Short answer. Yes. Article 1028 of the Civil Code states that the prohibitions in Article 739 on donations between the living apply equally to testamentary provisions. So a legacy or devise to a partner in adultery or concubinage, to a co-accused given in consideration of a shared crime, or to a public officer by reason of office is void.
What the law says
The prohibitions mentioned in article 739, concerning donations inter vivos shall apply to testamentary provisions.
Civil Code, Article 1028 — Donation Prohibitions Apply. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Those made between persons who were guilty of adultery or concubinage at the time of the donation
Civil Code, Article 739 — Donations That Are Void. Read the full provision →
One sentence that closes a loophole
Article 1028 is short: "The prohibitions mentioned in article 739, concerning donations inter vivos shall apply to testamentary provisions." Its purpose is to stop an obvious workaround. If certain people are barred from receiving gifts from you while you live, but could freely receive the same property the moment you die, the prohibition would be almost meaningless — anyone determined to benefit a barred recipient would simply wait and use a will instead of a deed of donation. By extending the ban to testamentary provisions, the Code makes the two routes equivalent: what liberality cannot accomplish during life, it cannot accomplish through succession either.
The three prohibited gifts
Article 739 declares three classes of donations void. First, "those made between persons who were guilty of adultery or concubinage at the time of the donation" — gifts between partners in an adulterous or concubinary relationship. Second, those made between persons found guilty of the same criminal offense, where the gift is given in consideration of that offense — a reward for shared wrongdoing. Third, those made to a public officer, or to the officer's spouse, descendants or ascendants, by reason of his office — gifts that are in substance a corruption of public duty. Under Article 1028, a will cannot deliver any of these either: a legacy or devise falling within these classes is void just as the equivalent donation would be.
How the prohibition operates against a will
The vice attaches to the particular disposition, not to the will as a whole. A will that leaves something to a disqualified person is not thereby destroyed; the offending legacy or devise fails, while the rest of the will stands on its own merits. It is also worth noting the standard of proof the Code itself sets in the donation context: Article 739 provides that guilt of adultery or concubinage may be proved by preponderance of evidence in the civil action itself — a prior criminal conviction is not what the article requires for that first class. Whether a particular relationship or gift actually falls within a prohibited class is, of course, a question of fact to be litigated.
Why the law draws these lines
All three prohibitions protect something beyond the giver's freedom to dispose of property. The ban on gifts between partners in adultery or concubinage protects the lawful spouse and the family from seeing marital property diverted to the very relationship that wronged them. The ban on gifts in consideration of a shared crime keeps the law from enforcing rewards for wrongdoing. The ban on gifts to public officers by reason of office guards the integrity of public service. Because those interests do not disappear when the giver dies, neither do the prohibitions — which is precisely the judgment Article 1028 writes into the law of succession.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1028 — Donation Prohibitions Apply
- Civil Code, Article 739 — Donations That Are Void