Título IV. Formalidades especiales para testamentos y otras escrituras

The public deed of will, in addition to the general formalities, shall contain the following special ones:

1ºThe time and place where the will is executed;

2ºThe nationality of the testator;

3ºThe presence of two witnesses who meet the qualifications required by this law;

4ºAttestation of the mental capacity of the testator, in the judgment of the Notary;

5ºThat the testator himself express his will;

6ºThat the will be read clearly and distinctly by the testator or the person he chooses; and it be ascertained at the end of each clause, seeing and hearing the testator, whether what is contained therein is the faithful expression of his will;

7ºThat if the testator does not speak the Spanish language, two interpreters chosen by himself intervene, to translate his dispositions at the time of expressing them;

8ºThat the testator, the witnesses, the interpreters where applicable and the Notary, sign the will in the same act; and

9ºThat if the testator does not know how to or cannot sign, he place his fingerprint and an additional witness sign for him, who must meet the same qualifications as the instrumental witnesses.

Deeds of donation by reason of death shall contain the same formalities as the will.

In wills and donations mortis causa, the following are essential formalities, in addition to those set forth in Article 31:

1ºThe time at which they are executed;

2ºThe presence of two witnesses;

3ºThe expression by the testator of his last will;

4ºThe reading of the will or the donation, as applicable; and

5ºThe signatures: of the grantor or his fingerprint, as applicable; of the witnesses and of the Notary, and of the interpreters, if any.

The Notary who authorizes a will is obliged to communicate to the Registrar of Immovable Property, in writing, on stamped paper of the lowest value, within the fifteen days following the date on which the will was authorized, the data stated in Article 1143 of the Civil Code, under penalty of a twenty-five quetzales fine, without prejudice to any other criminal and civil liabilities.

The fine shall be imposed by the judge of First Instance under whose jurisdiction the Register is located and shall be applied to judicial funds.

The constitutive deed of a company, in addition to the requirements necessary for the validity of the instrument and the stipulations proper to the class to which it corresponds, shall contain the following:

1ºClass and purpose of the company, stating the transactions upon which its course of business shall turn;

2ºFirm name;

3ºName of the company, if it has one;

4ºDomicile thereof;

5ºCorporate capital and the share contributed by each partner, whether in money, in any other class of property or in personal industry; the value assigned thereto or the manner in which the appraisal must be made, in case no value has been assigned thereto;

6ºAccording to the nature of the company, designation of the person or persons who shall administer it and their powers;

7ºShare of profits or losses assigned to each partner, date and form of their distribution;

8ºDuration of the company;

9ºCases in which dissolution of the company shall proceed before its expiry;

10.The fixed times at which the report, inventory, general balance sheet of the corporate operations and proposed distribution of profits shall be presented;

11.Bases upon which the liquidation and division of the corporate assets must be made;

12.How the majority shall be formed in cases in which the partners have the right to vote;

13.Amount that each partner may periodically take for their personal expenses, according to the nature of the company;

14.Whether or not disputes arising among the partners shall be submitted to the decision of arbitrators and, in such case, the manner in which the appointment shall be made; and

15.Such other agreements as the partners may agree upon.

The public deed of formation of a corporation, in addition to the requirements determined in the preceding article, shall contain the following:

1.The names, personal particulars and domiciles of the founding partners;

2.The clear and complete statement of the purpose of the enterprise or business from which it takes its name;

3.The capital of the company, the number, values and classes of the shares into which it is divided, the preferences in the payment of dividends and amortizations of the different series of shares, if any; the premiums stipulated in case of redemption and the manner and term within which the partners must deposit its amount in the company treasury;

4.The amount of the capital subscribed at the time of the organization of the company and the part that is effectively paid;

5.The form of administration; the powers of the administrators; the manner of appointing them and the attributions corresponding to the general meeting of shareholders;

6.The dates on which the ordinary sessions of the general meeting of shareholders must be held;

7.The fixed time at which the inventory, the inventory balance sheet or financial position statement must be prepared and dividends agreed;

8.The portion of the profits allocated to form the reserve fund; and

9.The percentage of loss of the share capital that shall cause the dissolution of the company before the expiry of its term.

The deed of limited partnership must contain, in addition to the general requirements of the deed of partnership, the following:

1ºThe appearance, as grantors, of the managing partners and of the founding limited partners;

2ºThe partnership capital and the portion contributed by each partner; and if it is by shares, the number, series and value of each share;

3ºThe portion of capital actually paid and the form and time limit in which the limited partners must pay the remainder into the coffers of the partnership; and

4ºThe dates on which the ordinary sessions of the general meeting must be held.

The deed in which a mortgage of cédulas is constituted shall contain the following requirements:

1ºThe total value of the credit secured by the mortgage and the amount of each series, if several should be issued;

2ºThe value and numbering corresponding to the cédulas of each series;

3ºThe interest rate, the time and place of payment;

4ºThe currency in which the issuance is made and the kind in which the cédulas shall be redeemed;

5ºThe time limit for redemption of the capital owed or the successive time limits in the case of gradual amortization;

6ºDesignation of the mortgaged property, its municipal location and nature of its products and fruits;

7ºThe value of the immovable recorded in the registration of property subject to the three-per-thousand contribution;

8ºThe designation of the trust beneficiary, in case such appointment should be necessary;

9ºThe name of the natural or juridical person in charge of servicing the debt; payment of interest, commissions and amortizations;

10.The name of the person or persons in whose favor the issuance is made, in case it should not be to bearer or in favor of the grantor himself;

11.The specification of prior issuances, if there should be any; and

12.The order of preference for its payment, if the issuance should be divided into series.

The deed of agricultural, livestock or industrial pledge shall contain the following:

1ºThe amount of the loan or of the loans already made previously and with guarantee of the same things that are affected;

2ºThe agreed rate of interest;

3ºThe kind, quantity and location of the objects given in pledge;

4ºThe circumstance of the objects being free of encumbrance or, if they are not, the encumbrances they acknowledge on the date of the contract;

5ºIf insurance exists, the class thereof, amount of the insured sum, name and domicile of the insurer;

6ºWhether or not the debtor owes rent and, in the affirmative case, whether it is in money or in kind; and

7ºIn the case of livestock or livestock products, the class, number, age, sex, brand or mark of the animals and the condition of the fields where the livestock are found.