NUGUID VS. NUGUID FACTS: Decedent died w/o issue, survived by Parents, brothers and Sisters.

Parents were omitted in the holographic will and only the name of one sister, was declared as universal heir. ISSUE: WON there is Preterition. HELD: Yes RATIO: Said will rather than he labelled ineffective disinheritance is clearly one in which the said forced heirs suffer from preterition. The disputed order, we observe, declares the will in question "a complete nullity". Article 854 of the Civil Code in turn merely nullifies "the institution of heir." Considering, however, that the will before us solely provides for the institution of petitioner as universal heir, and nothing more, the result is the same. The entire will is null. Preterition "consists in the omission in the testator's will of the forced heirs or anyone of them, either because the are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs nor are expressly disinherited." preterition is presumed to he "involuntary." Disinheritance; in turn, "is a testamentary disposition depriving any compulsory heir of heir share in the legitime for a cause authorized by law." Disinheritance is always "voluntary"; preterition upon the other hand, is presumed to he "involuntary." EFFECTS OF PRETERITION AND DISINHERITANCE. Preterition under Article 854 of the Civil Code "shall annul the institution of heir. "This annulment is in toto, unless in the will there are, in addition, testamemtary dispositions in the form of devises or legacies. In ineffective disinheritance under Article 918 of the same Code, such disinheritance shall also "annul the institution of heirs," but only "insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited," which last phrase was omitted in the case of preterition. Better stated yet, in disinheritance the nullity is limited to that portion of the estate of which the disinherited heirs have been illegally deprived. SOLANO VS. CA FACTS: Solano had children: the garcias and Zonia. Zonia was an acknowledged natural children and was declared as universal heir together with her mother Trinidad who a legatee. Later on Zonia was declared illegitimate because at the time of her birth, Solano was still still married to his French wife. ISSUE: WON there is Preterition. HELD: Yes. RATIO: The GARCIAS (compulsory heirs) were, in fact, preterited from SOLANO's Last Will and Testament; and that as a result of said preterition, the institution of ZONIA as sole heir by SOLANO is null and void pursuant to Article 854 of the Civil Code. "The preterition or omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious. However, contrary to the conclusions of the Courts below, holding that the entire Will is void and intestacy ensues, the preterition of the GARCIAS should annul the institution of ZONIA as heir only insofar as the legitime of the omitted heirs is impaired. The Will, therefore, is valid subject to that limitation. In the case at bar, there is a specific bequest or legacy so that Article 854 of the Civil Code, supra, applies merely annulling the "institution of heir" The disposition in her favor should be upheld as to the one-half (1/2) portion of the property that the testator could freely dispose of. Since the legitime of illegitimate children consists of one-half (1/2) of the hereditary estate (Art. 895, Civil Code), the GARCIAS and ZONIA each have a right to participation therein in the proportion of one- third (1/3) each. ZONIA's hereditary share will, therefore, be 1/2 + (1/3 of 1/2) or 4/6 of the estate, while the GARCIAS will respectively be entitled to 1/3 of 1/2 or 1/6 of the value of the estate.

ACAIN vs. CA FACTS: Nemesio Acain (Decedent) died and left a will wherein his brothers and sisters are instituted as universal heirs, thus, his legally adopted daughter and widow opposed and contends that they were preterited. ISSUE: WON there is preterition. HELD: Yes. RATIO: Preterition consists in the omission in the testator's will of the forced heirs or anyone of them either because they are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs nor are expressly disinherited. Insofar as the widow is concerned, Article 854 of the Civil Code may not apply as she does not ascend or descend from the testator, although she is a compulsory heir. Stated otherwise, even if the surviving spouse is a compulsory heir, there is no preterition even if she is omitted from the inheritance, for she is not in the direct line.
However, the same thing cannot be said of the other respondent Virginia A. Fernandez, whose legal adoption by the testator has not been questioned by petitioner (Memorandum for the Petitioner, pp. 8-9). Under Article 39 of P.D. No. 603, known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code, adoption gives to the adopted person the same rights and duties as if he were a legitimate child of the adopter and makes the adopted person a legal heir of the adopter. It cannot be denied that she was totally omitted and

preterited in the will of the testator and that both adopted child and the widow were deprived of at least their legitime. Neither can it be denied that they were not expressly disinherited. Hence, this is a clear case of preterition of the legally adopted child. Preterition annuls the institution of an heir and annulment throws open to intestate succession the entire inheritance including "la porcion libre (que) no hubiese dispuesto en virtual de legado, mejora o donacion". The only provisions which do not result in intestacy are the legacies and devises made in the will for they should stand valid and respected, except insofar as the legitimes are concerned.
The universal institution of petitioner together with his brothers and sisters to the entire inheritance of the testator results in totally abrogating the will because the nullification of such institution of universal heirs - without any other testamentary disposition in the will - amounts to a declaration that nothing at all was written.