Quick answer

Philippine law generally gives certain close family members a protected right to inherit. These compulsory heirs ordinarily include legitimate children and descendants; legitimate parents or ascendants when there are no legitimate descendants; the surviving legal spouse; and illegitimate children whose filiation is duly established. An adopted child is generally treated as a legitimate child of the adopter under current adoption law.

A will cannot simply erase a compulsory heir’s legitime, or legally reserved share. If there is no valid will—or the will does not cover the entire estate—the Civil Code’s rules on intestate succession determine who inherits and in what proportions.

Inheritance rights arise at death, but an heir does not automatically become the exclusive owner of a particular house, lot, account, or vehicle. The marital property regime must first be liquidated, estate debts and taxes addressed, all heirs identified, and the estate properly settled and partitioned. Until partition, multiple heirs generally own the estate in common, subject to its debts.

These are the general Civil Code rules. Different rules may apply to Muslim estates under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, to foreign nationals whose national law governs succession, and to deaths occurring under older succession laws.

What property is actually inherited?

The estate is not necessarily everything registered in the deceased person’s name. Before calculating hereditary shares, determine:

Which property was exclusively owned by the deceased.
Which property belonged to an absolute community, conjugal partnership, co-ownership, corporation, partnership, or another person.
Which rights and obligations survived death.
Which estate debts, taxes, expenses, and valid claims must be paid.
Whether lifetime donations must be considered in computing the compulsory heirs’ legitimes.

For married decedents, the absolute community or conjugal partnership must be liquidated. The surviving spouse’s own share in the net community or conjugal property is returned to that spouse before the deceased spouse’s share is distributed as inheritance. That ownership share is separate from whatever the surviving spouse may inherit.

Under Articles 102, 103, 129, and 130 of the Family Code, liquidation should occur in the estate proceeding. If there is no judicial proceeding, the surviving spouse must liquidate the property regime judicially or extrajudicially within six months from death. A disposition or encumbrance involving unliquidated community or conjugal property after that period may be void.

The Civil Code limits inherited obligations to the value of the inheritance. Heirs do not ordinarily become personally liable for all the deceased’s debts beyond what they receive, although mortgages, liens, estate administration rules, and an heir’s own undertakings may affect the result.

Who are compulsory heirs?

The principal compulsory heirs under Articles 886 and 887 of the Civil Code are:

Legitimate children and descendants.
In their absence, legitimate parents and ascendants.
The surviving widow or widower.
Illegitimate children whose filiation has been legally established.

These groups do not always exclude one another. The surviving spouse and illegitimate children may inherit alongside legitimate descendants or legitimate ascendants.

Children and descendants

Legitimate children inherit without preference based on sex, age, birth order, or the marriage from which they were born. There is no rule giving the eldest child a larger share.

Legitimated children have the same rights as legitimate children. Under Sections 41 and 43 of Republic Act No. 11642, an adoptee is considered the legitimate child of the adopter, and adopter and adoptee have reciprocal testate and intestate succession rights without distinction from legitimate filiation. Current law generally severs legal ties with the biological parents except in a stepparent adoption. Older adoption decrees and rescinded adoptions require individual review.

A stepchild does not inherit by intestacy merely because of the step-relationship. The stepchild must be legally adopted, qualify through another legal relationship, or receive a valid testamentary gift from the disposable portion.

Illegitimate children

An illegitimate child is an heir of each parent once filiation to that parent is duly proved. Under Article 176 of the Family Code, the legitime of each illegitimate child is one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child. In an intestate estate where legitimate and illegitimate children concur, the same two-to-one proportion generally applies.

Filiation may be established through a civil-registry birth record, a final judgment, an admission in a public document or qualifying handwritten instrument signed by the parent, open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or other evidence allowed by law. The sufficiency of a birth certificate or other record depends on how it was prepared, acknowledged, and signed.

Actions involving filiation can be subject to strict, fact-dependent periods under Articles 172, 173, and 175 of the Family Code and transitional rules based on the child’s date of birth. Obtain legal advice promptly if parentage is disputed or the alleged parent has died.

Grandchildren and representation

A grandchild does not normally inherit directly while the grandchild’s parent—the nearer heir—is alive and qualified to inherit. A grandchild may instead take the parent’s branch by right of representation when the parent predeceased the decedent or cannot inherit in circumstances recognized by law. The representatives collectively receive only the share that their parent would have received.

An heir who repudiates an inheritance cannot be represented merely because of that repudiation. By contrast, the descendants of a validly disinherited child may preserve their rights as compulsory heirs to that child’s legitime.

In Aquino v. Aquino, the Supreme Court held that a nonmarital child may represent a deceased parent in the estate of a direct ascendant, such as a grandparent, regardless of the marital status of the child or parent. The ruling is limited to inheritance by representation in the direct line; it did not broadly decide intestate rights involving collateral relatives such as aunts, uncles, or cousins. See the Supreme Court decision in G.R. Nos. 208912 and 209018.

Surviving spouse

The surviving legal spouse is generally both a compulsory heir and an intestate heir. The spouse’s inheritance is in addition to the spouse’s ownership share after liquidation of the marital property regime.

Mere physical separation does not by itself end a valid marriage or automatically remove succession rights. A final decree of legal separation, the spouse who gave cause for it, bad faith in certain marriages, nullity, or other statutory disqualifications can change the result.

A live-in partner is not a “surviving spouse” for intestate succession without a valid marriage. The partner may nevertheless own part of property acquired during cohabitation under Articles 147 or 148 of the Family Code. That ownership must be determined before identifying what belongs to the deceased’s estate. A partner may also be named in a will, subject to legitimes and statutory prohibitions on certain testamentary gifts.

How a will affects the heirs

A person with compulsory heirs may dispose by will only of the portion not reserved as legitimes. The principal rules include:

Legitimate children or descendants collectively have a legitime equal to one-half of the net hereditary estate, normally divided equally by branch.
In the absence of legitimate descendants, legitimate parents or ascendants generally have a collective legitime of one-half.
The surviving spouse’s legitime varies depending on whether the spouse concurs with children, ascendants, or illegitimate children.
Each illegitimate child’s legitime is one-half of a legitimate child’s legitime, subject to the rules protecting the surviving spouse and the available portion.
Lifetime donations subject to collation may be added when determining whether a legitime has been impaired.

A compulsory heir who receives less than the proper legitime may demand completion of the share. Excessive testamentary gifts or donations may be reduced to the extent necessary to restore protected legitimes.

Total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line may constitute preterition and can annul the institution of heirs, although valid devises and legacies may remain effective insofar as they do not impair legitimes. Whether an omission is preterition, defective disinheritance, or merely an insufficient share depends on the will and family circumstances.

A will must satisfy formal requirements

A non-holographic or notarial will generally requires the testator’s signature, at least three credible witnesses, the required signatures and attestation, and acknowledgment before a notary. A holographic will must be entirely written, dated, and signed by the testator’s own hand. Special requirements apply to alterations and to testators with certain disabilities.

Even a properly signed will does not transfer property by itself. Article 838 of the Civil Code and Rule 75 require a will to be proved and allowed in the proper court before it can pass property.

The custodian of a will must deliver it to the proper court or named executor within 20 days after learning of the testator’s death. A named executor has a corresponding 20-day duty to present the will and accept or refuse the trust, unless the will has already reached the court.

Can an heir be disinherited?

A compulsory heir cannot be disinherited merely because the testator was angry, estranged from the heir, preferred another child, or wrote “I leave nothing” without a valid legal basis.

Under Articles 915 to 923 of the Civil Code, disinheritance must:

Be made through a valid will.
State a cause expressly recognized by law.
Identify the legal cause with sufficient clarity.
Be supported by proof if the disinherited heir denies the cause.

The statutory causes differ for children or descendants, parents or ascendants, and spouses. They include specified forms of serious misconduct, such as an attempt on the testator’s life, certain false criminal accusations, unjustifiable refusal of support, qualifying maltreatment, undue influence over a will, or conduct expressly described in the Code.

A disinheritance based on an unstated, unrecognized, or unproved cause is ineffective insofar as it prejudices the heir’s legitime. Reconciliation may also deprive the testator of the right to disinherit or make an existing disinheritance ineffective.

Separate rules on unworthiness may disqualify a person because of conduct listed in Article 1032, including specified crimes against the testator, coercion or fraud involving a will, concealment or alteration of a will, and forgery. These issues commonly require a court determination.

Common intestate shares

The following are common Civil Code outcomes when there is no effective will. They apply to the net intestate estate, after ownership questions, debts, and proper estate charges are addressed.

Heirs who survive	General intestate division
Legitimate children only	The children divide the estate equally; descendants of a predeceased child may take that child’s branch by representation.
Legitimate children and surviving spouse	The spouse receives the same share as each legitimate child.
Legitimate and illegitimate children	Use a two-to-one proportion: each illegitimate child generally receives one-half of each legitimate child’s share.
Legitimate children, illegitimate children, and spouse	Treat each legitimate child and the spouse as two units, and each illegitimate child as one unit.
Legitimate parents or ascendants and spouse, with no legitimate descendants	One-half to the spouse and one-half to the legitimate parents or ascendants.
Legitimate ascendants and illegitimate children, without a spouse	One-half to the ascendants and one-half collectively to the illegitimate children.
Legitimate ascendants, spouse, and illegitimate children	One-half to the ascendants, one-fourth to the spouse, and one-fourth collectively to the illegitimate children.
Spouse and illegitimate children, with no legitimate descendants or ascendants	One-half to the spouse and one-half collectively to the illegitimate children.
Spouse and brothers, sisters, nephews, or nieces, with no descendants, ascendants, or illegitimate children	One-half to the spouse and one-half to the qualifying collateral relatives.
Spouse alone, with no qualifying descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, siblings, nephews, or nieces	The spouse inherits the entire estate.
No descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or spouse	Qualifying collateral relatives inherit according to degree and the full-blood or half-blood rules. Intestate succession generally does not extend beyond the fifth collateral degree.
No qualified heir	The State inherits under the statutory escheat rules.

This table does not cover every combination. Special rules apply when the decedent was an illegitimate child, when reserved property under Article 891 is involved, when filiation or marriage is disputed, or when heirs are unworthy, disinherited, adopted under an older law, or governed by Muslim or foreign law.

Rights of co-heirs before partition

When there are several heirs, Article 1078 of the Civil Code places the estate in co-ownership until partition, subject to the deceased’s debts.

A co-heir may transfer only the hereditary interest that the co-heir actually owns. A sale or mortgage of a specific estate property cannot prejudice the shares of the other heirs; its effect is limited to whatever may eventually be allotted to the seller. If hereditary rights are sold to a stranger before partition, the other co-heirs may have a right to substitute themselves for the buyer by reimbursing the price within one month from written notice of the sale.

One heir therefore should not:

Sell the entire inherited land without the authority of the other owners or the court.
Keep all rentals or harvests without accounting to co-heirs.
Withdraw or divide estate funds secretly.
Alter titles, tax declarations, or corporate records to omit another heir.
Treat long possession of the family home as automatic exclusive ownership.

Each co-heir may generally demand partition. If an asset is indivisible, the heirs may agree to award it to one heir who pays the others, or the property may have to be sold and the proceeds divided.

Accepting or rejecting an inheritance

Acceptance may be express or implied by conduct that only an heir would have the right to perform. Acts of preservation or provisional administration do not necessarily constitute acceptance.

Repudiation must be made in a public or authentic instrument or through a petition in the estate proceeding. It is generally irrevocable once validly made. A parent or guardian ordinarily needs judicial authority to repudiate an inheritance belonging to a minor or incapacitated person.

Do not sign a waiver without reviewing its civil and tax consequences. Under BIR Revenue Regulations No. 12-2018, a general renunciation of a hereditary share is ordinarily not subject to donor’s tax. A renunciation specifically favoring identified heirs to the disadvantage of others may be treated as a donation. A surviving spouse’s waiver of the spouse’s own community or conjugal-property share is also treated differently from repudiation of an inheritance.

How to settle the estate

Extrajudicial settlement

Rule 74 of the Rules of Court permits extrajudicial settlement when:

The decedent left no will.
The estate has no outstanding debts.
All heirs are of age, or minors are represented by duly authorized legal or judicial representatives.
The heirs agree on the division.

The agreement must be in a public instrument and filed with the Register of Deeds when registration is required. A sole heir may execute an affidavit of self-adjudication. The required bond applies to personal property, and the fact of settlement must be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.

An extrajudicial settlement does not bind an heir or other person who did not participate and had no notice. Rule 74 also preserves claims by creditors or persons deprived of their lawful shares within two years after distribution. A person who is a minor, mentally incapacitated, imprisoned, or outside the Philippines when that period expires may claim within one year after the disability is removed. Other remedies and prescriptive periods may apply where there was fraud, no notice, an invalid partition, or an express or implied trust, so an excluded heir should not wait.

Judicial settlement

Court proceedings are normally necessary when:

There is a will requiring probate.
The heirs or their shares are disputed.
There are unpaid or contested debts.
An heir is missing or inadequately represented.
Filiation, marriage, adoption, ownership, capacity, or disinheritance is contested.
Estate property must be preserved, recovered, sold, or administered under court authority.
The heirs cannot agree on partition.

A judicial proceeding can appoint an executor or administrator, notify creditors and interested persons, determine heirs, resolve claims, approve dispositions, and distribute the residue.

Taxes and registration deadlines

For deaths on or after January 1, 2018, the estate tax is generally 6% of the net taxable estate, not 6% of every asset. For a citizen or resident alien, current rules provide a ₱5 million standard deduction and, when the requirements are met, a family-home deduction of up to ₱10 million, plus other allowable deductions.

The executor, administrator, or legal heirs generally must file BIR Form No. 1801 within one year from death and pay the tax when the return is filed. The return is required for taxable transfers and, regardless of gross value, when the estate includes registered or registrable property requiring BIR clearance. A CPA-certified statement is required when the gross estate exceeds ₱5 million.

A filing extension of no more than 30 days may be granted in meritorious cases, but it must be requested and is not automatic. Approved payment extensions may reach five years for judicially settled estates or two years for extrajudicial settlements when immediate payment would cause undue hardship. Approved cash installments may also be allowed under the conditions in Revenue Regulations No. 12-2018. Consult the applicable Revenue District Office before the original deadline. See the official BIR Form No. 1801 instructions and the BIR’s current forms page.

For inherited real property, Section 135 of the Local Government Code requires the executor or administrator to pay the applicable local transfer tax within 60 days from death. Late settlement may result in local penalties even when the estate tax deadline is later.

After settlement and tax compliance, the heirs may need a BIR electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration, local tax clearances, and registration with the Register of Deeds, assessor, Land Transportation Office, corporate secretary, bank, or other relevant institution. Requirements vary by asset.

Evidence to preserve immediately

Keep originals and certified copies where possible:

PSA death, birth, and marriage certificates.
Adoption, legitimation, annulment, nullity, legal-separation, or filiation orders.
The original will, envelopes, codicils, and records showing custody.
Titles, tax declarations, surveys, deeds, and proof of purchase.
Bank certificates, investment records, passbooks, loan documents, and statements as of death.
Stock certificates, corporate records, business books, insurance policies, and beneficiary designations.
Vehicle registrations and receipts.
Deeds of donation and records of advances to heirs.
Mortgages, promissory notes, tax liabilities, medical bills, and funeral or administration expenses.
Records of rentals, harvests, withdrawals, repairs, and estate expenses after death.
Handwritten admissions, correspondence, photographs, support records, and other evidence relevant to filiation.
Medical records and handwriting samples if capacity or the authenticity of a will may be disputed.
Written notices concerning any sale of hereditary rights.

Do not alter, annotate, staple, laminate, destroy, or “correct” an original will.

Common mistakes

Dividing the deceased’s gross property without first separating the surviving spouse’s or another co-owner’s property.
Assuming that property registered in one spouse’s name was necessarily exclusive property.
Treating an unprobated will or informal family note as an immediately effective transfer.
Omitting an illegitimate, adopted, predeceased child’s descendants, or child from another relationship.
Assuming a live-in partner is automatically a surviving spouse—or ignoring the partner’s possible co-ownership.
Believing the eldest child owns or controls the estate.
Selling a specific estate asset as though one heir already owned it exclusively.
Signing an extrajudicial settlement that does not disclose every heir and asset.
Using an affidavit of self-adjudication when more than one heir exists.
Signing a waiver “in favor of” selected heirs without checking donor’s-tax consequences.
Waiting for the family dispute to end before addressing BIR and local tax deadlines.
Assuming publication cures the deliberate omission of a known heir.
Distributing all assets before paying creditors and estate obligations.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a Philippine succession lawyer promptly when:

Someone is hiding, destroying, or refusing to deliver a will.
An heir or estate administrator is withdrawing funds, collecting rents, or selling assets without accounting.
A deed, title, tax declaration, or extrajudicial settlement excludes a possible heir.
Filiation is disputed or the evidence of parentage may be lost.
A compulsory heir was omitted or purportedly disinherited.
A deadline for estate tax, local transfer tax, a Rule 74 claim, or another court action is approaching.
The estate includes minors, incapacitated persons, missing heirs, foreign heirs, foreign property, corporate interests, agrarian land, or several marriages.
The deceased or affected heirs are Muslims, or the deceased was a foreign national.
There are substantial debts, competing creditors, forged documents, or conflicting claims of ownership.

Qualified indigent parties may ask the Public Attorney’s Office whether they meet its requirements for free legal assistance.

Frequently asked questions

Does a child inherit even if the parent did not include the child in the will?

Usually, a compulsory child retains a legitime unless validly disinherited for a statutory cause or legally disqualified. The precise remedy depends on whether the case involves preterition, defective disinheritance, or an insufficient legitime.

Can an illegitimate child inherit from the father?

Yes, if filiation to the father is duly established. The child’s surname does not by itself determine succession rights. The applicable proof and deadline rules must be checked carefully.

Can grandchildren inherit if their parent is still alive?

Ordinarily, the nearer heir excludes the grandchildren. Grandchildren may receive property if validly named in a will from the disposable portion or if another legal basis applies. Representation usually operates when their parent predeceased the decedent or could not inherit—not when the parent merely rejects the inheritance.

Can a parent give everything away before death?

A genuine lifetime transfer may remove property from the future estate, but donations are considered when computing legitimes and may be reduced after death if they impair compulsory heirs’ protected shares. Sham sales, simulated transfers, and transfers of property the donor did not exclusively own may be challenged.

Can one heir sell inherited land without the others?

An heir may generally transfer only that heir’s undivided hereditary interest. The buyer receives no greater right than the seller and remains subject to partition. Selling the entire land or another heir’s share requires proper authority.

Do heirs have to pay the deceased’s debts from their own money?

Generally, estate obligations are payable from estate assets, and inherited obligations are limited to the value of the inheritance. Personal liability can arise from an heir’s separate agreement, improper distribution, concealment, or other conduct, so debts should be resolved before final distribution.

Is an oral waiver valid?

No. Repudiation must be made through a public or authentic instrument or a petition in the proper estate proceeding. It should not be signed casually because it is generally irrevocable and may have tax consequences.

Is an extrajudicial settlement enough to transfer land?

Not by itself. The heirs must satisfy Rule 74, publication and bond requirements where applicable, BIR estate-tax and eCAR requirements, local taxes and clearances, and Register of Deeds requirements.

Official legal references

This article provides general legal information, not advice for a specific estate. Successional shares and remedies depend on the governing law at the time of death, the will, family relationships, property documents, marital regime, debts, and procedural history. Official sources and current procedures were checked as of August 11, 2026.