Missing signatures on attested will

Dear PAO,

I am a terminally ill old man who recently prepared my notarized last will and testament to
prepare for my eventual death. I was of the impression that everything was already in order in
this aspect. When I showed my last will to a confidant, however, I was told that there could be a
problem in the probate of my last will since there is a defect in its form. This confidant pointed
out the absence of signatures of my witnesses in the individual pages of the will. According to
him, this is a substantial flaw in the last will even though the witnesses signed in the last page of
my will, which was also notarized. Because of this, I would like to know whether my last will can
still be valid in the absence of the signatures of the witnesses on the pages of the will,
considering that some of my witnesses cannot affix their signatures since most of them are
already out of the country. I hope you can clarify this for me. Thank you.

Mr. Warner

Dear Mr. Warner,

Based on your narration, you recently prepared a notarized will without the signatures of your
witnesses on its individual pages. Considering these details, it appears that while you prepared an
attested last will and testament, it lacks the required signature of your witnesses. We deem it
necessary to mention this because the law prescribes a proper form in the preparation of an
attested last will and testament in order for it to have a legal effect. The Civil Code of the
Philippines requires the following in the preparation of an attested will:

“Article 805. Every will, other than a holographic will, must be subscribed at the end thereof by
the testator himself or by the testator’s name written by some other person in his presence, and
by his express direction, and attested and subscribed by three or more credible witnesses in the
presence of the testator and of one another.

The testator or the person requested by him to write his name and the instrumental witnesses of
the will, shall also sign, as aforesaid, each and every page thereof, except the last, on the left
margin, and all the pages shall be numbered correlatively in letters placed on the upper part of
each page.

The attestation shall state the number of pages used upon which the will is written, and the fact
that the testator signed the will and every page thereof, or caused some other person to write his
name, under his express direction, in the presence of the instrumental witnesses, and that the
latter witnessed and signed the will and all the pages thereof in the presence of the testator and of
one another.

If the attestation clause is in a language not known to the witnesses, it shall be interpreted to
them.” (Emphasis supplied)

As expressly provided in the aforementioned law, witnesses to the execution of an attested will
are required to sign on every page of the will on its left margin except on the last page. Failure to
conform with this required form shall render the attested will without legal effect since it will be
considered as void. This is in accordance with the same law, which states:

“ Article 839. The will shall be disallowed in any of the following cases:

(1) If the formalities required by law have not been complied with;

xxx”

Therefore, your confidant is correct in his observation on the defect in your last will. Given that
the prescribed form in the preparation of a last will and testament is mandatory, non-compliance
with the required form will make the last will void. Thus, it is strongly advised that you comply
with the abovementioned requirements in the execution of your attested will.