Executive Summary

Under Philippine law, legitimate children are compulsory heirs. They cannot be deprived of their legitime—a fixed, minimum portion of a parent’s estate—except through valid disinheritance on specific legal grounds. Their shares adjust depending on who else survives (e.g., spouse, other descendants, illegitimate children, ascendants), but the core protections remain: (1) a guaranteed fraction of the estate; (2) the right to collation (to add back certain lifetime donations for correct sharing); (3) remedies to reduce inofficious donations and annul wills that preterit (completely omit) them; and (4) representation rights for grandchildren when a legitimate child predeceases or is disqualified.

Key Concepts

Compulsory heirs: Legitimate children (and, by right of representation, legitimate grandchildren and further descendants).
Legitime: The law-reserved portion of the estate that must go to compulsory heirs.
Free portion: What the decedent may freely dispose of by will or donation inter vivos without impairing legitimes.
Representation: Descendants step into the place of an earlier descendant who predeceased, is disinherited, or is otherwise incapacitated.
Preterition: Total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line in a will—annuls the institution of heirs (with technical exceptions).
Collation & reduction: Lifetime gifts to heirs are brought into the mass for computation; inofficious (excess) donations are reduced to preserve legitimes.

A. What Is the Legitime of Legitimate Children?

1) If legitimate children/descendants survive (no other compulsory heirs)

Aggregate legitime of all legitimate children: 1/2 of the estate, equally among them.
Free portion: 1/2 (disposable by will/donation).
Intestate (no will): They take everything, equally, subject to debts/charges.

2) If legitimate children + surviving spouse

Children’s aggregate legitime: 1/2 of the estate, equal among them.
Spouse’s legitime: Equal to the share of one legitimate child.
Effect on free portion: The spouse’s legitime further eats into the free portion; the arithmetic depends on the number of children:

Survivors	Children’s legitime (total)	Spouse’s legitime	Free portion
1 child + spouse	1/2 (child)	1/2 (spouse)	0
2 children + spouse	1/2 (¼ each)	1/4	1/4
3 children + spouse	1/2 (⅙ each)	1/6	1/3

(Pattern: spouse = share of one child.)

3) If legitimate children + illegitimate children (+ possibly spouse)

Illegitimate child’s legitime: One-half of a legitimate child’s legitime.
Illegitimate children share together in that portion, diminishing the free portion (not the 1/2 reserved to legitimate children).
With a surviving spouse, add the spouse’s legitime (equal to one legitimate child’s share).

Example: Estate = ₱8,000,000; survivors: spouse + 2 legitimate children + 1 illegitimate child

Children’s aggregate legitime = 1/2 = ₱4,000,000 → ₱2,000,000 each (legit share: ₱2,000,000 ÷ 2 = ₱2,000,000? Careful: divide ₱4,000,000 by 2 → ₱2,000,000 each).
Spouse’s legitime = share of 1 legit child = ₱2,000,000.
Illegitimate child’s legitime = ½ of a legit child’s legitime = ₱1,000,000.
Total reserved = 2,000,000 + 2,000,000 + 2,000,000 + 1,000,000 = ₱7,000,000 → Free portion = ₱1,000,000.

(Numbers vary with estate size and headcount; the structure stays the same.)

B. Intestate Shares (No Will)

If only legitimate children/descendants: They inherit in equal portions per capita (or per stirpes through representation when lines compete).
If spouse also survives: The spouse shares as a legitimate child (i.e., takes one child’s share) alongside legitimate children.
If a legitimate child predeceases: His/her legitimate descendants inherit by representation, dividing their stirps equally.

C. With or Without a Will: Protections of Legitimate Children

1) Preterition

If a will completely omits a legitimate child (or the entire legitimate line), the institution of heirs is annulled; legacies/devices that don’t impair legitimes may stand. The estate then reverts to intestacy for distribution to compulsory heirs.

2) Collation of Donations

Gifts the decedent made to a legitimate child during life (e.g., lot, condo, large cash) are added back to compute shares, unless expressly excluded by law.
Purpose: prevent unfair advantage and ensure each compulsory heir gets their minimum.
Hotchpot: After adding back, determine legitimes; the donee keeps the gift but may get less (or nothing) from the remainder if already satisfied; if the gift exceeds what the decedent could freely give, it is reduced.

3) Reduction of Inofficious Donations & Testamentary Dispositions

If lifetime gifts or will provisions invade the legitime, legitimate children may sue to reduce them to the lawful limit.

D. Representation Rules for Legitimate Lines

Downward representation is allowed: grandchildren (legitimate) step into their parent’s place (who predeceased, was disinherited, or is incapacitated).
Across legitimate ↔ illegitimate lines: The “iron curtain” rule in intestacy bars succession between an illegitimate child and the legitimate relatives of his/her parents, and vice versa; it does not prevent legitimate descendants from representing their legitimate ascendant.

E. Disinheritance of Legitimate Children (Rare and Strict)

Permissible only on specific grounds enumerated by law (e.g., attempts against the life of the parent, serious offenses against the parent, causing false accusation of a crime punishable by >6 years, coercing changes to a will, etc.).
Must be express in a will, state the legal ground, and be clearly proven.
Effect: The disinherited child loses rights as heir; his/her legitimate descendants may represent and take the place/legitime of the disinherited line.

F. Adopted, Posthumous, and Presumed Legitimate Children

Adopted children: Treated as legitimate children of the adopter for succession; they inherit from the adopter as such. (Legal ties to biological parents are generally severed by domestic adoption, subject to statutory nuances in step-parent adoptions.)
Posthumous children (conceived at death, later born alive): Fully inherit as legitimate children.
Presumption of legitimacy: Children conceived/born in a valid marriage are presumed legitimate; challenges follow strict rules and periods.

G. Practical Computation Flow (Testate or Intestate)

Ascertain the estate: Gross assets minus debts, taxes, charges.
Identify compulsory heirs alive at death: legitimate descendants, spouse, (if no descendants) ascendants, plus illegitimate children if any.
Collate donations to compulsory heirs (unless exempt) to form the fictitious mass for computation.
Compute legitimes per concurrence rules (sections A–C).
Check free portion; apply the will (or, absent a will, intestacy).
Reduce inofficious donations/dispositions if legitimes are impaired.
Allocate net shares; consider advancements, encumbrances, and partitions.

H. Lifetime Donations to Legitimate Children

Allowed, but cannot impair the future legitime of co-heirs on death.
A child who already received substantial gifts may receive less on final partition (or none), after collation ensures everyone’s legitime is intact.
Donations with reservation (e.g., usufruct retained by parent) still count for collation at death.

I. Special Property & Family-Protection Themes

Family home: Part of the estate but protected; its sale or partition is tempered by statutory safeguards favoring the surviving spouse and minor children.
Conjugal/absolute community property: Determine which half (or portion) belongs to the surviving spouse outside the estate before computing legitimes.
Guardianship/Trusts: Minors’ shares are held by a guardian or trustee; expenses for support and education may be advanced per court approval.

J. Worked Mini-Scenarios

Decedent leaves spouse + 1 legitimate child; will leaves “everything to spouse.”
- Invalid as to legitime: Child’s legitime = ½; spouse’s legitime = ½; free portion = 0. Will is reduced to respect the child’s legitime.
Spouse + 3 legitimate children; lifetime donation of a condo (₱6M) to Child A; estate at death (net) ₱9M.
- Fictitious mass = ₱6M + ₱9M = ₱15M.
- Children’s aggregate legitime = ½ × ₱15M = ₱7.5M → ₱2.5M each (A, B, C).
- Spouse’s legitime = share of one child = ₱2.5M.
- Check free portion: ₱15M − (₱7.5M + ₱2.5M) = ₱5M.
- Imputation: Condo to A counts toward A’s total; adjust what A gets from the remainder so that each reaches the proper totals.
Two legitimate children; 1 acknowledged illegitimate child; no spouse. Estate ₱12M.
- Legitimate children’s aggregate legitime = ½ × ₱12M = ₱6M → ₱3M each.
- Illegitimate child’s legitime = ½ of a legit child’s legitime = ₱1.5M.
- Free portion = ₱12M − ₱6M − ₱1.5M = ₱4.5M (distributable by will; intestate rules may vary the final split).

K. How Legitimate Children Enforce Their Rights

If omitted or shorted: File actions for reduction of inofficious donations, annulment for preterition, or partition with collation.
If a will exists: Bring a probate case (probate is mandatory for wills) and raise legitime issues within the proceeding.
If there’s a lifetime conveyance that gutted the estate: Seek reduction after death; prescription rules apply—act promptly.
If co-heirs exclude you from possession: File partition or ejectment remedies as appropriate; co-heirs are co-owners until partition.

L. Disputes to Watch For

Misclassification of property (community vs. exclusive).
Under-reported donations to siblings.
Illegitimate filiation disputes (affecting shares).
Ambiguous “advancements” (loans vs. gifts).
Impairment via trusts/insurance: Insurance proceeds generally go to named beneficiaries outside the estate; however, premiums or transfers made to defeat legitimes may still invite reduction theories in extreme cases.

Bottom Line

Legitimate children are protected heirs with a guaranteed minimum share of a parent’s estate.
The presence of a spouse increases the total reserved portion (spouse = share of one child); illegitimate children also have a statutory legitime (½ of a legitimate child’s legitime), which further reduces the free portion.
Preterition, collation, and reduction are powerful tools to restore proper shares.
Representation preserves the line: legitimate grandchildren inherit in place of a predeceasing parent.
Careful classification of property, prompt probate/partition, and documentation of lifetime gifts are essential to get the math—and justice—right.

This article offers general guidance on the inheritance rights of legitimate children under Philippine law. For specific situations, analyze the property regime, lifetime donations, family composition, and any wills or contracts involved.