certitude the category of nearest male relative,
therefore, could not specify that nearest male rel would be
nephew or grand nephew, hence ‘nearest male’
 If he intended that anyone born after his death, could have so
specified. Must have known that such broad provision would
suspend for an unlimited period the efficaciousness of his bequest
 Ramon Quiambao, nephew and godchild, not the intended devisee
o Gamalinda, maternal grandmother, affidavit: Valentin Gamalinda did not
claim devise although then studying for priesthood because mother of
Valentin knew that Rigor intended for nearest male belonging to Rigors
 Edgardo not contemplated in will + Edgardo’s father not consulted
by parish priest when MR based on ground that Ed studying at San
Jose filed
o Above evidence aliunde, hearsay, no probative value
o + Edgardo ceased to be seminarian in 61. Therefore, adjudicating of
ricelands to priest without any more leg to stand on
 Here, tor not survived by any nephew who became a priest
 Died In 35 without a male relative ever studying for priesthood
o Alleged by parish priest himself in his petitions
 Therefore, bequest in question inoperative
 Therefore, administration conditioned upon bequest inoperative
o Not a public charitable trust
 Provisions do not support view that parish priest = trustee or substitute devisee in the event
that tor not survived by nephew who became priest
 Parish priest could become trustee only when
 tor’s nephew living at tiem of death, who desired to become a priest, had not yet
entered seminary,
 or having been ordained, was excommunicated
 above contingencies haven’t arisen
o should pass on to legal heirs
 || 956: if bequest should be inoperative, shall be merged into the estate, exept in cases of
substitution and accretion
 || 960: legal succession takes place when will does not dispose of all that belongs to tor
 Here, no substitution, accretion
 Therefore, effect: no disposition as to ricelands at all
o AFFIRMED
Grounds for incapacity to succeed

Art 1027.

Art 1028.

Art 1031.

Art 1032.

Pardon

Art 1033.