May a foreign will be probated for the first time in the Philippines?
Yes. In the case of In Re: In the Matter of the Petition to Approve The Will of Ruperta Palaganas With Prayer For the Appointment of Special Administator, Manuel Miguel and Benjamin Gregorio Palaganas vs. Ernesto Palaganas, G.R. No. 169144, January 26, 2011, the issue is whether a will executed by a naturalized US Citizen may be probated for the first time in the Philippines, without first having undergone probate proceedings in the US. The Supreme Court ruled:
“But our laws do not prohibit the probate of wills executed by foreigner abroad although the same have not as been probated and allowed in the countries of their execution. A foreign will can be given legal effects in our jurisdiction. Article 816 of the Civil Code states that the will of an alien who is abroad produces effect in the Philippines if made in accordance with the formalities prescribed by the law of the place where he resides, or according to the formalities observed in his country.
Our rules require merely that the petition for the allowance of a will must show, so far as known to the petitioner: (a) the jurisdictional facts; (b) the names, ages, and residence of the heirs, legatees, and devisees of the testator or decedent; (c) the probable value and character of the property of the estate; (d) the name of the person having custody of it. Jurisdictional facts refer to the fact of death, or if he is an inhabitant of a foreign country, the estate he left in such province. The rules do not require proof that the foreign will has already been allowed and probated in the country of its execution.” (citations omitted)
Distinction between probate and re-probate. “Reprobate or re-authentication of a will already probated and allowed in a foreign country is different from that probate where the will is presented for the first time before a competent court. Reprobate is specifically governed by Rule 77 of the Rules of Court.”[1]
[1] In Re: In the Matter of the Petition to Approve The Will of Ruperta Palaganas With Prayer For the Appointment of Special Administator, Manuel Miguel and Benjamin Gregorio Palaganas vs. Ernesto Palaganas, G.R. No. 169144, January 26, 2011,