Quick answer

Philippine law protects certain close family members from being completely excluded from an inheritance. These compulsory heirs generally include the deceased’s legitimate children and descendants; in their absence, legitimate parents and ascendants; the surviving spouse; and recognized illegitimate children. Their reserved share is called the legitime.

A will cannot validly give away the legitime of a compulsory heir unless that heir was lawfully disinherited for a cause expressly stated by law and the required formalities were followed. If there is no valid will—or the will does not dispose of the entire estate—the rules on intestate succession determine who inherits.

The actual heirs and their shares depend on several facts: whether there is a valid will, the deceased’s marital and property status, which relatives survived, whether a child’s filiation or adoption is legally established, whether an heir predeceased the decedent, and what property and debts belong to the estate. Do not divide or sell inherited property based only on a family understanding or a generic percentage table.

When inheritance rights begin

Successional rights are transmitted from the moment of death under Article 777 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. This does not mean that each heir immediately owns a specific house, lot, vehicle, or bank account.

Before partition:

The estate’s assets and enforceable obligations must be identified.
Property belonging to the surviving spouse or another co-owner must be separated from the deceased’s share.
Estate expenses, taxes, and valid debts must be addressed.
The heirs generally hold hereditary rights in the estate as a whole, rather than exclusive ownership of particular assets.
A specific asset becomes an heir’s exclusive property only through a valid partition, adjudication, or court order, followed by the required registration or transfer procedures.

An heir therefore should not sell an entire estate property as though it belongs solely to that heir. A purported sale may affect only the seller’s undivided hereditary interest and may generate litigation, depending on the document and circumstances.

Start by determining what is actually part of the estate

Inheritance is computed from the deceased’s net hereditary estate, not automatically from everything registered in the deceased’s name.

The inventory should distinguish:

Property exclusively owned by the deceased.
The deceased’s share in absolute community, conjugal partnership, or co-owned property.
Property held only in trust or belonging to another person.
Valid debts, taxes, funeral and administration expenses, and other allowable charges.
Donations or advances that may have to be collated or accounted for when computing legitimes.

For a married decedent, the applicable property regime must ordinarily be liquidated first. The surviving spouse receives the spouse’s own share in the community or conjugal property before receiving any separate inheritance as an heir. These are legally different entitlements.

Ownership documents are important but may not tell the whole story. Titles, deeds, dates of acquisition, marriage records, loan documents, and proof of the source of funds can affect whether property was exclusive, community, conjugal, or co-owned.

Who are compulsory heirs?

Article 887 of the Civil Code identifies the principal compulsory heirs:

Legitimate children and descendants, with respect to their legitimate parents and ascendants.
In the absence of legitimate children and descendants, legitimate parents and ascendants.
The surviving spouse.
Illegitimate children whose filiation is legally established.

A legally adopted child is treated as a legitimate child of the adoptive parent. The precise effect on succession involving biological relatives can depend on the type, date, and legal effect of the adoption. The current adoption framework is found in the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act.

Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins, and other collateral relatives may inherit in intestacy when nearer heirs do not exclude them, but they are generally not compulsory heirs. A boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, or unmarried live-in partner is not a surviving spouse and does not inherit merely because of the relationship. That partner may still own a share of property under co-ownership or property-law rules if supported by the facts and evidence.

What is a legitime?

A legitime is the portion of the estate that the law reserves for compulsory heirs. The remaining disposable portion is commonly called the free portion.

Some basic rules are:

Legitimate children collectively receive a legitime equal to one-half of the hereditary estate, divided among them.
When legitimate parents or ascendants inherit as compulsory heirs because there are no legitimate descendants, their legitime is generally one-half, subject to reductions in certain combinations with a surviving spouse.
The surviving spouse’s legitime varies depending on the other compulsory heirs who concur.
As a general rule, each illegitimate child’s legitime is one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child, subject to the limitation that the total legitimes cannot exceed the estate and to the priority rules governing the surviving spouse.

These figures cannot safely be applied in isolation. For example, the result changes when there is one legitimate child instead of several, when legitimate parents survive, or when legitimate and illegitimate children and a spouse inherit together.

Illustrative examples

These simplified examples assume a net hereditary estate, established filiation, no disinheritance, no representation issue, and no donations requiring collation.

Two legitimate children, no spouse: Their collective legitime is one-half of the estate, or one-fourth each. The other half is generally disposable by will. Without a will, the children ordinarily divide the entire intestate estate equally.
Several legitimate children and a surviving spouse: In testamentary succession, the spouse is generally entitled to a legitime equal to the share of one legitimate child. In intestacy, the spouse ordinarily receives the same share as each legitimate child.
Only a surviving spouse: The spouse’s legitime under a will is ordinarily one-half. If there is no will and no competing descendants, ascendants, or qualifying illegitimate children, the spouse may inherit the entire intestate estate.
Surviving spouse and legitimate parents, but no children: In intestacy, one-half generally goes to the spouse and one-half to the legitimate parents or ascendants.
Surviving spouse and illegitimate children, but no legitimate descendants or ascendants: In intestacy, one-half generally goes to the spouse and one-half collectively to the illegitimate children.

These examples are not substitutes for a complete heirship and estate calculation.

Legitimate and illegitimate children

A child born outside marriage may inherit directly from the child’s own mother or father if filiation is legally established. The child’s share is not identical to that of a legitimate child: under Article 176 of the Family Code and the Civil Code’s succession provisions, an illegitimate child generally receives one-half of the share or legitime of a legitimate child in the relevant concurrence.

Filiation can be decisive. Depending on the circumstances, proof may include a civil-registry birth record, an admission of filiation in a public document or private handwritten instrument signed by the parent, open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or evidence allowed in a proper court proceeding. A surname, family reputation, financial support, photograph, or social-media post may be relevant but is not automatically sufficient by itself.

Article 992 historically restricted intestate succession between an illegitimate child and the legitimate relatives of the child’s parent. In Aquino v. Aquino, the Supreme Court clarified that a nonmarital grandchild may represent a predeceased parent in the grandparent’s estate, provided filiation and the right of representation are established. The ruling was limited to succession in the direct line and did not broadly eliminate Article 992 for collateral relatives. See the Supreme Court’s decision in G.R. Nos. 208912 and 209018, December 7, 2021.

What happens when an heir dies before the decedent?

The answer depends on the relationship and whether the law permits representation.

Representation allows certain descendants to step into the place of a person who could not inherit because that person predeceased the decedent, was disinherited, or was incapacitated to inherit. It applies in the direct descending line and, in limited intestate situations, to children of brothers or sisters.

For example, if a decedent’s child died first and left children, those grandchildren may collectively take the share their parent would have received. They divide that branch’s share among themselves. Representation is not available in every relationship, and it should not be confused with simple inheritance in one’s own right.

If an heir survives the decedent but later dies without accepting or repudiating the inheritance, the right to accept or reject is transmitted to that heir’s own heirs under Article 1053.

Rights under a will

A valid will may determine who receives the disposable portion and particular assets, but it remains subject to the legitimes of compulsory heirs.

No will transfers property unless it is proved and allowed by the proper court. Probate cannot be replaced by a private agreement simply because every relative believes the will is genuine. Article 838 of the Civil Code and Rule 75 of the Rules of Court on special proceedings require judicial allowance.

Preterition

Preterition is the complete omission from a will of a compulsory heir in the direct line, without expressly disinheriting that heir and without giving the heir any inheritance, legacy, devise, or qualifying advance.

Under Article 854, preterition annuls the institution of heirs. Legacies and devises may remain effective only insofar as they do not impair legitimes. Depending on the will, preterition can result in total or partial intestacy. Merely mentioning a child in the will does not necessarily avoid preterition if the child receives nothing.

The Supreme Court explains this rule in Nuguid v. Nuguid and G.R. No. 254695, December 6, 2023.

Disinheritance

A compulsory heir may be deprived of the legitime only through valid disinheritance. The will must:

Expressly disinherit the heir.
Identify a cause specifically recognized by the Civil Code.
Comply with the applicable testamentary formalities.
Be supported by proof if the disinherited heir denies the stated cause.

Family estrangement, disappointment, personal dislike, or a general statement that an heir was “ungrateful” is not automatically a statutory cause. If the cause is not stated, is not one permitted by law, or is not proved when challenged, the disinheritance is ineffective to the extent it prejudices the heir’s legitime.

Gifts that impair legitimes

A decedent generally may dispose of property during life, but donations can be examined during settlement. Donations that exceed the donor’s disposable portion may be reduced after death if they impair compulsory heirs’ legitimes. Genuine sales for adequate consideration are different from donations, although a simulated sale or disguised gift may be challenged upon sufficient proof.

Rights when there is no valid will

Intestate succession applies when:

There is no will.
The will is void or is not admitted to probate.
The will does not dispose of the entire estate.
An instituted heir cannot or will not inherit and no valid substitute or accretion resolves the share.
Testamentary dispositions fail for another legal reason.

The usual order gives priority to descendants, then ascendants where descendants are absent, while the surviving spouse and illegitimate children may concur as the Civil Code provides. If no descendant, ascendant, illegitimate child, or surviving spouse qualifies, brothers, sisters, and their children may inherit. More remote collateral relatives may inherit within the degree allowed by law. If no lawful heir exists, the estate may pass to the State.

A closer relative generally excludes a more remote relative, subject to representation and the special concurrence rules.

A surviving spouse may lose intestate rights in circumstances expressly provided by law, including when legal separation was decreed and the surviving spouse was the guilty spouse. Questions involving a void marriage, a disputed prior marriage, presumptive death, legal separation, or foreign divorce require document-specific legal analysis.

Acceptance, renunciation, and inherited debts

An heir may accept or repudiate an inheritance. Acceptance can be express or implied through acts that necessarily show an intention to accept. Once validly made, acceptance or repudiation is generally irrevocable, except for legally recognized defects in consent or the later discovery of an unknown will.

Repudiation must be made in a public or authentic instrument or by a petition filed in the court handling the estate. A casual verbal waiver or unsigned family note is not enough. A waiver “in favor of” a specified co-heir may also have tax consequences different from a pure repudiation.

Heirs should not assume they personally inherit every debt without limit. Estate obligations are ordinarily settled from estate assets before distribution, and an heir’s liability connected with the inheritance generally does not exceed the value received. However, an heir may incur separate personal liability by signing as borrower, guarantor, co-debtor, administrator, or transferee under circumstances recognized by law.

How an estate is settled

Extrajudicial settlement

Under Rule 74, heirs may generally settle an estate without administration proceedings when:

The decedent left no will.
There are no outstanding estate debts, or the legal presumption concerning debts applies.
All heirs participate.
All heirs are of age, or minors are properly represented by authorized judicial or legal representatives.
The settlement is executed in a public instrument.
The required publication, filing, bond, tax, and registration requirements are met.

A sole heir may use an affidavit of self-adjudication when legally appropriate. Rule 74 requires publication in a newspaper of general circulation. For registration, a bond corresponding to the value of the personal property involved is also required under the Rule.

An extrajudicial settlement does not bind an heir or other person who did not participate and had no notice. Publication alone is not a safe substitute for identifying and including every known heir. The Supreme Court applied this protection to excluded heirs in Spouses Uy v. Heirs of Santiago.

The Rule’s two-year provisions protect certain creditors and persons affected by an extrajudicial distribution, but they are not a universal two-year deadline that automatically defeats every excluded heir’s claim. Prescription depends on the cause of action, notice, registration, possession, fraud, and other facts.

Judicial settlement

Court proceedings are normally necessary when:

There is a will to probate.
Heirs disagree about identity, filiation, shares, management, or partition.
The estate has unresolved debts or competing claims.
A minor or incapacitated heir is not adequately represented.
Property ownership is contested.
An executor or administrator must collect, preserve, or recover assets.
The validity of a transfer, waiver, disinheritance, or settlement is disputed.

Venue and jurisdiction depend on the decedent’s residence at death, the estate’s value, and other procedural rules. A lawyer should examine the current jurisdictional thresholds and the particular relief needed before filing.

Estate tax and transfer requirements

Inheritance rights and estate-tax compliance are separate questions. Even when the heirs agree, titles and other registered assets ordinarily cannot be transferred without completing BIR requirements and obtaining the appropriate electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration.

For decedents who died on or after January 1, 2018, BIR Revenue Regulations No. 12-2018 generally provides:

A 6% estate tax on the net taxable estate.
Filing of the estate-tax return within one year from death.
Payment when the return is filed.
A possible filing extension of up to 30 days in meritorious cases.
A possible payment extension of up to five years for judicial settlement or two years for extrajudicial settlement when immediate payment would cause undue hardship, subject to BIR approval and conditions.
Possible approved installment payment or partial disposition of estate property when cash is insufficient.

The law in force on the date of death controls the estate-tax computation, so older estates may follow different rules. The estate-tax amnesty under Republic Act No. 11956 covered qualified estates of persons who died on or before May 31, 2022, but the statutory availment period ended on June 14, 2025. See Republic Act No. 11956.

Requirements and accepted filing or payment channels can change. Before filing, check the BIR’s current Estate Tax page and confirm the requirements with the RDO having jurisdiction.

Practical steps for heirs

Secure civil-registry records. Obtain the death certificate and relevant birth, marriage, adoption, annulment, or legal-separation records.
Locate the original will. Do not conceal, alter, destroy, or privately implement it.
Build a complete family tree. Include deceased children and their descendants, adopted children, legally recognized illegitimate children, prior marriages, and possible surviving spouses.
Inventory assets and debts. Check land titles, tax declarations, bank records, corporate shares, vehicles, insurance, business interests, loans, mortgages, and pending cases.
Determine the marital property regime. Separate the surviving spouse’s property from the hereditary estate.
Preserve the estate. Keep properties insured and secure, collect rents transparently, pay necessary expenses from documented funds, and prevent unauthorized withdrawals or transfers.
Obtain valuations as of the date of death. These may be needed for tax and partition calculations.
Compute the net estate and shares. Account for legitimes, donations, representation, debts, and ownership disputes.
Choose the correct settlement process. Do not use self-adjudication or extrajudicial settlement when its legal conditions are absent.
File taxes and register transfers. Complete BIR, Registry of Deeds, bank, corporate, and local-government requirements applicable to each asset.

Evidence to preserve

Keep originals or authenticated copies of:

The will, codicils, and envelopes or records showing custody.
PSA and local civil-registry certificates.
Adoption orders or administrative adoption records.
Land titles, deeds, tax declarations, surveys, and real-property tax receipts.
Marriage settlements and documents showing the applicable property regime.
Bank statements, passbooks, investment records, and corporate certificates.
Loan agreements, promissory notes, mortgages, receipts, and creditor demands.
Donation, sale, waiver, partition, and settlement documents.
Medical and testamentary-capacity evidence if the will may be contested.
Correspondence or records relevant to filiation, undue influence, fraud, possession, or concealment.
A dated inventory and accounting of all money received or spent for the estate.

Use copies for routine circulation and protect the originals from alteration or loss.

Common mistakes

Treating all property registered to the deceased as exclusively owned.
Dividing assets before identifying debts, taxes, and the surviving spouse’s own property.
Assuming that the eldest child controls the estate or receives a larger share.
Excluding an illegitimate or adopted child without examining legal filiation.
Assuming that a live-in partner has the inheritance rights of a lawful spouse.
Implementing a will without probate.
Using an affidavit of self-adjudication despite the existence of other heirs.
Relying on publication to cure the deliberate exclusion of a known heir.
Selling a specific estate asset without the authority or consent required.
Signing a blanket waiver before seeing the inventory and share computation.
Missing the estate-tax filing deadline while the family negotiates.
Believing that every inheritance dispute expires exactly two years after an extrajudicial settlement.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a Philippine succession lawyer promptly if:

Someone is withdrawing funds, collecting rent, hiding documents, or selling estate assets.
An heir was omitted from a will, settlement, affidavit, or title.
A will may have been forged, altered, concealed, or signed under incapacity or undue influence.
The deceased had multiple marriages, a disputed marriage, children whose filiation is contested, or heirs living abroad.
A minor or incapacitated heir is involved.
A deadline in a court notice, BIR assessment, creditor notice, or pleading is running.
Titles have already been transferred to other persons.
An heir is being pressured to sign a waiver, sale, or extrajudicial settlement.
Estate property is threatened by foreclosure, eviction, dissipation, or adverse possession.

Possible protective measures depend on the facts and may include probate or administration proceedings, an accounting, partition, annotation of a claim, cancellation or reconveyance, injunction, or preservation orders. Delay can affect available remedies and evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Can a parent leave everything to only one child?

Not ordinarily when other compulsory heirs survive. A parent may favor one child only within the disposable portion, unless another compulsory heir was validly disinherited. Dispositions impairing legitimes may be reduced.

Does the eldest child receive a larger share?

No. Birth order does not by itself create a larger inheritance share or automatic authority to administer the estate.

Can an illegitimate child inherit?

Yes, from the child’s own parent when filiation is legally established. The share is generally one-half of a legitimate child’s corresponding share, subject to the applicable concurrence rules.

Does a spouse automatically own half of everything plus an inheritance share?

Not necessarily. The spouse first receives whatever belongs to the spouse under the applicable property regime. Only the deceased’s resulting share enters the estate, from which the spouse may then inherit. The calculation depends on when and how each asset was acquired and on the governing marital property regime.

Can heirs settle without going to court?

Sometimes. A qualifying intestate estate may be settled extrajudicially under Rule 74. A will must first be probated, and disputes, unresolved debts, inadequate representation, or ownership issues may require judicial settlement.

Can one heir force a partition?

As a general rule, a co-heir may demand partition, subject to valid restrictions, pending administration, agreements permitted by law, and the rights of creditors and other interested persons. The proper remedy and timing depend on the estate’s status.

Can an heir refuse an inheritance?

Yes, but repudiation must follow Article 1051: it must be made in a public or authentic instrument or through a petition in the proper estate proceeding. Tax and creditor consequences should be checked before signing.

Is an extrajudicial settlement valid if one heir was omitted?

It is not binding on an heir who did not participate and had no notice. The proper remedy and deadline depend on the circumstances, including fraud, registration, possession, and the relief sought.

Do heirs inherit the deceased’s loans?

Valid debts are generally claims against the estate and should be paid before distribution. An heir’s exposure by reason of inheritance generally cannot exceed the value received, unless the heir has a separate personal obligation.

Which law governs an old estate?

Succession and estate taxation are generally governed by the law in effect when the decedent died. Later tax rates or procedures should not automatically be applied to an earlier death.

Official legal sources

This article provides general legal information, not legal advice. Inheritance results depend on the complete family history, property records, will, debts, dates, and procedural history. Consult a Philippine lawyer and the appropriate BIR office for advice on a specific estate. Sources and current procedures checked as of August 29, 2026.