A childless couple have made an unica charta will whereby they nominated and instituted each other as universal heirs of their entire estate, so that the first of them to die nominates the surviving spouse as universal heir. No further conditions or restrictions have been stipulated in the will.
Would the surviving spouse be entitled to the full ownership of the inheritance and, upon the death of one of the spouses, can the remaining spouse make another will whereby he/she leaves all the inheritance according to his/her will?
With regard to the first question, if the surviving spouse is nominated as universal heir, then he or she would be entitled to the full ownership of the estate.
An unica charta will is jointly and reciprocally made by the husband and wife in one and the same instrument. This will may be unilaterally revoked by either of the spouses and according to section 592 (2) of the Civil Code, where such a will is revoked by one of the testators with regard to his or her estate, it shall continue to be valid with regard to the estate of the other.
On the other hand, section 593 (1) provides that where, by a will unica charta, the testators shall have bequeathed to each other the ownership or the usufruct of all their property, or of the greater part thereof, the survivor who shall revoke the will with regard to his or her estate shall, unless the pre-deceased shall have otherwise ordained, forfeit all rights which he or she may have had in virtue of such will on the estate of the predeceased spouse.
The same rule shall apply in any case in which, although the surviving spouse has not revoked the will, yet such will, by his or her own act, cannot be effectual with regard to his or her estate.
The juridical effects of revocation concerning the unica charta will vis-à-vis the surviving spouse vary, depending primarily on its content, that is to say they may bring about forfeiture or not, depending on the type of property mutually bequeathed by the spouses and the terms stipulated in the will, which may contain (as mentioned above) a waiver of forfeiture by the predeceased spouse together with the surviving spouse.
Readers should note that, revocation of the type mentioned under section 592 (2) does not affect the validity of the estate of the predeceased spouse with regard to the surviving spouse, while revocation of the type mentioned under section 593 (1), ruling out the possible waiver, is tantamount to forfeiture and hence the nullity with regard to the surviving spouse.
However, though any of the above-mentioned subsections with regard to the estate of the predeceased spouse bring about nullity vis-à-vis the surviving spouse, validity will continue or subsist vis-à-vis interested third parties.
In this respect, section 594 of the Civil Code provides that, in any of the cases mentioned above, the fruits from the predeceased spouse's demise on his or her estate is to vest wholly in his or her instituted heirs-at-law, as the case may be, without any prejudice to any bequest to any person other than the surviving spouse.
Therefore, the effects of forfeiture may bring about the cessation of the surviving spouse's rights over both the estate and the fruits perceived thereon of the predeceased spouse if no waiver is made in the unica charta will.
Finally, the effects of forfeiture cannot be brought into being by third parties other than those specifically mentioned by law, namely testamentary heirs or heirs-at-law.
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