Short answer. The gift is void, not the will — and only as to him. Article 823 voids a devise or legacy given to an attesting witness, or to that witness's spouse, parent or child, unless there are three other competent witnesses. He stays a witness either way, as if no gift had been made.
What the law says
If a person attests the execution of a will, to whom or to whose spouse, or parent, or child, a devise or legacy is given by such will, such devise or legacy shall, so far only as concerns such person, or spouse, or parent, or child of such person, or any one claiming under such person or spouse, or parent, or child, be void, unless there are three other competent witnesses to such will.
Civil Code, Article 823 — A Gift to a Witness Is Void. Read the full provision →
What the law says
However, such person so attesting shall be admitted as a witness as if such devise or legacy had not been made or given.
Civil Code, Article 823 — A Gift to a Witness Is Void. Read the full provision →
The Code cuts out the gift, not the document
Article 823 provides: If a person attests the execution of a will, to whom or to whose spouse, or parent, or child, a devise or legacy is given by such will, such devise or legacy shall, so far only as concerns such person, or spouse, or parent, or child of such person, or any one claiming under such person or spouse, or parent, or child, be void, unless there are three other competent witnesses to such will. The words so far only as concerns such person are the reassurance most families need. Everyone else's share under the will is untouched.
Count the witnesses before you conclude anything
The exception at the end of the article decides many of these cases. A notarial will must be attested and subscribed by three or more credible witnesses under Article 805, so a will signed by exactly three witnesses, one of whom is a beneficiary, leaves only two others and the gift falls. A will signed by four witnesses leaves three others, and the gift survives intact. This is why careful drafters use a fourth witness where a beneficiary's involvement is unavoidable. Before anything else, read the attestation clause and count the signatures on the last page.
The disqualification follows the family
It is no answer that the witness himself was not named. Article 823 reaches a devise or legacy given to the witness's spouse, parent or child, and to anyone claiming under them, so leaving the property to the witness's wife or son runs into the same wall. What the article does not reach is a legacy to the witness's sibling, or to a friend, or to a corporation he happens to work for — the enumeration is specific, and it is not a general prohibition on witnesses having an interest in the estate.
He is still a competent witness, and that matters
The article's closing sentence keeps the will safe: However, such person so attesting shall be admitted as a witness as if such devise or legacy had not been made or given. His testimony still counts towards proving due execution, which is precisely why the will as a whole does not collapse. Competence is governed separately by Article 821, which disqualifies persons not domiciled in the Philippines and those convicted of falsification of a document, perjury or false testimony. So the question to ask about your uncle's witness is not whether he benefits, but how many others signed alongside him.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 823 — A Gift to a Witness Is Void
- Civil Code, Article 805 — Formalities of a Notarial Will
- Civil Code, Article 821 — Who Cannot Be a Witness