EXTRINSIC VALIDITY AND INTRINSIC VALIDITY OF WILLS

Extrinsic validity refers to the forms and solemnities prescribed by law. As ruled
in Ajero vs. Court of Appeals, Extrinsic validity deals with the form of the will and its due
execution, rather than its content. It determines (1) whether the instrument is truly the
decedent’s last will; 2) whether it complies with the formalities prescribed by law; 3)
whether the testator had testamentary capacity at the time he executed the will; and, 4)
whether the testator voluntarily executed the will.

Intrinsic validity refers to the validity of the dispositions made or stipulated by the
decedent. It refers to the legality of the provisions of the will because the right given to a
person to designate persons who are to succeed him is not absolute. There are still
laws that the decedent must conform in making his testamentary dispositions.

Conflict of Laws affects extrinsic validity and intrinsic validity especially when there is
a foreign element involved. This foreign element can be in the form of a will executed
overseas, of a foreigner dying within Philippine territory and leaving properties here and
abroad, of a Filipino dying overseas with properties in the Philippines, or of a testator
specifying a foreign law to govern the disposition of his estate. A foreign law cannot
prevail over Philippine law, it should be harmonized with our laws.