Left Out?

George Ty (From Metrobank Foundation Site)

By now it is no secret at all that the recent demise of Metrobank Founder George Ty has unleashed something of a battle over his estate by two recognized natural families.

I think the early flow of news reports had, for whatever reason, the unfortunate effect of creating the impression with the casual reader that the late Taipan's will had somehow left "everything" to Chinese-Filipino wife Mary V. Ty and her children. While I have not read the actual will itself, I believe this idea of "everything" is probably erroneous - a misappreciation of the legalese behind the formal document.

From the little that I know of Philippine law, the Philippine Family Code recognizes "compulsory" heirs, meaning heirs that one cannot arbitrarily leave out of a will one executes, if one expects that will to be upheld by Philippine courts, that is. And given how well-lawyered a George Ty Will is bound to be, surely it will not contradict this basic legal doctrine.

Mary V. Ty (From MB Foundation site)

In short I cannot quite believe that a Last Will and Testament executed by George Ty and his lawyers would have committed the basic error of attempting to arbitrarily bequeath "everything" to Mrs. Mary Ty. What it probably does state, was that George Ty was bequeathing the entire "free" portion of his substantial estate to Mary Ty - meaning after all legally defined compulsory heirs had received their shares in the proportions set forth by Philippine law, then what remains, again under Philippine law, is the "free" portion, which the will-maker is free to bequeath at his sole discretion and according to the desires of his heart, so to speak. And in this case, the will-maker George Ty is bequeathing that entire free portion to Mary Ty.

From what I have read in the news, the GT Will also seeks to define who is the legitimate wife, and as necessarily follows, the legitimate children. This is again further evidence to me of how legally sound the document is - it seeks to define the legitimate wife and the legitimate children precisely to aid the court in defining the compulsory heirs and the corresponding proportions of the estate they are to receive. Any and all other offspring, even those that may not been named in the news thus far, if any, are not "left out", but rather take on the status of illegitimate children, who by the way are also compulsory heirs and are not left out of an inheritance. Their only difference from the legitimate children, I believe but am not certain, is that they are to receive a smaller share.

The only offspring, whether legitimate or illegitimate, that is not a compulsory heir is one who has been disowned/disinherited, and again the GT Will defines one offspring that George Ty had, in his last days, decided to disown and gives the justification on why he is disowning her. This is once more proof to me of how legally sound the document is, because a parent cannot just arbitrarily disown a child without reasons that are ample and grave enough. This is a safeguard against a parent exercising unjustified subjectivity and disowning some offspring out of sheer favoritism.

In summary, the GT Will, it would seem to me, was well thought out and legally sound. It set out to define the legal spouse, and the legitimate offspring, because in so doing it automatically defines the status of everyone with any kind legal claim against the estate. It then states which compulsory heir the will-maker has chosen to disown and gives the justification for doing so. Finally, the Will states who is to receive the free portion of the estate.

From the Manila Tytana Colleges Site

Now, of course, being legally sound does not necessarily mean the GT Will will go uncontested. There are two obvious legal wrinkles that I, as a non-lawyer, can see even from where I sit. First, the other significant woman in George Ty's life, Lourdes de Lara, could contest the assertion that she is not the legitimate spouse. She might present evidence that she and George Ty had a perfected marriage. The legal proceedings of sorting this out would probably take years. Secondly, the disowned daughter, a natural daughter of LDL, could also question whether her sins against her father, if indeed there are any, are enough legal basis to disown and subsequently disinherit her. This would probably take years to resolve also.

If there's one thing in all of this that I find really strange, it is this (and I'm being serious if a bit facetious, as I am wont to be) - any man who has two women in his life and yet lived to the age of 86, whole of limb and sanity, must have had a decent amount of communication skills and could reason, to the extent that is humanly possible, with women who loved him (meaning not exactly emotionally-detached from the issues). So I find it a bit difficult to imagine that George Ty would have crafted his LWAT without preparing both parties for it. So I find it difficult to grasp why it seems there's now disagreement over it But I guess maybe, people's positions change depending on who they talked to last, and "understandings" can become subjugated over time by other priorities. There's a lesson in there, I think, for anyone interested in any way in human relations.

Hey, you know what would make a great movie? This rich handsome man has two wives, and on his deathbed he tells them to fake a fight over his estate so that the resulting spectacle makes the taxman forget about questioning the declared value of the estate. "Forensic accounting," the rich man would say "is tremendously boring compared to gossip.." 👦