Echavez vs. Dozen Construction and Development Corporation

A donation mortis causa must strictly comply with the formalities prescribed for wills, and a notarial acknowledgment cannot substitute for or merge with the required attestation clause.

Vicente Echavez owned several lots in Cebu City, including Lot No. 1956-A and Lot No. 1959. On September 7, 1985, Vicente donated the lots to Manuel Echavez through a Deed of Donation Mortis Causa, expressly stating the donation was to take effect after his death. Manuel accepted the donation. In March 1986, Vicente executed a Contract to Sell over the same lots in favor of Dozen Construction and Development Corporation, followed by two Deeds of Absolute Sale in October 1986. Vicente died on November 6, 1986.

• Prior Donation: Vicente Echavez, absolute owner of Lot No. 1956-A and Lot No. 1959 in Cebu City, donated the lots to Manuel Echavez through a Deed of Donation Mortis Causa on September 7, 1985. The deed stated the donation was made "to take effect after death." Manuel accepted the donation.
• Subsequent Sale: In March 1986, Vicente executed a Contract to Sell over the same lots in favor of Dozen Corporation. In October 1986, they executed two Deeds of Absolute Sale over the properties.
• Death and Litigation: Vicente died on November 6, 1986. Emiliano Cabanig, Vicente’s nephew, filed a petition for the settlement of Vicente’s intestate estate. Manuel filed a petition to approve the donation mortis causa and an action to annul the contracts of sale, which were jointly heard by the RTC.

• Substantial Compliance: Manuel argued that the rule on substantial compliance in the construction of a will should apply to the donation mortis causa, claiming strict construction was unwarranted absent bad faith, fraud, or substitution.
• Sufficiency of Acknowledgment: Manuel maintained that the Acknowledgment portion of the deed embodied the import and purpose of the attestation clause required for wills, noting that the witnesses signed the instrument before and in the presence of each other and the notary public.

• Strict Compliance with Formalities: Respondents argued that a donation mortis causa must comply with the formalities of a will, and the absence of a proper attestation clause renders the deed void.
• Distinct Nature of Attestation: Respondents contended that an acknowledgment cannot substitute for an attestation clause, as they serve different legal purposes under the Civil Code.

• Substantial Compliance: Whether the rule on substantial compliance applies to cure the absence of a proper attestation clause in a deed of donation mortis causa.
• Attestation vs. Acknowledgment: Whether a notarial acknowledgment can embody or substitute for the attestation clause required in the execution of wills.

• Substantial Compliance: The rule on substantial compliance cannot be applied, the factual circumstances differing from cases where it was permitted. In prior jurisprudence, although the attestation clause omitted the number of pages, this detail appeared elsewhere in the will; here, the number of pages was omitted entirely from the document.
• Attestation vs. Acknowledgment: An acknowledgment cannot merge with or substitute for an attestation clause. Articles 805 and 806 of the Civil Code contemplate two distinct acts: an acknowledgment is a declaration by the executor before a competent officer that the deed is their own, while an attestation is the act of the instrumental witnesses certifying the execution and manner thereof. Because the witnesses' avowal was made before a notary public as part of the acknowledgment rather than as a distinct attestation, no attestation clause can be deemed embodied in the acknowledgment. The donation was declared void for non-compliance with the formalities of a will.

• Formalities of Donations Mortis Causa — Donations to take effect upon the death of the donor partake of the nature of testamentary provisions and must comply with the formalities prescribed for the validity of wills; otherwise, the donation is void and produces no effect.
• Attestation vs. Acknowledgment — An attestation and an acknowledgment are distinct legal acts. An acknowledgment is made by the person executing the deed, declaring it as their own before a competent officer. An attestation is the act of the instrumental witnesses certifying to the execution of the instrument before them and the manner of its execution. The two cannot be merged into a single statement.

• "That the requirements of attestation and acknowledgment are embodied in two separate provisions of the Civil Code (Articles 805 and 806, respectively) indicates that the law contemplates two distinct acts that serve different purposes." — Establishes the fundamental distinction between attestation and acknowledgment, precluding their merger.
• "Although the witnesses in the present case acknowledged the execution of the Deed of Donation Mortis Causa before the notary public, this is not the avowal the law requires from the instrumental witnesses to the execution of a decedent’s will." — Clarifies that witness participation in an acknowledgment does not satisfy the statutory requirement for an attestation.

• Singson v. Florentino, 92 Phil. 161 (1952) — Distinguished. The substantial compliance rule applied in Singson because the number of pages was stated in another portion of the will, unlike in the present case where it was omitted entirely.
• Taboada v. Hon. Rosal, 118 SCRA 195 (1982) — Distinguished. Similar to Singson, substantial compliance was applied because the number of pages was found elsewhere in the document, a factual circumstance absent here.
• Tenefrancia v. Abaja, 87 Phil. 139 (1950) — Followed. Cited to support the distinction between attestation and acknowledgment, emphasizing that attestation refers to the act of the instrumental witnesses certifying the execution of the instrument.
• Maglasang v. Heirs of Corazon Cabatingan, 383 SCRA 6 (2002) — Cited. Reiterated the principle that donations mortis causa partake of the nature of testamentary provisions and are governed by the rules on succession.

• Article 728, Civil Code — Provides that donations to take effect upon the death of the donor partake of the nature of testamentary provisions and shall be governed by the rules on succession. Applied to subject the deed of donation mortis causa to the formalities of wills.
• Article 805, Civil Code — Prescribes the formalities for the execution of wills, including the requirement of an attestation clause stating the number of pages, the fact that the testator signed or acknowledged the will, and that the witnesses signed in the presence of the testator and each other. Found to be non-complied with due to the missing number of pages and lack of a proper attestation.
• Article 806, Civil Code — Governs the acknowledgment of wills before a notary public. Interpreted as a separate and distinct requirement from attestation, precluding the merger of the two acts.

Conchita Carpio Morales, Lucas P. Bersamin, Martin S. Villarama, Jr., Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno.