Estate of Rodriguez

Law governing form

Testate Estate of the late Bernabe Rodriguez v. Antonio Rodriguez
G.R. No. 16270 – R, July 1, 1948
FACTS
Martine Araniego, widow of the deceased, filed a petition for probate of the latter's alleged will
before the CFI of Bulacan. Herein respondents, the deceased's brother, niece and heirs of
Bernabe’s brother, opposed the petition alleging among others that the will was obtained by
undue influence, that the deceased had no mental capacity to execute the same and such was
not the will of Bernabe. The will was then admitted for probate by the court. Oppositors then
alleged that the deceased named petitioner as universal heir and was likewise named the
deceased by the latter as her universal heir in her own will, making them reciprocal beneficiaries
of each other, thus violating the prohibition on joint wills under the Civil Code.
ISSUE
Whether the will is valid, given that it violates the prohibition on joint wills under the Civil Code
(YES)
RULING
It will be noted that the law prohibits two or more persons to make a will conjointly or in the
same document. In the case at bar, the subject wills are not conjoint since they are in a
separate documents.
Hence, the provision in the Civil code does not apply. As to other allegations of the respondents,
no sufficient evidence was presented. In fact, there is a testimony by a medical doctor that
testator is of sound mind when the will was executed. Hence, the decision was affirmed.