Did your parent entrust the custody of his will before he died? ? Can you keep the will? Is it part of the estate settlement?
A classic Filipino drama often depicts this familiar scene:
A multimillionaire died leaving behind his spouse and his fighting children. After a short period of grieving, the family lawyer summons everyone to an intimate meeting usually held in the family living room. There, everyone takes a seat. There is an aura of calmness yet there is an obvious animosity. Everyone listens eagerly to what the lawyer is about to say. The lawyer, clad in a suit, brings out a pile of paper from his briefcase. He then proceeds to read the deceased’s last will and testament.
Dramas tell us how some rich families fight over the shares in the estate the will contains. Yet they do not tell us that reading the whole will alone does not settle the estate. Nor do they show of automatic distribution of properties in accordance with what the will says.
In this article, we will explain the legal process and principles in estate settlement if one possesses his deceased parent’s will.
Judicial estate settlement
The heirs cannot just read the will and decide to follow its orders on their own. Every will left by a decedent must be submitted to a proper court before partition and distribution take place.
This is what the Civil Code directs:
Article 838. No will shall pass either real or personal property unless it is proved and allowed in accordance with the Rules of Court [xxx].
A proper court will step in first and decide whether it will allow or disallow the last will and testament. This is part of judicial estate settlement.
Why is there a need for a court’s approval?
Aside from the fact that the Civil Code expressly directs the delivery of the will to a proper court, another reason for its submission is the nature of a will itself.
A will is a formal contract. The law lays down formal and essential steps in order for a person to make a valid will.
Article 783. A will is an act whereby a person is permitted with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of his estate to take effect after his death.
This means that a person who wishes to make a will should follow these formal requirements. He cannot just get a piece of paper and write it however he wants to. There are certain rules that he should follow.
A court will then determine whether there is compliance with these formal requirements. This process also determines whether the will presented is an authentic one and contains the true wishes of the decedent.
On what grounds can the court disallow it?
The Civil Code provides an exclusive list of grounds for the disallowance of a will. Any opposing party may point out any one of these grounds to prevent a will’s allowance. If he proves a ground for disallowance, the court shall not enforce the will’s contents.
Article 839. The will shall be disallowed in any of the following cases:
(1) If the formalities required by law have not been complied with;
(2) If the testator was insane, or otherwise mentally incapable of making a will, at the time of its execution;
(3) If it was executed through force or under duress, or influence of fear, or threats;
(4) If it was procured by undue and improper pressure or influence, on the part of the beneficiary or of some other person;
(5) If the signature of the testator was procured by fraud;
(6) If the testator acted by mistake or did not intend that the instrument he signed should be his will at the time of affixing his signature thereto.
These grounds show the intention of the law to protect a deceased person’s estate against false wills or those obtained through fraud. A court’s intervention is necessary because a deceased person cannot anymore protect his estate since his lips are forever sealed by death.
Who should file the petition in court?
Any interested person in the estate of the deceased can file a petition for the allowance of a will. Any person can also ask for the allowance of his will during his lifetime. The Rules of Court allow this.
Rule 76, Section 1. Who may petition for the allowance of will.- Any executor, devisee, or legatee named in a will, or any other person interested in the estate, may, at any time after the death of the testator, petition the court having jurisdiction to have the will allowed, whether the same be in his possession or not, or is lost or destroyed.
The testator himself may, during his lifetime, petition a court for the allowance of his will.
What if I decide to keep the will as if none exists?
A person who has possession of a deceased’s will is required to deliver it in court for its allowance or disallowance. He should not keep it. Worse, he should not destroy it.
Bear in mind that the law bends over backward to respect the wishes of the deceased person. The last will and testament contain these wishes.
In entrusting the possession of his last will and testament, the decedent was confident that his wishes will be respected. And the person least expected to betray him is the person left with its custody.
[The] suppression of the will is contrary to law and public policy. The law enjoins the probate of the will and public policy requires it, because unless the will is probated and notice thereof given to the whole world, the right of a person to dispose of his property by will may be rendered nugatory, as is attempted to be done in the instant case. Absent legatees and devisees [xxx] could be cheated of their inheritance thru the collusion of some of the heirs who might agree to the partition of the estate among themselves to the exclusion of others. (Guevara v. Guevara, G.R. No. 4880)
Is there a penalty for failure to deliver?
There is no penalty for failure to deliver the will. A penalty comes in when there is an order from a court to deliver the will and the possessor neglects to deliver the will without justifiable cause.
The Rules of Court gives a time period for the possessor to deliver the will.
Rule 75, section 2. Custodian of will to deliver.- The person who has custody of a will shall, within twenty (20) days after he knows of the death of the testator, deliver the will to the court having jurisdiction, or to the executor named in the will.
A person who refuses to deliver the will to the court can be imprisoned until he follows the order.
Rule 75, section 5. Person retaining will may be committed.- Any person having custody of a will after the death of a testator who neglects without reasonable cause to deliver the same, when ordered to do so, to the court having jurisdiction, may be committed to prison and there kept until he delivers the will.
Do not betray the trust given
Every heir or custodian of a will must remember that a will’s production in court is as necessary as the will itself. Without the will’s production in court, it’s as if the will does not exist. And without the court’s allowance of the will, its contents are useless.
It is in the interest of the law to respect and follow the last wishes of the deceased. And without complying with the legal steps the law has set forth, in no way can these last wishes be followed.
If the heir or custodian has questions about the will’s validity, his remedy is not to keep it. He should instead deliver the will to the court and avail of the remedies the law has provided to question the document.
Never betray the trust of the deceased. And most important of all, never betray the law.
If you have more questions about Estate Settlement, here’s an additional resource
I hope the article was able to help you out, but chances are you may have more questions about Estate Settlement. Please check out this additional resource and see if it can help you. Go to info.legalguide.ph/estate to learn more.
