Short answer. No. Article 806 requires every will to be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses, but it expressly says the notary is not required to retain a copy of the will or file another copy with the Clerk of Court. Safekeeping the will itself remains the testator's responsibility.
What the law says
Every will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses. The notary public shall not be required to retain a copy of the will, or file another with the office of the Clerk of Court.
Civil Code, Article 806 — Acknowledgment Before a Notary. Read the full provision →
What acknowledgment before a notary requires
Article 806 requires that every will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses. This acknowledgment step is a validity requirement for the will itself — it is where the testator and the attesting witnesses appear before the notary and confirm, under the notary's seal, that the document is genuinely theirs. The article's focus is on that act of acknowledgment happening properly, not on what becomes of the document afterward.
Why the notary isn't the will's custodian
The same article then addresses a separate question directly: whether the notary has any ongoing duty regarding the will once it has been acknowledged. It answers that plainly — the notary public shall not be required to retain a copy of the will, or file another with the office of the Clerk of Court. So unlike some other notarized instruments, a will's acknowledgment does not by itself create a public record or a duplicate copy sitting with a notary or a court.
What this means for finding the will later
Because the notary is under no obligation to keep or file a copy, the only copy that reliably exists after acknowledgment is typically the one the testator holds or has otherwise arranged to keep safe. If that original will cannot later be located, there is no notarial or court file to fall back on as a matter of course under this article. That makes safekeeping of the physical document itself, not the act of notarization, the practical safeguard against the will being lost.
The distinction from other notarized documents
This sets a will's acknowledgment apart from documents where a notary is expected to retain records as part of a public notarial register. Article 806 removes any such requirement for wills specifically, focusing the notary's role narrowly on the acknowledgment itself. Anyone executing a will should treat this as a reason to plan separately for where the original document will be kept and how it can be found when it is needed, rather than assuming the notary's involvement preserves a copy somewhere.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Testate Estate of the Late Alipio Abada, et al. vs. Alipio Abaja, et al, G.R. No. 147145, January 31, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Ma. Estela Maglasang, et al. vs. The Heirs of Corazon Cabatingan, et al, G.R. No. 131953, June 5, 2002 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Heirs of Fedelina Sestoso Estella represented by Virgilia Estella Poliquit, et al. vs. Jesus, G.R. No. 245469, December 9, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Felix Azuela vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 122880, April 12, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →