Short answer. Only the testator's compulsory heirs. Rule 76, Section 4 ordinarily requires mailed or personal notice to all known heirs, legatees, devisees, and any non-petitioning executor, but it carves out a narrower rule for self-probate: when the testator asks the court to allow their own will while still alive, notice goes only to compulsory heirs.
What the law says
The court shall also cause copies of the notice of the time and place fixed for proving the will to be addressed to the designated or other known heirs, legatees, and devisees of the testator resident in the Philippines at their places of residence, and deposited in the post office with the postage thereon prepaid at least twenty days before the hearing, if such places of residence be known.
Rule 76, Section 4 — Heirs, devisees, legatees, and executors to be notified by mail or personally. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the testator asks for the allowance of his own will, notice shall be sent only to his compulsory heirs.
Rule 76, Section 4 — Heirs, devisees, legatees, and executors to be notified by mail or personally. Read the full provision →
The general notice rule for probate
Rule 76, Section 4 sets the ordinary notice rule for a probate hearing. The court must cause copies of the notice of the time and place set for proving the will to be addressed to the designated or other known heirs, legatees, and devisees of the testator who reside in the Philippines, sent to their places of residence and deposited in the post office with postage prepaid at least twenty days before the hearing, provided their residences are known. Personal service of the notice at least ten days before the hearing is treated as equivalent to mailing it.
Notice to the executor
The rule also requires a copy of the notice to be mailed, in the same manner, to the person named as executor, if that person is not the one who filed the petition, and to any person named as co-executor who is not among the petitioners, again provided their places of residence are known. This ensures that anyone given a role in administering the estate under the will, but not personally driving the probate petition, is still kept informed of the hearing.
The narrower rule when the testator probates their own will
That broader list, however, narrows sharply in one situation. The article states plainly: if the testator asks for the allowance of his own will, notice shall be sent only to his compulsory heirs. This is the situation where the testator is still alive and is petitioning to have their own will probated during their lifetime, rather than heirs seeking probate after death. In that scenario, the general roster of heirs, legatees, devisees, and non-petitioning executors gives way to a shorter list — only the compulsory heirs need be notified.
Why the timing matters
The distinction matters because who must be notified changes depending on whether the testator or someone else is the one petitioning. A person handling a self-probate petition, or someone contesting one on the ground that proper notice was not given, needs to know that the wider circle of legatees and devisees the article otherwise requires is not the applicable standard while the testator is the petitioner asking for their own will to be allowed.