G.R. No. 33592 ; March 31, 1931
Estate of the deceased Victorina Villaranda. EUSEBIA LIM, petitioner-appellant, vs. JULIANA CHINCO, oppositor-appellee.

FACTS

Victorina Villaranda died without descendants or ascendants. Eusebia Lim offered for probate a document purporting to be Villaranda’s will, which named Lim and two other collateral relatives as chief beneficiaries. Juliana Chinco, the deceased’s full sister, opposed the probate. The trial court disallowed the will, finding that Villaranda lacked testamentary capacity at the time of its purported execution. The proponent appealed. The evidence showed that on June 2, 1929, Villaranda, about 80 years old, suffered an apoplexy and fell into an unconscious state. She was in a continuous comatose condition thereafter. On the morning of June 5, 1929, her lawyer prepared the will in an adjacent room and brought it to her for execution. She could not speak or sign; her mark was made for her. The attending physicians testified she was insensible and incapable of any conscious act. The lawyer testified he communicated with her through signs.

ISSUE

Did Victorina Villaranda possess testamentary capacity at the time the purported will was executed?

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment disallowing the will. The Court held that the deceased was in a comatose condition and incapable of performing any conscious and valid act on the morning the document was signed. The testimony of the attending physicians and other witnesses convincingly established her lack of testamentary capacity. The fact that she could not utter intelligent speech and communication was limited to signs was insufficient to establish the required mental capacity to make a will. The will was properly disallowed under the authority of Perry vs. Elio.

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