Short answer. Article 783 defines a will as an act by which a person is permitted, following the formalities the law prescribes, to control to a certain degree the disposition of his estate, to take effect after his death. Three things stand out: the required formalities, only partial control, and effect only after death.
What the law says
A will is an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of this estate, to take effect after his death.
Civil Code, Article 783 — What a Will Is. Read the full provision →
A permitted act, not an inherent right
Article 783 opens by calling a will an act whereby a person is permitted to do certain things. The word permitted is deliberate — making a will is something the law allows a person to do, subject to the conditions the law attaches, rather than an unconditional power a person simply has over what happens to their estate after death. Everything else in the definition describes the boundaries of that permission.
The formalities are not optional
The permission is expressly conditioned on the formalities prescribed by law. Article 783 does not describe a will as any document expressing a person's wishes for their property — it ties the very definition of a will to compliance with formal requirements the law lays down elsewhere. This is why a document expressing exactly what someone wants to happen to their estate is not automatically a will in the legal sense unless it also satisfies those formalities.
Only 'a certain degree' of control
The article also limits how much control a will actually gives: the testator may control to a certain degree the disposition of his estate — not control it completely or without limit. This phrase signals that a will operates within limits the law sets elsewhere, rather than giving a testator unrestricted power to dispose of everything exactly as he wishes. The precise limits are not spelled out in this article, but the definition itself already builds in that qualification.
It only operates after death
Finally, Article 783 fixes when a will takes effect: to take effect after his death. A will has no operative effect on the testator's property while he is alive — its function under this article is specifically to govern disposition once death has occurred. This timing is part of what distinguishes a will, as defined here, from other instruments that transfer or affect property during a person's lifetime.
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.
- In the Matter of the Allowance of the Will of Moises F. Banayad Apolonia Banayad Frianela vs. Servillano Banayad, Jr, G.R. No. 169700, July 30, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →