Requirements for Probate of a Holographic Will

a. General Requirements (Art. 804)

1) In writing
2) In a language or dialect known to the testator
b. Specific Requirements
1) Entirely written by the hand of the testator (Art. 810)
2) Dated by the hand of the testator (Art. 810)
3) Signed by the hand of the testator (Art. 810)
4) Dispositions below the testators signature must be dated and signed (Art. 812)
i. When dispositions are signed but not dated, and the last disposition is signed
and dated, such date validates the dispositions preceding it, whatever be the
time of the prior dispositions (Art. 813)
5) Insertions, cancellations, erasures, or alterations must be authenticated by the testator
with his full signature (Art. 814)
6) Subject to no other form (Art. 810)
7) May be made in or out of the Philippines (Art. 810)
8) Need not be witnessed (Art. 810)
c. Witness requirements during probate
1) If uncontested: at least 1 witness who knows the handwriting and signature of the
testator
i. must explicitly declare that the will and the signature are in the handwriting of
the testator
2) If contested: at least 3 of such witnesses
REVOCATION OF WILLS AND TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITIONS
A. When may be effected (Art. 828)
a. Any time before the testators death
i. Any waiver or restriction of this right is void
B. Law governing revocation (Art. 829)
a. Done outside the Philippines
i. by a person not domiciled in the Philippines:
1. law of the place where the will was made; or
2. law of the place of domicile of the testator
ii. by a person domiciled in the Philippines
1. law of the place where the revocation was made (Art. 17)
2. Philippine law (i.e. the place of domicile)
b. Done within the Philippines
i. Philippine law (regardless of where the will was made or the place of
domicile)
C. Modes of Revocation (Art. 830)
a. By implication of law
i. Disqualification of interested witness (Art. 823)
ii. Preterition of compulsory heirs (Art. 854)
iii. Legacy or devise of a thing erroneously believed by the testor as belonging
to him but in fact belongs to another (Art. 930)
iv. Judicial demand by the testator of a credit which has been given as legacy
(Art. 936)
v. Transformation, alienation, or loss of the thing given as devise or legacy,
subsequent to the execution of the will (Art. 957)
vi. Commission of the heir, devisee, or legatee of some act of unworthiness
(Art. 1032)
b. By act of the testator
i. By subsequent instrument (some will, codicil, or other writing executed as
provided in case of wills)
1. Must comply with legal formalities
ii. By destruction
1. By burning, tearing, cancelling, or obliterating the will; and
2. With intention of revoking it (animo revocandi);
a. By the testator himself; or
b. By another person
i. In the testators presence; and
ii. By his express direction
D. Implied revocation (Art. 831)
a. Annuls only dispositions inconsistent with or contrary to the latter will
E. Effect of revocation
a. An expressly revoked will is not admissible to probate
b. Revocation takes effect even if the new will should become inoperative by reason of
incapacity of the heirs, devisees, or legatees, or by their renunciation (Art. 832)
c. A revocation based on a false or illegal cause is null and void (Art. 833)
d. Recognition of illegitimate child does not lose its legal effect, even though the will
where it was made should be revoked (Art. 834)
i. EXCEPT when the will is annulled for vice of consent
F. Doctrine of Dependent Relative Revocation
a. If the condition is made to depend upon a condition, non-fulfillment of the
condition bars revocation (Molo vs. Molo)
i. Where the act of destruction is connected with the making of another will,
so as to fairly raise the inference that the testator meant the revocation to
depend on the efficacy of the new disposition, the revocation will be
conditional and dependent upon the efficacy of the new disposition
(Tolentino)