Testamentary disposition to a church
Credit to Author: PERSIDA ACOSTA| Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:08:45 +0000
Dear PAO,
I am a minister of a church. During the illness of one of my church brothers, I was called by his wife to administer a final spiritual aid due to his impending death. I hurriedly went to their home in an exclusive subdivision to perform my duties as a minister. Two days later, our member passed away. Two weeks ago, I was called for the reading of his last will and testament. I thought I was just there to aid the family during this difficult time, but it turned out that my late church brother executed a handwritten last will and testament during the last two days of his life. As stated in the document, my church brother wanted to give a substantial amount of money to our church. One of his sons is a law student, and thus informed us that this is not allowed under the law. I want to seek your legal expertise regarding the legality of my late church brother’s last will and testament.
Jose
Dear Jose,
First, a handwritten last will and testament is valid as long as it complied with the requirements provided in Articles 804 and 810 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which provide as follows:
“Article 804. Every will must be in writing and executed in a language or dialect known to the testator.
“Article 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 in or out of the Philippines, and need not be witnessed.”
Thus, as long as the handwritten last will and testament was entirely written in a language known to the testator, dated and signed by the hand of the testator, the same is valid.
But, as regards to the provision in the will leaving a substantial amount of money to your church, your late church brother’s son is correct.
Article 1027(1) and (2) of the Civil Code provides that “the priest who heard the confession of the testator during his last illness, or minister of the gospel who extended aid to him during the same period” and “the relatives of such priest or minister of the gospel within the fourth degree, the church, order, chapter, community, organization, or institution to which such priest or minister may belong” are incapable of succeeding. This means that the church to which a minister of the gospel belongs to may not receive testamentary provisions from the deceased if the minister extended aid to the deceased during his last illness.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net.