Francisco, Juna Aimee. C.

Change of Name and Correction of Entry (Branch 19) and

Probate of Will (Branch 16)
(Special Proceeding Court Visit Critique)

I had the privilege to observe two special proceedings dated on

January 30, 2018. The first one was a special proceeding for the
Change of Name and Correction of Entry in the Certificate of Live
Birth from Joseph Michael Castro Dee to Joseph Michael Castro filed
in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 19. Because we know that special
proceedings are usually scheduled during the early part of the
morning, we had to go there earlier than 08:00 AM. True enough, the
special proceeding was scheduled to be heard at 08:00 AM.
However, since the special proceeding case in Branch 19 was moved
to 11:30 AM, we took the opportunity to observe another special
proceeding case, this time held at Branch 16 of the same Regional
Trial Court. This was a special proceeding for the probate of a will of
Norma Serafica.

During the probate of the will of Norma Serafica was still on the
initiatory phase such that as we expected, there were no witnesses
presented yet by the lawyers. The hearing for this special proceeding
took less than 3 minutes. The judge simply ordered the allowance of
the probate of the will and with the drop of the gavel, a new case
proceeded. Rule 76 of the Rules of Court provides that a petition for
the allowance of will must show, so far known to the petitioner the: (a)
jurisdictional facts, (b) the names, ages and residences of the heirs,
legatees , and devisees of the testator or decedent; (c) the probable
value and character of the property of the estate; (d) the name of the
person for whom letters are prayed; (e) if the will has not been
delivered to the court, the name of the person having custody of it.
 In the other special proceeding which was the Change of Name
of Joseph Michael Castro (having decided that the special proceeding
in Branch 16 was not enough), I observed for the second time at
Branch 19. The petition for change of name and correction of entry
lasted a total of six minutes. It was also very brief but at least we got
to hear more from the lawyer as he notified the judge that notice had
already been sent to the Solicitor General regarding the change of
name.