GR L 1787; (August, 1948) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-1787; August 27, 1948
JOSE S. LOPEZ, petitioner-appellee, vs. AGUSTIN LIBORO, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Don Sixto Lopez died, and Jose S. Lopez filed a petition for the probate of his purported last will and testament. Agustin Liboro opposed the probate on several grounds, including that the will was not executed in accordance with law. The Court of First Instance of Batangas allowed the probate. On appeal, Liboro argued that the will was defective because its first page was not numbered, and that the trial court erred in allowing the petitioner to introduce evidence on the testator’s knowledge of Spanish after the petitioner had rested his case.
ISSUE
1. Whether the omission of a page number on the first page of the will invalidates its execution.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the petitioner to present additional evidence on the testator’s knowledge of the language of the will after resting his case.
RULING
1. No. The omission of a page number on the first page is not a fatal defect. The purpose of pagination is to guard against fraud and detect substitution or loss of pages. Here, the first page was clearly identifiable by its contents (e.g., the caption “TESTAMENTO,” invocation, and recital of testamentary capacity) and its logical sequence with the second page. The internal coherence of the text sufficiently identifies the pages, following precedents such as Abangan vs. Abangan.
2. No. The trial court did not abuse its discretion. It is within the court’s sound discretion to allow the reopening of a case for the introduction of additional evidence, especially when the omission was due to inadvertence or oversight, and in the furtherance of justice. The rule has been upheld in prior jurisprudence.
Additionally, there is no statutory requirement that the will itself must state the testator’s knowledge of the language used; such knowledge may be proved by extrinsic evidence.
The order of the lower court admitting the will to probate is affirmed.
AI Generated by Armztrong.