In 2011, Luz Lipson, an American residing in the Philippines executed a will which provided for the disposition of her Philippine properties. She named Roel Gaspi as the executor of the will. In 2015, Lipson died. In 2016, Gaspi filed a petition to have the will be probated but his petition was motu proprio dismissed by Judge Maria Clarissa Pacis-Trinidad on the ground that Philippine courts have no jurisdiction to probate the will because Lipson is an American and since we follow the nationality principle, her successional rights are governed by her national law. According to Judge Pacis-Trinidad, Lipson’s will must be probated abroad.
ISSUE: Whether or not a will executed by a resident alien may be probated in the Philippines.
HELD: Yes. The nationality principle is not applied when determining the extrinsic validity of an alien’s last will and testament.
Generally, the extrinsic validity of the will, which is the preliminary issue in probate of wills, is governed by the law of the country where the will was executed and presented for probate.
When it comes to the form and solemnities of wills, which are part of its extrinsic validity, the Civil Code provides that the law of the country of execution shall govern:
ARTICLE 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are executed.
The power of our courts to probate a will executed by an alien is likewise apparent in Rule 73, Section 1 of the Rules of Special Proceedings, which provides: If the decedent is an inhabitant of the Philippines at the time of his death, whether a citizen or an alien, his will shall be proved, or letters of administration granted, and his estate settled, in the court having jurisdiction in the province in which he resides at the time of his death.
