the department of state upon the death of the testator, with the certificate of death.

The department of state shall have the notice of the death published in the Gaceta de Madrid, in order that the persons interested in the inheritance may obtain the will and have it protocoled in the manner prescribed.

SECTION TENTH.-Revocation and inefficiency of wills.

ART. 737. All testamentary provisions are essentially revocable, even though the testator should state in the will his wish or resolution not to revoke them.

All clauses annulling future provisions shall be considered as not existing, as well as those in which the testator may order that the revocation of the will should not be valid unless made with certain words or marks.

ART. 738. A will can not be revoked, either wholly or in part, except with the formalities required for making it.

ART. 739. A prior will is revoked by law by a subsequent and perfect will if the testator does not state in the latter his wish of leaving the former in force, in whole or in part.

Nevertheless, a prior will recovers its force if the testator afterwards revokes the subsequent one and expressly declares his wish that the former be valid.

ART. 740. The revocation shall be effective, even though the second will becomes void by reason of the incapacity of the heir or of the legatees designated therein, or by the renunciation of the former or of the latter.

ART. 741. The acknowledgment of an illegitimate child does not lose its legal force, even though the will in which it was made may be revoked.

ART. 742. A closed will found in the domicile of the testator with the cover torn, or the seals broken, or the signatures authenticating it effaced, erased, or corrected is presumed to be revoked.

This will, however, shall be valid should it be proven that this damage occurred without the wish or knowledge of the testator, or should the latter be insane; but, if the cover is found torn and the seals broken, it shall be necessary furthermore to prove the authenticity of the will in order that it may be valid.

If the will is found in the possession of another person, it shall be understood that the damage was caused by such person, and it shall not be valid unless its authenticity is proven if the cover is torn or the seals broken; and if both are intact, but with the signatures effaced, erased, or corrected, the will shall be valid unless it be proven that the instrument was delivered in this condition by the testator himself. ART. 743. Wills shall become void or testamentary provisions without effect, in whole or in part, only in the cases expressly prescribed in the code.

CHAPTER SECOND.-Inheritances.

SECTION FIRST.-Capacity to succeed by will or in the absence thereof.

ART. 744. All persons not disqualified by law may succeed by will or in the absence thereof.

ART. 745. The following are disqualified to succeed:

1. Abortive infants, by such being understood those who are not included among those described in article 30.

2. Associations or corporations not permitted by law.

ART. 746. Church and church chapters, provincial deputations and provinces, municipal councils and municipalities, hospitals and charitable institutions, and those for public instruction, associations authorized or recognized by law, and all other judicial persons may acquire by will, in accordance with the provisions of article 38.

ART. 747. Should the testator dispose of the whole or of part of his property for suffrages and pious works for the benefit of his soul, and does it in an indeterminate manner and without specifying its application, the executors shall sell the property and distribute its proceeds, giving one-half of it to the diocesan to be employed in said suffrages and to the expenses and necessities of the church, and the other half to the proper civil governor for the charitable institutions of the domicile of the deceased, and, in their absence, for those of the province.

ART. 748. A designation made in favor of a public institution under a condition or imposing a charge thereon shall be valid only if approved by the government.

ART. 749. Provisions made in favor of the poor in general, without the designation of persons or of towns, shall be understood as limited to those of the domicile of the testator at the time of his death should it not clearly appear that his will was otherwise.

The classification of the poor and the distribution of the property shall be made by the person designated by the testator, in the absence of such person by the executors, and should there be none, by the curate, the mayor, and the municipal judge, who shall decide by a majority of votes any doubts which may arise.

The same shall be done if the testator has disposed of his property in favor of the poor of a certain parish or town.

ART. 750. Every provision in favor of an unidentified person shall be void unless in some way the person may become identified.

ART. 751. A provision made generically in favor of the relatives of the testator is understood as made in favor of those nearest in degree. ART. 752. Testamentary provisions made by the testator during his last illness in favor of the priest who took his confession during the same, of the relatives of the latter within the fourth degree, or of his church, chapter, community, or institute shall not be valid.

ART. 753. Neither shall the testamentary provisions of the ward in favor of his guardian, made before the final accounts of the latter have been approved, be valid, even though the testator should die after their approval.

However, the provisions made by the ward in favor of the guardian when the latter is his or her ascendant, descendant, brother, sister, or spouse shall be valid.

ART. 754. The testator can not dispose of the whole or a part of his estate in favor of the notary who authenticates his will, or of the wife, relatives, or connections of the latter within the fourth degree, with the exception mentioned in article 682.

This prohibition is applicable to the witnesses to an open will executed with or without a notary.

The provisions of this article are also applicable to the witnesses and persons before whom special wills are executed.

ART. 755. A testamentary provision in favor of an incapacitated person, though concealed under the form of a contract involving a valuable consideration or made in the name of a third person, shall be void.

ART. 756. The following are disqualified to succeed by reason of unworthiness:

1. Parents who have abandoned their children or prostituted their daughters or made attempts against their chastity.

2. He who has been sentenced in a trial for having made attempts against the life of the testator, his spouse, descendants, or ascendants. If the offender should be an heir by force of law, he shall lose his legal portion.

3. He who has accused the testator of a crime for which the law imposes an exemplary punishment, when the accusation is declared libelous.

4. The heir of age who, knowing of the violent death of the testator, has not denounced it to the courts within a month, unless the latter had already acted ex officio.

This prohibition shall cease in cases in which, according to law, there is no obligation to make an accusation.

5. A person sentenced at a trial for adultery with the wife of the

testator.

6. He who, by threats, fraud, or violence, forces the testator to make a will or to change it.

7. He who, by the same means, prevents another from making a will or from revoking one already made, or who forges, conceals, or changes a subsequent one.

ART. 757. The reasons for unworthiness shall produce no effect if the testator had knowledge thereof at the time of making the will, or if, having been informed of them subsequently, has condoned the same in a public instrument.

ART. 758. In order to determine the qualification of the heir or legatee, the time of the death of the person whose succession is in question shall be taken into consideration.

In cases Nos. 2, 3, and 5 of article 756, it shall be necessary to wait until the final judgment is rendered, and in No. 4, until the month fixed for the complaint has elapsed.

If the institution or legacy should be conditional, the time for the fulfillment of the condition shall, furthermore, be taken into consideration.

ART. 759. The heir or legatee who should die before the condition is fulfilled, even though he survives the testator, transmits no rights whatsoever to his heirs.

ART. 760. Any person disqualified to succeed, who, in contravention of the prohibition of the preceding articles, has entered into possession of the hereditary property shall be obliged to return it together with its increases and with all the fruits and rents he may have collected.

ART. 761. If the person, excluded from the inheritance by reason of incapacity, should be a child or descendant of the testator and should

have children or descendants, the latter shall acquire his rights to the

legal portion.

A person excluded shall not enjoy the usufruct and administration of the property thus inherited by his children.

ART. 762. No action can be instituted for a declaration of incapacity after five years have elapsed from the time the incapacitated person took possession of the inheritance or legacy.

SECTION SECOND.-Designation of heirship.

ART. 763. A person who has no heirs by force of law may dispose by will of all his property or part of it in favor of any person qualified to acquire it.

A person, who having heirs by force of law, may dispose of his property only in the manner and with the limitations established in section 5 of this chapter.

ART. 764. A will shall be valid, even though it does not contain the designation of an heir, or if the latter does not include all of the property, and even though the person designated does not accept the inheritance or is disqualified to inherit.

In such cases, the testamentary provisions, made in accordance with the laws, shall be complied with, and the remainder of the estate shall go to the legal heirs.

ART. 765. The heirs designated, without a designation of shares, shall inherit share and share alike.

ART. 766. A voluntary heir, who should die before the testator, the person disqualified to inherit, and the person who renounces the inheritance, do not transmit any rights to their heirs, excepting the provisions of articles 761 and 857.

ART. 767. The statement of a false reason for the designation of an heir or for the appointment of a legatee shall be considered as not written, unless it appears from the will that the testator would not have made such designation or legacy, had he had knowledge of the falsity of such reason.

The statement of a reason contrary to law, even though true, shall also be considered as not written.

ART. 768. An heir to whom a certain and specified thing is left shall be considered a legatee.

ART. 769. When the testator appoints some heirs individually and others collectively, as when he says "I designate as my heirs N and N, and the children of N," those collectively appointed shall be considered as individually appointed, unless it appears in a clear manner that the will of the testator was otherwise.

ART. 770. If the testator should designate his brothers or sisters, and he has some of full blood and others on the side of the father or mother only, the inheritance shall be divided as in cases of intestacy. ART. 771. When the testator appoints to the succession a person and his children, they shall all be understood as designated simultaneously and not successively.

ART. 772. The testator shall designate the heir by his name and surname, and when there are two having the same names, he must state some circumstance by which the one designated may be identified.

Even though the testator may have omitted the name of the heir, should he designate him in such manner that there can be no doubt as to what person has been designated, the designation shall be valid.

ART. 773. An error in the name, surname, or qualities of the heir shall not vitiate the designation when it may be possible, in any other manner, to know with certainty who is the person appointed.

If among persons of the same name and surname there is equality of circumstances, and the latter are such as not to permit the identification of the person who is designated, none of them shall be an heir.

SECTION THIRD.-Substitution.

ART. 774. The testator may substitute one or more persons in the place of the heir or heirs designated in case they die before him or do not wish or can not accept the inheritance.

Simple substitution, without expressing cases, includes the three mentioned in the foregoing paragraph unless the testator has ordered otherwise.

ART. 775. Parents and other ascendants may appoint substitutes for their descendants under 14 years of age, of both sexes, in case they should die before said age.

ART. 776. The ascendant may appoint a substitute for the descendant over 14 years of age who, in accordance to law, has been declared disqualified on account of being of unsound mind.

The substitution referred to in the foregoing paragraph shall be without effect by the will of the incapacitated person made during a lucid interval or after having recovered his reason.

ART. 777. The substitutions referred to in the two foregoing articles, when the substitute has heirs by force of law, shall only be valid in so far as they do not prejudice the legitimate rights of the latter. ART. 778. Two or more persons may be substituted for a single one, or a single person for two or more heirs.

ART. 779. If the heirs designated in equal portions should be substituted for each other, they shall have in the substitution the same portions as in the designation, unless it clearly appears that the will of the testator was otherwise.

ART. 780. The substitute shall be subject to the same charges and conditions as imposed upon the person designated, unless the testator has expressly disposed to the contrary, or when the charges or conditions are merely personal with regard to the heir designated.

ART. 781. Substitutions in trust, by virtue of which the heir is intrusted with preserving and transmitting to a third person the whole or part of the inheritance, shall be valid and effective, provided they do not go beyond the second degree, or that they are made in favor of persons living at the time of the death of the testator.

ART. 782. Substitutions in trust can never impair the legal portion. Should they fall upon the third destined to the betterment, they can be made in favor of the descendants only.

ART. 783. In order that appointments to substitutions in trust may be valid they must be expressly made.

A fiduciary is bound to deliver the inheritance to the cestui que trust without any other deductions than those arising from legitimate expenses, credits, and improvements, except in case the testator has disposed otherwise.

ART. 784. The cestui que trust shall acquire the right to the succession from the time of the death of the testator, even though he dies before the fiduciary. The right of the former shall pass to his heirs.

75270-H. Doc. 1484, 60-2-7