SUCCESSION

GENERAL
PROVISIONS
Article 774. Succession is a
mode of acquisition by
virtue
of
which
the
property,
rights
and
obligations to the extent of
the
value
of
the
inheritance, of a person
are transmitted through
his death to another or

Important Elements of the

Definition
(a) mode of acquisition (or ownership)
(b) transfer of property, rights, and
obligations to the extent
of the value of the inheritance of a person
(called grantor
or transferor, decedent, testator, or intestate)
(c) transmission thru death (not during life)
(d) transmission to another (called grantee,
or transferee,
heir, legatee, or devisee)

the general term

applied
to
the
person
whose
property
is
transmitted through
succession, whether
or not he left a will.
If he left a will, he is

The decedent is the

person whose estate
is to be distributed.
He is also called:
(a) testator if he
left a will
(b) intestate if he

Art.
776.
The
inheritance includes all
the property, rights and
obligations of a person
which
are
not
extinguished
by
his
death.

Art. 777. The rights to

the
succession
are
transmitted
from the moment of
the
death
of
the
decedent. (657a)

Art. 778. Succession

may be:
(1) Testamentary;
(2) Legal or
intestate; or
(3) Mixed. (n)

Art. 779. Testamentary

succession is that which
results
from the designation of
an heir, made in a will
executed
in
the form prescribed by
law.

Art. 780. Mixed

succession
is
that
effected
partly by will
and partly by
operation of law.

person includes not

only the property
and
the
transmissible rights
and
obligations
existing at the time
of his death, but also
those which have

person called to the

succession either by
the provision of a will
or by operation of law.
Devisees and legatees
are persons to whom
gifts
of
real
and
personal property are
respectively given by

Section

WILLS
Subsection 1. WILLS IN
GENERAL
Art. 783. A will is an act
whereby
a
person
is
permitted,
with
the
formalities prescribed by
law, to control to a
certain
degree
the

of a will is a strictly
personal
act;
it
cannot be left in
whole or in part to
the discretion of a
third
person,
or
accomplished
through
the

of the designation of
heirs,
devisees
or
legatees,
or
the
determination of the
portions which they
are to take, when
referred to by name,
cannot be left to the

person the distribution

of specific property or
sums of money that he
may leave in general to
specifi ed classes or
causes, and also the
designation
of
the
persons, institutions or
establishments to which

testator may not

make
a
testamentary
disposition in such
manner
that
another person has
to
determine
whether or not it is

disposition admits
of
different
interpretations, in
case
of
doubt,
that
interpretation by
which

omissions must be corrected,

if the error appears from the
context of the will or from
extrinsic evidence, excluding
the oral declarations of the
testator as to his intention;
and
when
an
uncertainty
arises upon the face of the
will, as to the application of
any of its provisions, the
testators intention is to be

sense,
unless
a
clear
intention to use them in
another
sense
can
be
gathered, and that other can
be
ascertained.
Technical
words in a will are to be
taken
in
their
technical
sense, unless the context
clearly indicates a contrary
intention,
or
unless
it
satisfactorily appears that

will give to every

expression
some
effect, rather than
one which will render
any
of
the
expressions
inoperative; and of
two
modes
of

of
one
of
several
dispositions
contained
in a will does not result
in the invalidity of the
other
dispositions,
unless
it
is
to
be
presumed
that
the
testator would not have
made
such
other
dispositions if the first

Art. 793. Property acquired after

the making of a will shall only
pass thereby, as if the testator
had possessed it at the time of
making the will, should it
expressly appear by the will that
such was his intention.

Art. 794. Every devise or

legacy shall convey all the
interest which the testator
could devise or bequeath in
the property disposed of,
unless it clearly appears
from the will that he
intended to convey a less
interest.

Art. 795. The validity

of a will as to its form
depends
upon the observance
of the law in force at
the time it is made.

Art. 796. All persons

who
are
not
expressly prohibited
by law may make a
will.