Short answer. Only at the moment he signed it. The law requires that a testator be of sound mind at the time of the will's execution — it does not require soundness of mind throughout his entire life, before or after that specific act.
What the law says
In order to make a will it is essential that the testator be of sound mind at the time of its execution
Civil Code, Article 798 — Soundness of Mind Required. Read the full provision →
The rule is a snapshot, not a lifetime standard
The Civil Code fixes the relevant moment narrowly: soundness of mind is essential at the time of the will's execution. It is not framed as a character trait a testator must have possessed continuously, and it does not ask a court to survey a person's whole mental history. What matters is a single point — the day and moment your father actually signed the document — and whether he was of sound mind precisely then.
Earlier struggles do not automatically disqualify him
Because the test is tied to that one moment, a person who experienced periods of confusion, illness, or diminished capacity earlier in life is not thereby barred from making a valid will later, so long as he was of sound mind when he actually signed it. A prior rough patch, standing alone, does not reach forward and taint a will executed during a lucid, competent moment. This matters for families of an elderly or previously ill testator: a documented episode from years earlier is not, by itself, proof that the will itself is invalid — the relevant question always circles back to his condition on the actual day he signed.
A later decline does not undo a will already validly signed
The same logic runs the other way. If your father was of sound mind when he executed the will, a decline in his mental condition afterward — whether from illness, age, or any other cause — does not retroactively invalidate what was already a validly executed will. The law does not ask whether he remained of sound mind for the rest of his life. A diagnosis or decline that comes years after the signing simply is not the legal question the statute poses about that already-completed will.
Why the exact date usually becomes the focus
Because the statute anchors soundness of mind to the moment of execution, any real dispute over your father's mental state tends to center on what his condition was around the date he actually signed the will, rather than on his general reputation or his condition months or years removed from that day. Evidence from far outside that window matters only to the extent it helps show what his condition actually was at that specific time.
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.
- Marita S. Cabas vs. Bernadita Vargas Feranil Vda. De Penaverde, G.R. No. 272590, April 23, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →