I. Introduction

In Philippine law, a child’s rights do not depend solely on whether the child was legally adopted. A child who was not legally adopted may still have substantial rights arising from blood relationship, filiation, parental authority, support, custody, succession, identity, nationality, protection from abuse, education, health, and social welfare laws. However, the absence of a valid legal adoption can significantly affect the child’s rights against the person who raised the child but who is not the child’s biological or legally adoptive parent.

This article discusses the rights of a child who was not legally adopted under Philippine law, with emphasis on the distinction between biological children, acknowledged illegitimate children, children raised by non-parents, stepchildren, foster children, de facto adopted children, and children placed under simulated birth records.

The central principle is this: a child does not become the legal child of another person merely because that person raised, supported, loved, or treated the child as his or her own. Legal adoption is a juridical act that creates a parent-child relationship by operation of law. Without it, the child’s rights against the non-adoptive caregiver are limited, although other legal protections may still apply.

II. Basic Legal Concepts

A. Child

A child generally refers to a person below eighteen years of age, or a person over eighteen who is unable to fully take care of or protect himself or herself because of a physical or mental condition. Philippine child protection laws apply broadly to minors and, in some cases, to dependent or vulnerable persons.

B. Filiation

Filiation is the legal relationship between a child and the child’s parent. It may be legitimate or illegitimate.

A legitimate child is one conceived or born during a valid marriage of the parents, subject to rules under the Family Code.

An illegitimate child is one conceived and born outside a valid marriage, except where the law treats the child as legitimate or legitimated.

Filiation is important because it determines rights to support, surname, parental authority, custody, inheritance, and other family-law consequences.

C. Adoption

Adoption is a legal process that creates a parent-child relationship between the adopter and the adoptee. Once adoption is validly granted, the adopted child is generally considered a legitimate child of the adopter for most legal purposes, including parental authority, support, surname, and succession.

Without a decree of adoption, there is no legal adoption.

D. De Facto Adoption

A de facto adoption refers to a situation where a person raises a child as his or her own without completing legal adoption. This may happen when a relative, stepparent, guardian, godparent, or family friend takes in a child, pays for the child’s needs, and treats the child as a son or daughter.

De facto adoption may create moral obligations and may be relevant in certain factual disputes, but it does not, by itself, create the full legal rights of an adopted child.

III. Core Rule: No Legal Adoption, No Legal Parent-Child Relationship With the Caregiver

A person who is not the child’s biological parent and who did not legally adopt the child is generally not the child’s legal parent. Therefore, the child generally cannot claim the full rights of a child against that person merely because the person raised the child.

This means that, as a rule, the child cannot automatically claim from the non-adoptive caregiver:

compulsory inheritance as a legitimate or adopted child;
legal status as the caregiver’s child;
use of the caregiver’s surname as a matter of right;
support based on legal parentage;
rights arising from parental authority; or
benefits reserved by law for legal children, unless another law, contract, insurance policy, employment benefit plan, or court ruling provides otherwise.

However, this general rule has important qualifications. The child may still have rights against biological parents, legal guardians, the State, institutions, or the estate of the caregiver in limited circumstances.

IV. Rights Against Biological Parents

A child who was not legally adopted remains the child of his or her biological parents, unless a valid adoption or other legal proceeding changes that relationship.

A. Right to Establish Filiation

A child has the right to prove filiation. This is especially important for children born outside marriage.

Filiation may be established through the record of birth, admission of parentage in a public document, private handwritten instrument, open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or other evidence allowed by law and jurisprudence.

For illegitimate children, proof of filiation is crucial because many rights—especially support, surname, and inheritance—depend on recognition or proof of parentage.

B. Right to Support

A child has the right to support from his or her parents. Support includes what is indispensable for sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attendance, education, and transportation, in keeping with the family’s financial capacity.

The obligation to support exists between parents and children, whether the child is legitimate or illegitimate, although the amount and legal incidents may vary depending on status and circumstances.

The child’s right to support is demandable from the biological parents. A person who merely raised the child without adopting the child is not ordinarily bound to support the child as a parent, unless there is another legal basis.

C. Right to Use Surname

A legitimate child generally has the right to use the surname of the father and the mother.

An illegitimate child generally uses the surname of the mother, but may use the surname of the father if filiation has been expressly recognized by the father under applicable law, such as through the birth record, public document, or private handwritten instrument.

A child who was not legally adopted does not automatically acquire the surname of the person who raised the child.

D. Right to Inherit From Biological Parents

A child may inherit from his or her biological parents according to the rules on succession.

Legitimate children are compulsory heirs of their parents. Illegitimate children are also compulsory heirs, but their legitime is generally smaller than that of legitimate children.

A child who was raised by another person without legal adoption does not lose inheritance rights from biological parents solely because of the informal caregiving arrangement.

V. Rights Against the Person Who Raised the Child Without Legal Adoption

The most difficult legal question concerns the rights of a child against a person who acted as a parent but never legally adopted the child.

A. No Automatic Right to Inherit as a Child

The child is not a compulsory heir of the non-adoptive caregiver merely because the caregiver raised the child.

For example, if an aunt raised her niece from infancy but never legally adopted her, the niece does not become the aunt’s compulsory heir as a child. The niece may inherit only if:

she is an heir under the ordinary rules of succession as a relative;
she is named in a valid will;
she is entitled under another legal theory; or
the facts support another recognized claim, such as property held in trust, donation, or contractual obligation.

The emotional reality of a parent-child relationship does not automatically create the legal status of a child for succession purposes.

B. Possible Right to Inherit by Will

The caregiver may leave property to the child through a will, subject to the legitime of compulsory heirs.

If the caregiver has compulsory heirs, the caregiver cannot freely dispose of the entire estate. The child who was not adopted may receive only from the free portion, unless the child is also a legal heir by blood or another legal status.

If the caregiver has no compulsory heirs, the caregiver generally has broader freedom to leave property to the child by will.

C. Possible Right Through Donation

The caregiver may donate property to the child during the caregiver’s lifetime. However, donations may be subject to formal requirements, tax consequences, and restrictions protecting compulsory heirs.

A donation that impairs the legitime of compulsory heirs may be reduced after the donor’s death.

D. Possible Claim Based on Contract or Trust

In unusual cases, the child may have a claim if there was a contract, trust, or property arrangement in the child’s favor. For example, if property was purchased using the child’s money but placed in the caregiver’s name, the child may have a claim based on ownership, trust, or unjust enrichment.

These claims are fact-specific and do not arise merely from being raised by the caregiver.

E. Possible Insurance, Pension, or Employment Benefits

Some benefit plans allow designation of beneficiaries. If the caregiver validly designated the child as beneficiary, the child may receive benefits even without adoption, subject to the rules of the insurance policy, retirement plan, government benefit system, or employment program.

However, where benefits are limited to legal dependents or legal children, lack of adoption may prevent recovery unless the child qualifies under the applicable rules.

F. No Automatic Parental Authority

A non-adoptive caregiver does not automatically have parental authority over the child. Parental authority belongs primarily to the parents, subject to law and court intervention.

However, a court may appoint a guardian, award custody, or issue protective orders depending on the best interests of the child.

VI. Rights of a Child Raised by Relatives

Many children in the Philippines are raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, or other relatives. This arrangement does not automatically constitute adoption.

A. Grandparents and Relatives as Caregivers

A relative may provide care, shelter, schooling, and emotional support, but the child’s legal parents remain the biological parents unless there is adoption, guardianship, custody order, or other legal arrangement.

B. Support From Relatives

Under the Family Code, support may be demandable among certain relatives, including descendants and ascendants, legitimate siblings, and in some cases illegitimate siblings, subject to legal rules and financial capacity.

Thus, depending on relationship and circumstances, a child may have support rights against certain relatives—not because of informal adoption, but because of blood relationship.

C. Inheritance From Relatives

A child may inherit from relatives according to the law on succession. However, the child does not inherit as a “child” of the relative unless legally adopted. The child inherits based on the actual legal relationship, such as grandchild, niece, nephew, sibling, or other relative, depending on who survives and the order of succession.

VII. Rights of a Stepchild Not Legally Adopted

A stepchild is the child of one’s spouse from another relationship. A stepchild does not automatically become the legal child of the stepparent.

A. No Automatic Adoption by Marriage

Marriage to the child’s parent does not make the stepparent the child’s legal parent. The stepparent must legally adopt the child if the full legal parent-child relationship is intended.

B. Support

A stepparent generally does not have the same support obligation as a biological or adoptive parent solely by reason of marriage to the child’s parent. The primary obligation remains with the biological parents.

C. Inheritance

A stepchild does not automatically inherit from a stepparent as a compulsory heir. The stepparent may leave property to the stepchild by will or donation, subject to the rights of compulsory heirs.

D. Custody and Authority

The stepparent does not automatically have parental authority. Custody and authority remain with the child’s legal parents, subject to court orders and the best interests of the child.

VIII. Rights of a Foster Child

Foster care is not the same as adoption. Foster care is a temporary or alternative parental care arrangement authorized under social welfare laws.

A foster child remains legally connected to the biological parents unless adoption or another legal process changes that status. Foster parents provide care but do not automatically acquire the full rights and duties of adoptive parents.

The foster child has rights to protection, care, education, health, and proper treatment. The State, through the appropriate social welfare agencies, supervises foster care arrangements.

If adoption later becomes appropriate, it must be completed through the proper legal process.

IX. Simulated Birth and Rectification

A common Philippine issue involves “simulation of birth,” where a person causes it to appear in the civil registry that a child was born to someone who is not the biological mother. This may have been done to conceal the child’s true parentage or to make it appear that the caregiver is the natural parent.

Simulation of birth is legally serious. It may involve false entries in the civil registry and may carry civil, criminal, and administrative consequences.

However, Philippine law has provided mechanisms in certain circumstances to correct or regularize the status of children affected by simulated birth, especially where the simulation was done for the child’s welfare and the child has been treated as a son or daughter. The specific remedy depends on the facts, applicable adoption laws, administrative rules, timing, and whether the requirements for rectification or adoption are met.

A child whose birth was simulated may need legal proceedings to correct the birth record, establish true filiation, or pursue adoption or other remedies.

X. Right to Identity and Civil Registry Records

Every child has the right to a name, nationality, and identity. A child who was not legally adopted has the right to accurate civil registry records.

A. Birth Certificate

The birth certificate is important evidence of identity and filiation. Errors or false entries may require correction through administrative or judicial proceedings depending on the nature of the error.

Clerical or typographical errors may sometimes be corrected administratively. Substantial changes involving nationality, legitimacy, parentage, sex, or filiation generally require more formal proceedings.

B. Right to Know Parentage

The child’s interest in knowing his or her biological origins may arise in cases of abandonment, informal custody, simulated birth, or undisclosed parentage. Legal procedures may be needed to establish parentage or correct records.

C. DNA Evidence

DNA evidence may be relevant in filiation cases. Courts may consider DNA testing in appropriate cases, especially where paternity or maternity is disputed.

XI. Custody Rights and Best Interests of the Child

The governing standard in custody disputes is the best interests of the child.

A. Parental Custody

Parents generally have the right and duty of custody over their unemancipated children. If parents are separated, custody may be determined based on law, age of the child, parental fitness, and the child’s welfare.

B. Tender-Age Rule

For children below seven years of age, custody is generally given to the mother, unless compelling reasons justify otherwise. This rule is not absolute; the child’s best interests remain controlling.

C. Custody by Non-Parents

A non-parent caregiver may seek custody or guardianship in proper cases, especially if the biological parents are absent, unfit, abusive, neglectful, deceased, or unable to care for the child.

The caregiver’s long-standing relationship with the child may be relevant, but it does not automatically defeat the rights of fit biological parents.

D. Child’s Preference

Depending on age and maturity, the child’s preference may be considered, but it is not controlling. Courts evaluate the totality of circumstances.

XII. Guardianship

When a child’s parents are absent, deceased, incapacitated, unsuitable, or unable to exercise parental authority, guardianship may be necessary.

A guardian may be appointed over the person, property, or both person and property of the child. Guardianship allows the guardian to make decisions for the child, but it does not make the child the guardian’s legal child.

Guardianship is therefore different from adoption. Adoption creates a permanent parent-child relationship; guardianship is a legal authority to care for or manage the affairs of the child under court supervision.

XIII. Support, Education, and Medical Needs

A child who was not legally adopted still has the right to support from persons legally obliged to support the child. The primary obligation usually rests on the biological parents.

Support includes education and training for some profession, trade, or vocation, even beyond the age of majority in appropriate cases, if consistent with the family’s financial capacity and the child’s circumstances.

Medical care is also part of support. In emergencies, caregivers, hospitals, and public authorities may have duties under health, welfare, and child protection laws.

XIV. Protection From Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation, and Discrimination

A child who was not legally adopted is fully protected by Philippine child protection laws.

The child has the right to be protected from:

physical abuse;
psychological abuse;
sexual abuse;
neglect;
abandonment;
exploitation;
trafficking;
child labor;
violence;
discrimination;
online sexual abuse or exploitation;
harmful traditional practices; and
degrading treatment.

The child’s lack of legal adoption does not reduce these protections.

Caregivers, parents, guardians, teachers, institutions, and other persons may be held liable for abuse or neglect under applicable laws.

XV. Right to Education

Every child has the right to education. A child who was not legally adopted may enroll in school under the child’s legal name and records.

Practical issues may arise when the caregiver is not the legal parent and must sign school documents, request records, consent to activities, or make educational decisions. In such cases, schools may require proof of guardianship, authorization from parents, affidavits, or social welfare documents.

If long-term educational authority is needed, guardianship, custody order, or adoption may be considered.

XVI. Right to Health Care

A child has the right to health and medical care. However, consent issues may arise if the child is accompanied by a non-parent caregiver.

For ordinary care, hospitals and clinics may accept consent from a responsible adult in practice, especially in urgent cases. For major procedures, institutions may require parental consent, guardian consent, or court authority unless emergency treatment is necessary.

Legal guardianship or a custody order may help avoid repeated consent problems.

XVII. Nationality and Citizenship

A child’s citizenship generally depends on the citizenship of the parents under Philippine law. Legal adoption may have implications in some cases, especially in inter-country adoption or foreign adoption contexts.

A child who was not legally adopted does not acquire citizenship rights through the non-adoptive caregiver merely because the caregiver raised the child.

If the child’s birth record is inaccurate, citizenship documentation may be affected and may require correction.

XVIII. Travel, Passport, and Immigration Issues

A child who is not legally adopted may face travel-document issues when traveling with a non-parent caregiver.

Authorities may require proof of parental consent, custody, guardianship, travel clearance, or social welfare documentation. A caregiver who is not the legal parent should not assume that long-term caregiving alone is enough to authorize domestic or international travel with the child.

For international travel, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and immigration authorities may require additional documents, especially when the child travels without parents.

XIX. Property Rights of the Child

A child may own property even if not legally adopted. Property may come from inheritance, donation, insurance proceeds, settlement, earnings, or other lawful sources.

If the child owns property, parents or guardians may need authority to manage it. A non-parent caregiver does not automatically have authority to sell, mortgage, lease, or dispose of the child’s property.

Court approval may be required for significant transactions involving a minor’s property.

XX. The Child’s Rights in the Caregiver’s Estate

When a caregiver dies without adopting the child, several questions arise.

A. If There Is No Will

If the caregiver dies intestate, the child inherits only if the child is a legal heir under the Civil Code’s rules on intestate succession. If the child is not a legal relative or is a more remote relative excluded by nearer heirs, the child may receive nothing.

For example, a child raised by unrelated family friends does not inherit from them by intestacy.

B. If There Is a Will

If the caregiver left a valid will naming the child, the child may inherit within the limits of the free portion and subject to the rights of compulsory heirs.

C. If the Child Was Treated as a Child

Being publicly treated as a child may be emotionally significant but is not equivalent to adoption. It may support certain factual claims, but it does not automatically make the child a compulsory heir.

D. If the Caregiver Promised to Adopt the Child

A promise to adopt, without completion of adoption, generally does not create adoption. However, in rare cases, a promise, contract, or representation may be relevant to claims involving damages, property, estoppel, or equity, depending on the facts. Philippine courts are generally cautious because adoption is statutory and must comply with legal requirements.

XXI. Effect of Non-Adoption on Legitime

The legitime is the portion of a person’s estate reserved by law for compulsory heirs.

A child who was not legally adopted by the decedent is not a compulsory heir as that person’s child. Therefore, the child has no legitime from the caregiver unless the child is otherwise a compulsory heir under another legal relationship.

This is one of the most important consequences of non-adoption.

XXII. Illegitimate Child Versus Non-Adopted Child

It is important not to confuse an illegitimate child with a non-adopted child.

An illegitimate child is still the biological child of the parent. The child has legal rights against that parent, including support and inheritance, once filiation is established.

A non-adopted child, in relation to a caregiver who is not the biological parent, has no legal filiation with that caregiver.

Thus, an illegitimate child has enforceable rights against biological parents. A child merely raised by a non-parent has no equivalent parental rights against that caregiver unless adoption, guardianship, contract, will, donation, or another legal basis exists.

XXIII. Legitimation

Legitimation is different from adoption. Legitimation may occur when a child was conceived and born outside wedlock but the parents later marry, provided legal requirements are met.

A legitimated child generally enjoys the rights of a legitimate child.

This remedy applies to biological parents. It does not apply to a caregiver who is not the child’s biological parent.

XXIV. Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care

Philippine adoption law has undergone reforms moving toward administrative processes for domestic adoption and alternative child care. The National Authority for Child Care plays a central role in administrative adoption, foster care, and related child-placement matters.

Where a child has been raised by someone who wants to become the legal parent, adoption may be possible if the legal requirements are met. The process must be handled properly because adoption changes civil status, parental authority, support obligations, surname, and inheritance rights.

XXV. Adult Adoption

In some situations, adoption may involve a person who is already of age, subject to legal requirements. Adult adoption may be relevant where a person was raised as a child but was never legally adopted during minority.

Adult adoption may affect succession and family status going forward, but it must comply with the applicable adoption law and procedures. It cannot be assumed from conduct alone.

XXVI. Remedies Available to a Child Who Was Not Legally Adopted

Depending on the facts, possible remedies may include:

A. Petition or Action to Establish Filiation

If the issue is recognition by a biological parent, the child may pursue legal remedies to establish filiation.

B. Action for Support

Once filiation is established or admitted, the child may demand support from the parent legally obliged to provide it.

C. Custody or Guardianship Proceedings

If the child is in the care of a non-parent, a custody or guardianship case may be necessary to formalize authority over the child.

D. Adoption Proceedings

If the caregiver intends to become the child’s legal parent, adoption is the proper remedy, subject to statutory requirements.

E. Correction of Civil Registry Entries

If the birth certificate contains errors, false entries, or simulated parentage, correction or appropriate legal proceedings may be necessary.

F. Settlement of Estate Claims

If the caregiver has died, the child may participate in estate proceedings if named in a will, if a creditor, if a legal heir in another capacity, or if asserting a property claim.

G. Child Protection Proceedings

If the child is abused, neglected, abandoned, trafficked, or exploited, social welfare, criminal, civil, and protective remedies may be available.

H. Claim for Benefits

The child may claim insurance, pension, employment, school, or government benefits if qualified under the applicable rules or if validly designated as beneficiary.

XXVII. Common Misconceptions

Misconception 1: “I raised the child, so the child is legally mine.”

This is incorrect. Raising a child does not automatically create legal parentage. Adoption is required.

Misconception 2: “The child uses my surname, so the child is my legal child.”

Use of a surname does not necessarily prove adoption or legal filiation. The civil registry and legal basis must be examined.

Misconception 3: “The child is in my birth certificate as my child, so everything is valid.”

If the birth record is false or simulated, legal consequences may arise. The record may need correction or regularization.

Misconception 4: “The child will automatically inherit because everyone knows I treated the child as mine.”

This is incorrect. Without adoption or a valid will, the child may not inherit from the caregiver.

Misconception 5: “A stepchild automatically becomes an heir.”

A stepchild is not automatically a compulsory heir of the stepparent. Adoption or a will is usually necessary.

Misconception 6: “Foster care is the same as adoption.”

Foster care is not adoption. It is an alternative care arrangement and does not create full legal filiation.

XXVIII. Practical Legal Consequences of Not Being Adopted

The absence of legal adoption may affect the child in the following areas:

inheritance from the caregiver;
surname;
school authority and records;
medical consent;
passport and travel clearance;
insurance and employment benefits;
custody disputes;
authority to make decisions for the child;
civil registry accuracy;
social welfare documentation;
succession disputes after the caregiver’s death;
ability to receive government or private benefits as a dependent; and
proof of family relationship in official transactions.

XXIX. Best Practices for Caregivers

A person raising a child who is not legally his or her own should consider the following:

avoid falsifying birth records;
preserve documents showing the child’s true identity;
secure written authority from the biological parents when appropriate;
pursue guardianship if decision-making authority is needed;
pursue adoption if a permanent parent-child relationship is intended;
execute a valid will if the caregiver wants the child to inherit;
designate the child properly in insurance or benefit plans where allowed;
coordinate with social welfare authorities in abandonment or neglect cases;
maintain records of expenses, custody, and parental consent;
correct civil registry errors through proper legal channels; and
seek legal advice before transferring property to or for the child.

XXX. Best Practices for the Child or the Child’s Representative

The child or representative should determine:

who the biological parents are;
whether filiation is admitted or disputed;
what appears on the birth certificate;
whether there was a decree of adoption;
whether there was guardianship or foster care documentation;
whether the caregiver left a will;
whether the child was designated as beneficiary in policies or benefits;
whether the child has property in his or her own name;
whether the child needs support from biological parents;
whether custody is contested; and
whether civil registry correction is needed.

XXXI. Special Situations

A. Abandoned Child

If a child was abandoned and later raised by another person, adoption may be possible after the child is declared legally available for adoption or after compliance with applicable child-care procedures.

B. Orphaned Child

If both parents are deceased, relatives or other qualified persons may seek guardianship or adoption, depending on the child’s situation.

C. Child of Unknown Parents

A foundling or child of unknown parentage has rights to identity, protection, care, nationality, and social services. Adoption may be available through proper procedures.

D. Child Raised Abroad or by Foreigners

Inter-country adoption, immigration, citizenship, and recognition of foreign judgments may arise. These cases require careful compliance with Philippine and foreign law.

E. Child in a Same-Sex or Non-Traditional Household

The child’s rights to protection, support from legal parents, education, and welfare remain. However, legal parentage, adoption, custody, and succession depend on applicable Philippine law and recognized legal relationships.

XXXII. Criminal and Civil Liability Issues

Non-adoption itself is not necessarily illegal. A person may care for a child without adoption. However, liability may arise if there is:

simulation of birth;
falsification of public documents;
child trafficking;
illegal child placement;
abuse;
neglect;
exploitation;
abandonment;
unlawful withholding of custody;
concealment of identity;
misuse of the child’s property; or
fraudulent claims for benefits.

Good intentions do not always excuse violations of law, especially where civil registry records or child-placement rules are involved.

XXXIII. The Role of the State

The State has a strong interest in protecting children. Social welfare agencies, courts, prosecutors, schools, hospitals, local government units, and law enforcement may become involved where a child’s identity, custody, protection, or welfare is at risk.

The State’s policy is to protect the best interests of the child while also ensuring that adoption, custody, guardianship, foster care, and civil registry matters follow legal requirements.

XXXIV. Summary of Rights

A child who was not legally adopted has the following rights:

the right to identity, name, nationality, and accurate civil records;
the right to establish filiation with biological parents;
the right to support from persons legally obliged to support the child;
the right to inherit from biological parents and other legal relatives according to law;
the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination;
the right to education;
the right to health care;
the right to social welfare protection;
the right to custody arrangements based on best interests;
the right to guardianship where necessary;
the right to receive property by donation or will, subject to law;
the right to claim benefits if validly designated or otherwise qualified;
the right to seek correction of false or erroneous civil registry entries; and
the right to pursue adoption or other legal regularization when appropriate.

However, the child generally does not have the following rights against a non-adoptive caregiver solely because of the caregiving relationship:

the right to inherit as a compulsory child-heir;
the right to use the caregiver’s surname as a legal child;
the right to demand parental support from the caregiver;
the right to be treated as a legitimate or adopted child for all legal purposes;
the right to automatic benefits reserved for legal children; and
the right to legal filiation with the caregiver.

XXXV. Conclusion

A child who was not legally adopted is not without rights. Philippine law protects the child’s welfare, identity, support, education, health, and safety. The child may have enforceable rights against biological parents, legal relatives, guardians, institutions, and the State.

But the absence of legal adoption has serious consequences. A child raised by a non-parent does not automatically become that person’s legal child. The child does not automatically inherit from the caregiver, acquire the caregiver’s surname, or obtain the full rights of a legitimate or adopted child.

Where the intention is to create a permanent legal parent-child relationship, adoption is the proper remedy. Where the need is decision-making authority, guardianship or custody proceedings may be appropriate. Where the problem is parentage, filiation or civil registry correction may be required. Where the concern is inheritance, a valid will, donation, or estate plan may be necessary.

The guiding principle is the best interests of the child, but the best interests of the child must be pursued through the legal remedies provided by Philippine law.