Art. 2932.Burden of Proof In Action to Annul

Article 2932 decides who has to prove what once someone sues to annul a probated testament. As a starting point, the party attacking the testament carries the burden of proving it invalid, which makes sense given that a court already reviewed and approved the testament once, at the probate hearing.

That starting point flips in a narrow window. If the annulment suit is filed within three months of the date the testament was probated, the burden moves to the defendants, who then have to prove both that the testament is authentic and that it meets every formal requirement the law sets for that kind of testament. A challenge brought soon after probate gets treated differently than one brought later, when memories have faded and the people who could speak to how the testament was executed may be harder to find.

That burden-shift, however, does not reach every kind of testament. For a notarial testament, a nuncupative testament by public act, or a statutory testament, the plaintiff always bears the burden of proving invalidity, regardless of how soon the suit follows probate. These forms share one feature the others lack: a notary and witnesses attest to the formalities at the moment of execution, giving the resulting document a built-in reliability that a testament executed without an officer's involvement, such as an olographic testament, does not carry.