Which court has jurisdiction over probate and reprobate proceedings?
This issue was recently resolved by the Supreme Court in the case of In Re: Petition for the Allowance of Will Proved Outside of the Philippines and Administration of Estate under Rules 77 of the Rules of Court (G.R. No. 269883, 13 May 2024). It involves the last will and testament of an American citizen who died in her last residence in Honolulu, Hawaii sometime in 2017. Among the properties included in her last will is a parcel of land located in Pardo, Cebu City with a gross value of Php 896,000.00 based on its tax declaration. This foreign will was informally admitted into probate by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of State of Hawaii.
Sometime in 2022, one of the testator’s daughters who was named as the personal representative in the last will filed a Petition for the Allowance of Will Proved Outside of the Philippines and Administration of Estate under Rules 77 of the Rules of Court (Petition) before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities of Cebu City (MTCC). However, MTCC dismissed the Petition for lack of jurisdiction considering that Rule 77 of the Rules of Court states that wills proved and allowed in a foreign country, according to the laws of such country, should be allowed, filed, and recorded by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and not the MTCC.
The same Petition was filed before the RTC of Cebu City but it was also dismissed for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter since the value of the gross estate does not exceed Php2,000,000.00. The RTC ruled that reprobate of a foreign will is essentially a testate proceeding. As such, the determination of which court has jurisdiction over the Petition is governed by Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 (BP Blg. 129) as amended by Republic Act No. 11576 (R.A. No. 11576), which states thatit is the MTCC which has exclusive jurisdiction over probate proceedings, testate and intestate, where the value of the estate does not exceed Php2,000,000.00, exclusive of interest, damage of whatever kind, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses and costs.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, it ruled that it is the RTC, and not the MTCC, which has jurisdiction over reprobate proceedings. The Supreme Court reminded the lower courts to avoid conflating an action for the probate of a will with an action to reprobate or re-authenticate a foreign will already probated abroad. These proceedings are distinct legal processes with separate applicable rules.
Probate proceedings deal with the extrinsic validity of wills sought to be probated, particularly on the following aspects: (i) whether the will submitted is indeed the decedent’s will; (ii) compliance with the prescribed formalities for the execution of wills; (iii) the testamentary capacity of the testator; and (iv) the due execution of the will. Jurisdiction over probate proceedings now depends on the value of the gross estate of the decedent in accordance with B.P. Blg. 129, as amended. If the value exceeds Php2,000,000.00, it is the RTC which has jurisdiction over the probate proceedings. If the value is Php2,000,000.00 or below, the probate proceedings must be commenced before the MTCC.
On the other hand, reprobate is a special proceeding to establish the validity of a will proved in a foreign country and the evidence has to establish (i) due execution of the will in accordance with the foreign laws; (ii) the testator has his domicile in the foreign country and not in the Philippines; (iii) the will has been admitted to probate in such country; (iv) the fact that the foreign tribunal is a probate court; and (v) the laws of a foreign country on procedure and allowance of wills. This is specially governed by Rule 77 of the Rules of Court which states that a petition for reprobate lies with the RTC without distinction as to the value of the gross estate.
