Short answer. No. Article 804 requires every will to be executed in a language or dialect known to the testator, and a will she could not read or understand fails that requirement. The defect goes to the substance of the act, not merely its form, so it cannot be cured after her death.
What the law says
Every will must be in writing and executed in a language or dialect known to the testator.
Civil Code, Article 804 — Writing and Language. Read the full provision →
Why the language requirement is not a formality
A will is an expression of the testator's own wishes, and the requirement exists so that the document she signed is one she could actually know the contents of. That is why this defect sits differently from a slip in the attestation clause. The rule about substantial compliance rescues imperfections in the form of the attestation; it does not reach a testator who did not understand her own will. If she could not read the English text and it was not made known to her in a language she knew, the instrument is not the record of her intention that the law requires.
Known, not necessarily read
The requirement is that the language be known to the testator, which is a question of fact rather than a matter of literacy or formal schooling. Many Filipinos of an older generation spoke and understood English perfectly well without having been educated in it, and a testator who conversed and transacted in the language satisfies the article. What the rule does not tolerate is a document drawn in a language genuinely foreign to her — which is the point to establish before deciding whether there is a case, because families frequently underestimate what an elderly relative understood.
Nothing in the will has to say so
The article imposes no requirement that the will recite the testator's knowledge of the language, and the absence of such a statement is not itself a defect. The consequence is evidentiary rather than fatal: knowledge has to be proved from outside the document. Correspondence, business records, employment history, schooling, and the testimony of people who dealt with her routinely all bear on it. A recital in the will helps a proponent and is worth including when drafting, but its absence does not decide the question either way.
What to look at before contesting
Assemble what shows the range of her language in daily life — letters and documents she signed or wrote, the language of her transactions, what her doctors and neighbours spoke with her, and whether she was schooled in English. Then look at the execution: who drafted the will, whether it was read to her and in what language, and what the attesting witnesses recall of that. Where a beneficiary produced a document in a language she did not use and arranged the signing, that combination raises more than the language question and both should be examined together.
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 →
- 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 →
- Spouses Benigno Que, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 150739, August 18, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 804 — Writing and Language
- Civil Code, Article 805 — Formalities of a Notarial Will
- Civil Code, Article 809 — Substantial Compliance