G.R. No. 32578 , October 11, 1930
ESTATE OF PAULA RIVERA. MARCELINA REYES, petitioner-appellee, vs. PEDRO RIVERA, opponent-appellant.

FACTS

Marcelina Reyes filed a petition for the probate of a document dated May 11, 1927 (Exhibit 1), purporting to be the last will and testament of Paula Rivera, who died without forced heirs on September 10, 1927. Pedro Rivera opposed, claiming that a later document dated August 23, 1927 (Exhibit B) was the true last will. The trial court found Exhibit 1 to be genuine and admitted it to probate, declaring Exhibit B a forgery. Pedro Rivera appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in admitting Exhibit 1 to probate and in declaring Exhibit B a forgery.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s decision, holding that Exhibit 1 was the genuine last will of Paula Rivera. The Court found that Exhibit B was a forgery based on several factors: (1) Exhibit 1 named Marcelina Reyes, the decedent’s grandniece who cared for her, as the chief beneficiary, while Exhibit B distributed the estate to distant relatives; (2) the testatrix’s genuine signatures on Exhibit 1 were barely legible due to her advanced tuberculosis and edema, whereas the signatures on Exhibit B, purportedly executed three months later, were clearer and more stablecontrary to medical evidence of her deteriorating condition; (3) credible witnesses testified that the testatrix retained possession of Exhibit 1 until near her death, entrusting it to her cousin and Marcelina Reyes; and (4) the attesting witnesses to Exhibit 1 were disinterested and credible, unlike those of Exhibit B, who were persons of questionable character unfamiliar to the testatrix. The Court concluded that the trial court correctly admitted Exhibit 1 to probate.