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Only priests, nuns and spinsters need a last will and testament – I have sometimes been asked about executing a last will and testament and my stock answer is NO! You don’t need to write or execute a last will and testament, not even a holographic one, i.e., personally done in your own handwriting and needs no notary. Or, to put it another way, I would suggest that you avoid or don’t even think of executing a last will and testament.
Many people, especially those who may have amassed a bit of wealth in their lifetime, have often thought seriously about a last will and testament. It’s not just the money part. It may also have to do with ego, with a desire to extend or perpetuate one’s power and influence, a secret longing for immortality. This is true especially for the patriarchal or matriarchal type, people who are in the bad habit of interfering and intervening even in their great, great grandchildren’s affairs, education and upbringing.
Or, some mistakenly think that without a will the heirs will not get their inheritance. So, they go and consult with their lawyer, or worse, any lawyer/notary public. They think all lawyers are the same. They think that’s like going to see their doctor. That’s their first mistake.
There oughta be a law that requires all lawyers to put up a sign to go with their shingle posted at their office door which reads: “ABANDON ALL ASSETS HERE, ALL YE WHO ENTER!” If there’s a law that mandates everyone to wear a seat belt, there ought to be one sufficiently forewarning the innocent citizen that he is about to enter the lion’s den, or to put it more graphically, that he is diving headlong into shark-infested waters.
Second of all, it’s not true that just any lawyer will do. Not all lawyers were created equal. There’s no such thing as an honest lawyer. No, that’s not exactly true. There are a few honest ones but they are a bit hard to find, just like looking for Yamashita’s treasures. The few I know are long dead and buried. The other kind are a disgrace to what should be a noble profession. They are not only dishonest, they are grossly incompetent. They don’t know their law and they don’t know that they don’t know it. They just pretend they do.
Have you never wondered why lawyers and doctors call their jobs “practice?”
A priest was preaching a Sunday sermon on infidelity and fornication.
“Marami sa kalalakihan sa ating paroko ay makasalanan at babaero!” he announced. To drive home his point, he held a basketball in hand ready to toss to congregation.
“Aking ihahagis ang bolang ito. Ang tamaan ay tiyak na makasalanan at babaero.” He dribbled the ball once or twice and then threw it high into the air in the direction of the cowering crowd.
The ball landed hard on a hardwood pew and bounced back directly into the hands of the preacher.
“Praktis,” he said weakly.
This little fascination with a last will and testament may have something to do with best-sellers, novels, works of fiction or fancy stories about some lucky relative inheriting a fortune from a rich old aunt and living happily forever after. It’s the stuff of Hollywood movies.
The reality is that at least in this jurisdiction, we follow a system dating back to the Spanish times (and the ancient Romans) and adopted in our Civil Code. It’s known as the system of forced or “compulsory” heirs and their so-called “legitime.” In other words, the law pretty much provides and takes care of designating who your heirs are (usually your surviving spouse and children, legitimate or not) and how much each should inherit. You hardly have any choice on the matter.
Your lawful heirs will inherit your estate by operation of law.
Indeed, you are not even allowed to disinherit a putative heir unless it be for valid grounds specified by law. And that has to be so stated in a proper last will and testament and proven in probate proceedings.
Therefore, if you make the mistake of visiting a lawyer’s office with a view to executing a last will and testament, that would be like going to see a doctor about some real or imagined ailment. I have yet to hear of a doctor who let a patient go without writing out a prescription. It would sound very much like a fishy story, you know, about the one that got away.
A great disadvantage of executing a last will and testament is that you force your heirs to go to court unnecessarily to have such a will “probated.” For a will to be valid and effective, it must undergo probate proceedings or it’s a useless piece of paper. If you do that, you force your heirs to engage the services of lawyers, in many instances, with each heir being represented by his own attorney, ostensibly to avoid any possible conflict of interest.
Imagine all the heirs having to pay their respective lawyers some “acceptance” or “retaining” fee and agreeing to pay additional attorney’s fees equivalent to 10-20% of their inheritance at the end of the proceedings . Then, somebody will have to advance the corresponding filing or court fees in such an amount depending on the size of the entire estate you left behind.
What happens after that is known in the shark world as a “feeding frenzy.”
The other alternative of course which I would personally recommend is for the wealthy person to start designating, distributing, and partitioning his assets to his heirs while he still can, while he’s still alive. This can be done by the simple expedient of an outright donation (inter vivos) or by a conveyance or assignment for some real or fictitious value or consideration. This practice is much preferable especially because in a paternalistic society such as ours, the children tend to fall to bickering (and expensive lawsuits) whenever the patriarch or matriarch is gone.
It’s a bit different, however, if a person decides to remain in a state of single blessedness. It is quite possible that at the time of his death he will not have any direct ascendants (parents) or descendants (children). Hence, no “compulsory heirs” to speak of. That’s where collateral relatives (brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces) come into the picture. The situation gets more complicated where there are no collateral relatives (or even illegitimate children). Without a will, the entire estate of the decedent could get escheated in favor of the State.
Hence, it’s rather ironic that for people who have sworn off all things mundane as well as worldly blandishments, many priests and nuns, have often been advised – rightly or wrongly - to execute a last will and testament, specifying who their heirs shall be, often without regard to the applicable law on the matter. JAMES D. LANSANG
Kuya Jey Dee,
You'r one heck of a guy, one who belongs to a very rare breed of honest to goodness lawyers, a dying breed, indeed, tragically near extinction in the corrupt world we live in. Maraming, maraming salamat sa sharing mo. Ilan sa atin na "aware" sa tunay na nangyayari na sinasabing "last will & testament"... an off shoot from our Western counterparts. Ano kaya ang "praktis" (e.g. pamana?) bago dumating ang mga Kastila. Just plain curious. Yon praktis sa simbahan...okey yon a. That's a good one. A perfect injection of humor, at right place, at a right time. |
Tnx, Kuya CECIL, but be sufficiently warned, never trust a shark, or a scorpion for that matter. I was merely trying to share what little knowledge we have picked up along the way. Otherwise, it all gets buried with us to the grave. Another longing for immortality?
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a very rare breed of honest to goodness lawyers 
For a while there, I thought I was reading about last will and testicles. May nabasa kasi ako tungkol sa bola. . . but doesn't it fit the discussion, too? One is about dying and the other about squeezing. Pareho sigurong masakit ito. . . pero pasasaan ba't makukuha din natin ang cosmic significance nito. Praktis lang.
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