TABOADA v. ROSAL

G.R. No. L-36033, November 5, 1982

RATIONALE: While perfection in the drafting of a will may be desirable, unsubstantial departure from the usual forms should be ignored, especially where the authenticity of the will is not assailed. 

FACTS: Petitioner Apolonio Taboada filed a petition for probate of the will of the late Dorotea perez. The will consisted of two pages, the first page containing all the testamentary dispositions of the testator and was signed at the end or bottom of the page by the testatrix alone and at the left hand margin by the three instrumental witnesses. The second page consisted of the attestation clause and the acknowledgment was signed at the end of the attestation clause by the three witnesses and at the left hand margin by the testatrix. The trial court disallowed the will for want of formality in its execution because the will was signed at the bottom of the page solely by the testatrix, while the three witnesses only signed at the left hand margin of the page. The judge opined that compliance with the formalities of the law required that the witnesses also sign at the end of the will because the witnesses attest not only the will itself but the signature of the testatrix. Hence, this petition.

ISSUE: Whether the failure to state in the attestation clause the number of pages used in writing the will a fatal defect?

RULING: No. This would have been a fatal defect were it not for the fact that, in this case, it is discernible from the entire wig that it is really and actually composed of only two pages duly signed by the testatrix and her instrumental witnesses. As earlier stated, the first page which contains the entirety of the testamentary dispositions is signed by the testatrix at the end or at the bottom while the instrumental witnesses signed at the left margin. The other page which is marked as "Pagina dos" comprises the attestation clause and the acknowledgment. The acknowledgment itself states that "This Last Will and Testament consists of two pages including this page".