Pointers to Review; Midterm Exam on Succession

[1] Donation of future property
[2] Donation of property to be inherited or acquired through succession
[3] Instituted of an heir in the will in case the testator has no compulsory heir
[4] Substitution of heirs and rule when an instituted heir predeceases another
[5] Elements of preterition
[6] Dependent relative revocation
[7] Requisites for a valid revocation of a will
[8] Ways to revoke a will
[9] Intent to revoke despite failure to burn/revoke the paper on which the will is written
[10] Probate of a codicil
[11] Ways to republish a will
[12] Rule on signing of witnesses in the presence of one another
[13] Rule on line of vision or proper direction of line of vision in the witnesses' signing of the will
[14] Definition of preterition
[15] Rule in case the testator bequeaths all his property to his favorite child, leaving nothing to his other children
[16] The rights to succession of illegitimate children
[17] Capacity to institute probate proceedings
[18] The doctrine of revocation instante (instant revocation)
[19] Rule on completion of act of revocation
[20] Elements of a codicil to affect a will
[21] Invalidity of the will for non-compliance with the rule on witnesses' signing in the presence of one another
[22] Effect of non-inclusion of a compulsory heir
[23] Rule on right to completion of inheritance in case a compulsory heir is omitted in the will


NOTES:
[1] To question the institution of an heir, the action to annul said institution must be filed within the prescriptive period.

[2] Three (3) requisites must concur in order that a will may be revoked by burning, tearing, cancelling or obliterating: [a] the intent of the testator to revoke or animus revocandi; [b] testamentary capacity at the time of revocation; [c] the act of burning, tearing, cancelling or oblitering done by the testator himself or by some other person in is presence and by his express direction; and [d] the completion of the subjective phase (completion in the mind of the testator).

[3] For a will to be allowed in probate, it must concur with all the formal requisites of a valid will. One of such requirement is that the three (3) credible witnesses sign the will in the presence of the testator and of one another.

[4] Preterition is the omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line. Imperfect disinheritance occurs when the share of an instituted heir is reduced insofar as the legitime has been impaired.

[5] Succession may be by will or by operation of law. If there is no will, succession proceeds by operation of law. On the other hand, mixed succession occurs when it is partly by will and partly by law.

[6] For civil purposes, the foetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother's womb. However, if the foetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb. (Article 41 of the Civil Code)

[7] Those who have no interest in the inheritance cannot institute probate proceedings.

[8] The elements of preterition are: [a] total omission of a compulsory heir; [b] the compulsory heir is in the direct line; [c] the omitted compulsory heir survives the testator.

[9] A revocatory clause in a will is not effective if the will in which it is contained is not allowed by the probate court. Hence, the previous will revoked by such disallowed revocatory will can be revived.

[10] Despite intent to revoke, the testator must do a physical/overt act of revocation by, for example, destroying the will. Otherwise, there is no valid revocation.

[11] Revocation may also be done by the execution of another will revoking the previous will.

[12] To reproduce a will void as to form, it can be republished by reproduction. Republication by reference is available only if the will is avoid as to intrinsic or substantive requirements.

[13] Birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be born later with the conditions specified in the following article. (Article 40 of the Civil Code)