Short answer. Yes. Article 34 of the Revised Penal Code only strips a person under civil interdiction of the right to manage property and to dispose of it through any act or conveyance inter vivos, meaning transfers made while alive. A will takes effect only at death, so it falls outside that ban and remains open to someone serving the penalty.
What the law says
Civil interdiction shall deprive the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos.
Revised Penal Code, Article 34 — Civil Interdiction Explained. Read the full provision →
What civil interdiction actually restricts
Civil interdiction is an accessory penalty that attaches automatically to certain principal sentences. Article 34 of the Revised Penal Code defines its reach in specific terms: Civil interdiction shall deprive the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos. That list is closed. It names parental authority, guardianship, marital authority, management of property, and inter vivos disposition. Anything not on that list is not automatically taken away just because a person is serving a sentence carrying this penalty.
Why a will falls outside the ban
The key phrase is inter vivos — between the living — meaning a transfer that takes effect while both parties are still alive, such as a sale, a donation, or a mortgage. A will works differently: it is a mortis causa disposition, one that has no legal effect at all until the testator dies. Because Article 34 removes only the right to dispose of property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos, a will made by someone under civil interdiction is not the kind of disposition the article targets. The restriction was written for transactions that move ownership during the offender's lifetime, not for instructions that take effect only once that lifetime, and the sentence along with it, has ended.
What is still off-limits while serving the penalty
During the term of civil interdiction, the person genuinely cannot sell, donate, mortgage, lease out for value, or otherwise transfer property through any inter vivos act, since those transactions require the very capacity Article 34 removes. The right to manage property is gone as well, which is why someone under this penalty typically needs another person handling day-to-day property matters on their behalf. Parental authority, guardianship over a ward, and marital authority are likewise suspended for the duration. Making a will during this period does not restore any of those powers. It only sets out who is to receive the property once the person eventually dies, without touching the property while the sentence is being served.
Soundness of mind and formalities still matter
That Article 34 does not bar the act of making a will does not mean any will executed during civil interdiction is automatically valid. A will still has to satisfy the ordinary requirements for a valid testamentary act: the testator must be of sound mind, and the formalities the law demands for executing a will still have to be observed. Civil interdiction does not by itself prove incapacity, but it also does not excuse a defective will from meeting those separate standards. Anyone drafting a will while serving this penalty, or advising someone who is, should treat the exemption from Article 34 as narrow — it removes one specific objection, not every question a court might later ask about whether the will itself is valid.