Short answer. Yes. Under Civil Code Article 1027, an attesting witness to the execution of a will is incapable of succeeding under it. The same incapacity extends to the witness's spouse, parents, and children, and to anyone claiming through them. The gift to the witness is void.
What the law says
(4) Any attesting witness to the execution of a will, the spouse, parents, or children, or any one claiming under such witness, spouse, parents, or children;
Civil Code, Article 1027 — Who Cannot Inherit by Will. Read the full provision →
The witness-beneficiary disqualification
Article 1027 lists persons who are incapable of inheriting by will. Number 4 on the list covers the situation directly: any attesting witness to the execution of a will cannot receive a testamentary gift under that same will. The rule exists to prevent conflicts of interest. A witness is supposed to be a disinterested observer who confirms that the will was properly executed — that the testator signed voluntarily and in full capacity. Allowing a witness to also benefit from the will puts those two roles in direct conflict.
The disqualification extends to the witness's family
Article 1027 does not stop at the witness. The same incapacity applies to the witness's spouse, parents, or children, and to anyone claiming under or through those people. A testator cannot get around the restriction by giving the gift not to the witness directly but to the witness's spouse or child. If the gift would benefit any of those people, it is equally void. The provision sweeps broadly to close the most obvious workarounds that a determined beneficiary-witness might otherwise attempt.
The will itself is not invalidated
The fact that a witness is also a named beneficiary does not necessarily destroy the entire will. The incapacity under Article 1027 voids the specific testamentary disposition in favour of the witness or the witness's family — not all the other provisions. If the will contains gifts to five people and one of the witnesses is named as one of the five recipients, the other four gifts remain valid. The will itself survives; only the disqualified person's share fails.
Other categories in Article 1027 worth knowing
Article 1027 identifies other categories of persons who cannot inherit by will. These include a priest or minister who gave spiritual aid to the testator during a last illness, their relatives within the fourth degree, and religious organisations they belong to; a guardian in whose favour the ward made provisions before the final accounts of guardianship were approved; physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health personnel who cared for the testator during a last illness; and individuals or entities legally prohibited from inheriting. Each of these categories reflects the same underlying concern: protecting testators from the influence of people who were in a position of power or dependence over them during a vulnerable period.
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.
- Pedro Generosa, et al. vs. Pacita Prangan-Valera, G.R. No. 166521, August 31, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →