Quick answer

Philippine law gives heirs rights from the moment a person dies, but an heir does not immediately own a particular house, lot, bank account, or vehicle. The estate must first be identified, the surviving spouse’s separate or marital-property share determined, debts and taxes paid, and the remaining estate divided under a valid will or the rules on intestate succession.

A valid will cannot ordinarily deprive a compulsory heir of the minimum share reserved by law, called the legitime. Without a will, the Civil Code determines who inherits and in what proportions. An heir’s exact share depends on the complete family tree, proof of filiation, marital and adoption records, the date of death, prior donations, property ownership, debts, and whether another heir predeceased or was disqualified.

What an heir actually inherits

An inheritance includes the decedent’s property, transmissible rights, and obligations that were not extinguished by death. Successional rights arise at death under Articles 774–777 of the Civil Code.

However:

Only the decedent’s property enters the estate. Property belonging exclusively to a surviving spouse, co-owner, corporation, partnership, or another person does not become part of the inheritance merely because the decedent possessed or managed it.
Community or conjugal property must be liquidated first. The surviving spouse’s share in that property is ownership—not an inheritance—and only the decedent’s resulting share enters the estate.
Valid debts, administration expenses, taxes, and other lawful charges are settled before net shares are distributed.
When there are several heirs, they generally own the undivided estate in common until partition. They do not yet own specific portions of particular assets.
An heir is not personally liable for the decedent’s contractual obligations beyond the value of property received from the estate.

If an heir survived the decedent but later died before accepting, repudiating, or receiving the inheritance, the first heir’s vested hereditary right may pass to that heir’s own estate. This differs from representation, which generally applies when the person being represented died before the original decedent or was otherwise incapable of inheriting under the law.

Inheritance with a will

A will controls only to the extent allowed by law. It must comply with the required formalities and be proved and allowed in court. A notarized document labeled “last will” does not transfer property by itself.

The Rules of Court provide that:

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 who learns of the death and appointment must present the will, unless already presented, and state whether the appointment is accepted, generally within the same 20-day period.
No real or personal property passes under a will until the will is allowed in probate.

These requirements appear in Rules 75 and 76 of the Rules of Court on Special Proceedings.

Compulsory heirs and the legitime

The following may be compulsory heirs, depending on who survives the decedent:

Legitimate children and descendants;
In their default, legitimate parents and ascendants;
The surviving spouse;
Children born outside marriage, whose filiation must be proved; and
In particular cases, the parents of a child born outside marriage.

The legal term “illegitimate child” remains in the statutes, although “child born outside marriage” or “nonmarital child” is more people-first language. Under Article 176 of the Family Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 9255, each such child’s legitime is one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child. The actual amount may be limited by the disposable portion and by the shares of other compulsory heirs.

Finalized adoptees are considered legitimate children of their adopters. Under Sections 41–43 of Republic Act No. 11642, adopters and adoptees have reciprocal testate and intestate succession rights without distinction from legitimate filiation. The adoption order, date, applicable adoption law, biological-parent relationship, and any rescission must still be examined.

A parent cannot disinherit a child merely by saying so

Disinheritance is valid only if:

It is made in a valid will;
The will specifies a legal cause recognized by the Civil Code; and
If the disinherited heir denies the cause, the other heirs prove it.

Family disagreement, disapproval of a spouse or career, failure to visit, or a bare statement that the heir has already received “enough” is not automatically a lawful cause. Articles 915–923 of the Civil Code contain distinct statutory causes for descendants, ascendants, and spouses.

Separate rules on incapacity or unworthiness to inherit may apply to serious conduct described in Article 1032. Unlike disinheritance, unworthiness may operate even without a disinheritance clause, but the facts, judgment records, pardon, reconciliation, and applicable statutory ground require careful legal examination.

Omission is not always disinheritance

The complete omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line may constitute preterition. Under Article 854, preterition can annul the institution of heirs, while devises and legacies remain effective only to the extent that they do not improperly impair reserved shares.

An heir who received something under the will but less than the legitime is generally not “preterited”; that heir may instead demand completion of the legitime. Excessive lifetime donations, devises, or legacies may also be reduced when they impair compulsory heirs’ shares.

Inheritance without a will

Intestate succession applies when there is no valid will, when the will does not cover the entire estate, or when a testamentary disposition fails without an applicable substitution or other legal mechanism.

The nearest relative in degree generally excludes a more remote relative, subject to representation. Thus, a grandchild ordinarily does not inherit beside that grandchild’s living parent in the same line.

Common intestate combinations include:

Surviving heirs	General distribution of the net intestate estate
Surviving spouse and legitimate children only	The spouse receives the same share as each child.
Legitimate children and children born outside marriage, without a spouse	Each nonmarital child generally receives one-half of the share of each legitimate child.
Surviving spouse and nonmarital children only	One-half to the spouse; one-half collectively to the children.
Surviving spouse and legitimate parents or ascendants	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the ascendants.
Legitimate ascendants and nonmarital children, without a spouse	One-half to each class.
Spouse, legitimate ascendants, and nonmarital children	One-half to the ascendants, one-fourth to the spouse, and one-fourth collectively to the children.
Spouse and siblings or qualifying nephews and nieces, with no descendants, ascendants, or nonmarital children	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the siblings or their qualifying children.
Spouse alone, with none of the competing heirs recognized by law	The spouse generally receives the entire intestate estate.
Brothers and sisters only	Full siblings generally receive twice the share of half siblings.
No qualified relative within the statutory order	The estate may pass to the State through escheat proceedings.

These are general rules, not a substitute for a computation. Multiple legitimate children, nonmarital children, a spouse, representation, renunciation, adoption, prior donations, or partially testate property can materially change the calculation.

In a 2024 decision, the Supreme Court emphasized that compulsory heirs’ legitimes must first be preserved when a spouse, legitimate child, and nonmarital children concur. The Court rejected a calculation that would impair protected shares. See G.R. No. 250613, April 3, 2024.

Grandchildren and representation

Representation allows a descendant to step into the place of a parent in situations recognized by law. It does not apply simply because the family prefers the grandchild or because the parent waives an inheritance.

In Aquino v. Aquino, G.R. No. 208912, December 7, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that a nonmarital child may represent a deceased parent in inheriting from a direct ascendant, such as a grandparent, provided filiation and the other requirements are proved. The decision expressly did not resolve every issue involving collateral relatives or inheritance in one’s own right.

Stepchildren and live-in partners

A stepchild does not automatically inherit from a stepparent unless legally adopted or validly named in a will, subject to compulsory heirs’ legitimes.

A live-in partner is not automatically a surviving spouse or intestate heir. The partner may nevertheless own a separate or co-owned share in property acquired during the relationship under Articles 147 or 148 of the Family Code. That ownership claim must be determined before the decedent’s estate is computed.

Mere physical separation does not by itself terminate a valid marriage or the spouse’s status. A final decree of legal separation may disqualify the offending spouse from intestate succession, while annulment, nullity, and good or bad faith can produce different property and succession consequences.

Rights of heirs before partition

Before partition, heirs generally have the following rights:

To receive notice and participate in the settlement;
To inspect the will, inventory, titles, accounts, income records, debts, and proposed distribution;
To challenge a forged or invalid will, false heirship claim, concealed property, improper debt, or unauthorized transfer;
To demand preservation and proper administration of estate assets;
To receive an accounting of rent, harvests, business proceeds, withdrawals, and other income collected from estate property;
To ask for partition, subject to lawful restrictions and pending administration;
To receive the correct legitime or intestate share; and
To accept or repudiate the inheritance in the form required by law.

No co-heir may validly sell the shares of all other heirs without authority. Before partition, a co-heir can ordinarily transfer only the undivided hereditary interest that may eventually belong to that co-heir. If a co-heir sells hereditary rights to a stranger, Article 1088 gives the other co-heirs a right to substitute themselves for the buyer by reimbursing the price within one month from written notice of the sale.

Repudiation is not accomplished by an oral family agreement. Article 1051 requires a public or authentic instrument or a petition filed in the court handling the estate. Acceptance or repudiation is generally irrevocable, subject to limited grounds such as vitiated consent or discovery of an unknown will.

How an estate is settled

1. Preserve the estate immediately

Secure the residence, vehicles, original titles, financial records, devices, passwords lawfully available to the estate, and valuable personal property. Do not secretly withdraw funds, sell assets, change locks to exclude co-heirs, or destroy documents.

Notify banks, insurers, business partners, tenants, condominium administrators, and other relevant institutions of the death when necessary to prevent unauthorized transactions.

2. Identify every possible heir and the governing law

Prepare a family tree showing:

All marriages and their legal status;
All children, including deceased children and their descendants;
Adoptions and legitimation;
Parents and other ascendants;
Siblings of full and half blood;
Dates of death; and
Citizenship, residence, and overseas connections.

Succession is generally governed by the law in force when the decedent died. Older estates may therefore be subject to earlier succession and tax provisions. The Code of Muslim Personal Laws may govern succession among persons and situations covered by Presidential Decree No. 1083.

3. Inventory assets, ownership, debts, and prior transfers

List real property, bank deposits, investments, vehicles, business interests, receivables, intellectual property, insurance proceeds where includible, and valuable personal property. Record each asset’s ownership, acquisition date, value at death, encumbrances, and income after death.

Also identify mortgages, loans, taxes, funeral and last-illness expenses, judgments, guarantees, and substantial lifetime donations. A transfer labeled a “sale” may require scrutiny if there was no genuine payment or delivery.

4. Liquidate marital property

If no judicial settlement is filed, Articles 103 and 130 of the Family Code require the surviving spouse to liquidate absolute-community or conjugal-partnership property judicially or extrajudicially within six months from death. Dispositions or encumbrances after that period without liquidation can be void under the statutory conditions.

5. Choose the proper settlement route

Extrajudicial settlement

Rule 74 permits an extrajudicial settlement when:

The decedent left no will;
There are no outstanding debts;
All heirs are adults, or minors are represented by duly authorized judicial or legal representatives; and
All participating heirs agree.

The settlement must be in a public instrument filed with the Register of Deeds. A sole heir may use an affidavit of self-adjudication. The rule also requires a bond corresponding to personal property and publication in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three consecutive weeks.

An extrajudicial settlement does not bind an heir or other person who did not participate and had no notice. Publication is not permission to conceal or omit a known heir.

Judicial settlement or probate

Court proceedings are normally required when there is a will, unresolved debt, disagreement, disputed filiation or marriage, concealed property, competing administrators, incapable heirs with conflicting interests, or a need for court-authorized sale or protection.

For ordinary domestic probate proceedings filed under current jurisdictional rules, first-level courts generally handle estates with a gross value not exceeding ₱2 million, while Regional Trial Courts handle estates exceeding that amount under Republic Act No. 11576. Special issues, including foreign wills, may affect the proper court.

Venue is generally where the decedent resided at death. If the decedent lived abroad, venue may be where Philippine estate property is located.

Rule 74 separately retains a court summary-settlement procedure for an estate with a gross value not exceeding ₱10,000. That very low threshold is distinct from the ₱2 million jurisdictional division between trial courts.

Estate tax and transfer requirements

Estate tax and inheritance shares are different matters. Paying estate tax does not determine who the heirs are, validate an invalid partition, or cure the omission of an heir.

For deaths on or after January 1, 2018, the TRAIN Law generally imposes estate tax at 6% of the net taxable estate. For a citizen or Philippine resident, deductions include a ₱5 million standard deduction and a family-home deduction of up to ₱10 million, subject to statutory conditions. Other deductions and the surviving spouse’s net share may also apply.

The estate tax return is generally due within one year from death. A return may be required regardless of estate value when the estate contains registered or registrable property—such as land, a vehicle, or shares—for which BIR clearance is needed. A return showing a gross estate exceeding ₱5 million must be supported by the CPA-certified statement required by Section 90 of the Tax Code. See Republic Act No. 10963 and the BIR’s current Estate Tax guidance.

Payment is generally made when the return is filed. Installment or hardship-related extensions may be available under statutory conditions, but the estate should apply promptly and obtain BIR approval where required. Late filing or payment can result in surcharge, interest, and other penalties.

The latest general estate-tax amnesty period closed in June 2025. It is not open to new applicants as of the source-check date below. For estates that validly availed of the amnesty on time, BIR RMC No. 33-2026 states that there is no deadline to submit proof of estate settlement, but the proof remains necessary for issuance of the electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration or eCAR. Undeclared properties are governed by the tax law applicable at the decedent’s death.

After tax compliance and settlement, the heirs may still need an eCAR, Registry of Deeds registration, local transfer-tax payment, updated tax declarations, and asset-specific transfer documents.

Important deadlines

Matter	General period
Delivery of a will by its custodian	Within 20 days after learning of the testator’s death
Presentation of

Quick answer

An heir’s rights depend on four things: who died, who survived, whether there is a valid will, and what property and debts actually belong to the estate. Philippine law protects the legitime of compulsory heirs, such as children, a surviving legal spouse and, in some situations, parents. A will generally cannot take away that reserved share without a valid statutory ground for disinheritance.

Inheritance rights arise at death, but heirs do not immediately own particular assets. Until debts are paid and the estate is partitioned, multiple heirs generally co-own the net estate in undivided shares. No heir may simply claim the house, withdraw all the money or sell everyone else’s interest.

The exact shares can change because of filiation, adoption, representation, the spouses’ property regime, lifetime donations, renunciation, unworthiness, legal separation, or a will. The law in force when the decedent died ordinarily governs the succession, so older estates may require different rules.

Start with the correct estate

Before calculating anyone’s share, determine what can legally be inherited.

The estate generally includes the decedent’s transmissible property, rights and obligations. It does not automatically include:

Property owned exclusively by the surviving spouse or another person;
The surviving spouse’s share in absolute-community or conjugal-partnership property;
Assets validly transferred before death;
Benefits payable directly to a validly designated beneficiary, when the governing law or contract keeps them outside the estate; or
Rights and obligations extinguished by death.

When a married person dies, the spouses’ property regime must usually be liquidated first. Community or conjugal debts and the surviving spouse’s own share are separated before the decedent’s hereditary estate is divided. If there is no judicial settlement, Articles 103 and 130 of the Family Code direct the surviving spouse to liquidate the community or conjugal partnership within six months from death. A disposition or encumbrance involving unliquidated common property after that period may be void.

The inheritance is also subject to lawful debts and administration expenses. An heir is generally not personally liable beyond the value of property received from the decedent.

Rights begin at death, but the estate remains undivided

Under Articles 774–777 of the Civil Code, succession opens and hereditary rights are transmitted at death. This does not mean each heir immediately owns a particular room, parcel of land, vehicle or bank account.

Where there are several heirs, they own the estate in common before partition, subject to the decedent’s debts. A co-heir may generally deal only with the undivided hereditary interest that may ultimately belong to that heir—not another heir’s share or a specific asset not yet adjudicated. The Supreme Court has repeatedly applied this rule, including in G.R. No. 246096.

A co-heir who receives rent, harvests, sale proceeds or other income from estate property may have to account to the others during partition. Necessary expenses, improvements and damage to the property must also be accounted for.

When there is a will

A will controls only to the extent allowed by law. It may identify heirs, devise real property, bequeath personal property and distribute the disposable portion of the estate. It cannot ordinarily impair a compulsory heir’s legitime.

A notarized document called a will does not transfer property by itself. Under Rule 75 of the Rules of Court, no will passes property unless it is proved and allowed in the proper court. Probate principally determines whether the will was validly executed, although the court may later address the legality of particular provisions.

A person holding the 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 it has already reached the court.

If the will is void, disallowed, incomplete or fails to dispose of the entire estate, intestate succession may govern all or part of the property.

Who are compulsory heirs?

Article 887 of the Civil Code identifies the principal compulsory heirs. In modern terms, these commonly include:

Legitimate children and descendants;
In their default, legitimate parents and ascendants;
The surviving legal spouse; and
Children born outside marriage whose filiation is legally established.

The categories do not always exclude one another. A surviving spouse and children may inherit together. Children born outside marriage may concur with legitimate children, subject to the proportions and limits set by law.

An adopted person covered by a valid adoption is considered the adopter’s legitimate child and has reciprocal succession rights with the adopter without distinction from legitimate filiation under Sections 41–43 of Republic Act No. 11642. The adoption order, its date, whether it was later rescinded and whether a biological parent is the adopter’s spouse can affect other relationships.

Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and more remote relatives are generally not compulsory heirs. They may inherit under a will or through intestate succession when the closer heirs specified by law are absent.

The legitime: the minimum protected share

The legitime is the portion reserved by law for compulsory heirs. The balance, after satisfying all legitimes, is the disposable or free portion.

Some basic rules are:

Legitimate children or descendants collectively have a legitime equal to one-half of the hereditary estate.
Legitimate parents or ascendants, when entitled because there are no legitimate descendants, generally have a collective legitime of one-half.
A surviving spouse’s legitime varies depending on the other compulsory heirs.
Under Article 176 of the Family Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 9255, each child born outside marriage has a legitime equal to one-half of a legitimate child’s legitime. The total available share can still be limited by the free portion and by the statutory priority given to the surviving spouse.

Lifetime donations subject to collation may be added back computationally when determining whether legitimes were impaired. A deed labeled as a sale may also be examined if the alleged price was never paid or the transaction was actually a donation.

Exact calculations should not be made from a simple percentage chart when several classes of heirs concur. In G.R. No. 250613, the Supreme Court emphasized that legitimes must first be protected when a surviving spouse, one legitimate child and children born outside marriage inherit together.

Common shares when there is no will

These are general intestate rules applied to the net hereditary estate, not to the entire value of community or conjugal property.

Survivors	General intestate result
Surviving spouse and legitimate children only	The spouse receives the same share as each child.
Legitimate and nonmarital children, without a spouse	Each nonmarital child generally receives one-half of each legitimate child’s share, subject to the governing succession rules.
Surviving spouse and nonmarital children only	One-half to the spouse; one-half collectively to the children.
Surviving spouse and legitimate parents or ascendants	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the ascendants.
Legitimate ascendants and nonmarital children, without a spouse	One-half to each class.
Spouse, legitimate ascendants and nonmarital children	One-half to the ascendants; one-fourth to the spouse; one-fourth collectively to the nonmarital children.
Spouse and siblings or qualifying nieces and nephews, with no descendants, ascendants or nonmarital children	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the siblings or their qualifying children.
Spouse alone, with none of the competing heirs specified by law	The spouse generally receives the entire intestate estate.
Brothers and sisters only	Full siblings inherit equally; a full sibling generally receives twice the share of a half sibling when both classes concur.
No closer heir	Other collateral relatives may inherit, but intestate succession does not extend beyond the fifth collateral degree. The State inherits if no qualified successor exists.

The nearest relative generally excludes a more remote relative, except where representation properly applies.

Children, grandchildren and proof of filiation

A child’s surname alone neither creates nor defeats inheritance rights. Filiation must be established by evidence recognized by law, such as a civil-registry birth record, final judgment, qualifying admission by the parent, open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or other admissible evidence. Different evidence and filing periods may apply depending on whether the alleged parent was living when the action was brought.

Grandchildren usually inherit by representation when their parent—who would have inherited from the grandparent—predeceased the grandparent or is legally incapable or unworthy to inherit. If the parent survived the grandparent and later died, the parent’s already-transmitted hereditary interest ordinarily passes through the parent’s own estate instead.

In Aquino v. Aquino, G.R. No. 208912, the Supreme Court held that a nonmarital child may represent a deceased parent in the direct line and inherit from a grandparent, provided filiation and the other requirements of representation are proved. The ruling was expressly limited: it did not resolve every issue involving inheritance in one’s own right from collateral relatives.

A stepchild is not automatically an heir of a stepparent. The stepchild must independently qualify—for example, through a valid adoption or a valid testamentary gift that does not impair compulsory heirs.

Surviving spouses and unmarried partners

“Surviving spouse” ordinarily means the person in a valid subsisting marriage to the decedent. Mere physical separation does not by itself terminate the marriage or eliminate succession rights.

A final decree of legal separation can disqualify the offending spouse from intestate succession. Other rules apply if the marriage was void, annulled, contracted in bad faith or celebrated when death was imminent.

A live-in partner is not automatically a compulsory or intestate heir merely because the couple lived together for many years. The partner may, however, own a separate or co-owned share under Articles 147 or 148 of the Family Code. That ownership claim must be determined before the decedent’s estate is divided. A valid will may also benefit the partner from the disposable portion, subject to legal prohibitions and the legitimes of compulsory heirs.

Omission and disinheritance are not the same

A parent cannot validly disinherit a compulsory heir merely by saying, “I leave this child nothing.”

Disinheritance requires:

A valid will;
A legal cause expressly recognized by the Civil Code;
Specification of that cause in the will; and
Proof of the cause by the other heirs if the disinherited heir denies it.

The statutory grounds differ for descendants, ascendants and spouses. Family disappointment, estrangement, career choices or a new partner are not automatically legal grounds.

An invalid disinheritance does not necessarily void the entire will. The affected compulsory heir may demand restoration of the impaired legitime.

Preterition is the complete and unintentional omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line from the inheritance. Under Article 854, it may annul the institution of heirs, while devises and legacies remain effective only insofar as they do not impair protected shares. Naming an heir but giving less than the legitime is generally a different problem: the heir may seek completion of the legitime.

Unworthiness is also distinct from disinheritance. Certain serious conduct listed in Article 1032 can make a person incapable of succeeding even without a disinheritance clause, but its application depends on proof and the precise statutory ground.

Accepting or renouncing an inheritance

Acceptance may be express or implied. Selling, donating or assigning hereditary rights can amount to acceptance. Once validly made, acceptance or repudiation is generally irrevocable, except in limited circumstances such as defective consent or discovery of an unknown will.

Repudiation cannot safely be done through a family chat or informal letter. Article 1051 requires a public or authentic instrument or a petition filed in the court handling the estate. A purported “waiver in favor” of selected co-heirs may legally amount to acceptance followed by a transfer, potentially creating tax and documentation consequences.

After a court issues an order of distribution, heirs, devisees and legatees have 30 days to signify acceptance or repudiation; silence results in deemed acceptance under Article 1057.

How an estate may be settled

Extrajudicial settlement

Rule 74 permits an extrajudicial settlement when:

The decedent left no will;
There are no outstanding debts;
All heirs are of legal age, or minors are represented by duly authorized judicial or legal representatives; and
The participating heirs can validly agree on the division.

The settlement must be in a public instrument filed with the Register of Deeds. A sole heir may use an affidavit of self-adjudication. The settlement must be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. A bond equal to the sworn value of the personal property involved must be filed as required by the rule.

An extrajudicial settlement is not binding on an heir or other person who did not participate and had no notice. Publication is not permission to hide or omit a known heir.

Rule 74 places a two-year charge on distributed property and the required bond for certain claims by creditors or persons deprived of participation. This is not a universal two-year deadline that automatically validates fraud or extinguishes every omitted heir’s ownership claim. The remedy and prescriptive period depend on the defect, notice, possession, fraud and relief sought.

Judicial settlement or probate

Court proceedings are generally necessary when:

There is a will;
Heirs dispute identity, shares, property ownership or the proposed partition;
There are unresolved debts or creditor claims;
An heir is missing or improperly represented;
An executor or administrator must recover or preserve assets;
Property has allegedly been concealed or sold without authority; or
An extrajudicial settlement cannot meet Rule 74.

Venue is generally the place where the decedent resided at death. If the decedent resided abroad, the proceeding may be brought where Philippine estate property is located.

For ordinary domestic probate and administration proceedings, first-level courts generally have jurisdiction when the gross estate does not exceed ₱2 million; the Regional Trial Court generally has jurisdiction when it exceeds ₱2 million, under Republic Act No. 11576. Foreign wills and unusual proceedings can involve additional jurisdictional rules.

Rule 74 also retains a separate court procedure called summary settlement of an estate of small value, but its stated gross-estate ceiling remains only ₱10,000. It should not be confused with the ₱2 million court-jurisdiction threshold.

In a judicial administration, the court sets the creditor-claim period at not less than six months and not more than 12 months from the first publication of notice. A creditor should follow the specific order and not assume that an ordinary demand letter is enough.

Estate tax and transfer requirements

Inheritance rights and estate tax are different questions. A person can be an heir even though the tax and title-transfer process remains unfinished.

For deaths on or after January 1, 2018, Republic Act No. 10963 generally imposes estate tax at 6% of the net taxable estate. For a Philippine citizen or resident, the law provides a ₱5 million standard deduction and a family-home deduction of up to ₱10 million, among other possible deductions. These figures do not mean that every estate below ₱5 million can skip filing.

An estate tax return is required for taxable transfers and, regardless of value, when the estate contains registered or registrable property—such as land, a vehicle or shares—for which BIR clearance is needed. The return is generally due within one year from death. Returns with gross value exceeding ₱5 million require the CPA-certified statement prescribed by law.

Payment is generally due when the return is filed. Installment or extension arrangements may be available when estate cash is insufficient or payment would cause undue hardship, but the estate should obtain BIR approval and follow the applicable conditions. Late filing or payment can result in surcharge, interest and other penalties.

After settlement and tax compliance, heirs ordinarily need an electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration or eCAR before registrable assets can be transferred. Documentary requirements vary by asset and case, so use the current BIR estate-tax page and ONETT checklist rather than an old private checklist.

The general estate-tax amnesty period for new applicants has already closed. However, BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 33-2026 clarifies that an estate which timely availed of the amnesty has no fixed deadline for later submitting proof of settlement. That proof is still required before the BIR will process and issue the eCAR. Undeclared properties are governed by the tax law applicable at the decedent’s death.

Deadlines and periods worth protecting

Event	General period
Delivering a will after learning of the testator’s death	20 days
Liquidating absolute-community or conjugal-partnership property when there is no judicial settlement	Six months from death
Filing the regular estate tax return	One year from death
Creditor claims in a judicial administration	The court-set period: six to 12 months from first publication
Acceptance or repudiation after a court order of distribution	30 days
Exercising a co-heir’s right to redeem hereditary rights sold to a stranger	One month from written notice of the sale
Rule 74 charge against the bond and distributed property for specified claims	Two years from settlement and distribution, subject to exceptions

Other claims—especially filiation, fraud, annulment of partition, reconveyance and challenges to transfers—have different limitation rules. Act promptly rather than relying on a general deadline.

Practical steps for heirs

Secure the PSA death certificate. Confirm the exact date and last residence.
Locate and preserve every possible will. Do not alter, staple, annotate or discard the original.
Build a complete family tree. Include every marriage, child, adopted child, deceased child and descendant.
Obtain civil-status records. Collect PSA birth and marriage certificates, adoption orders, court judgments and recognized proof of filiation.
Inventory assets and debts. Include land, condominium units, bank accounts, vehicles, shares, businesses, receivables, insurance, loans and tax liabilities.
Identify the property regime. Review the marriage date, marriage settlement, titles and acquisition records.
Preserve income and expense records. Record rent, harvests, withdrawals, repairs, taxes and payments made after death.
Compare the inventory with lifetime transfers. Look for donations, alleged sales, powers of attorney and transfers made during illness.
Choose the proper settlement route. Do not use an extrajudicial settlement when Rule 74’s conditions are absent.
File and pay taxes on time. Estate settlement negotiations do not suspend the regular one-year estate-tax deadline.
Transfer each asset properly. An EJS or court order alone does not automatically update a land title, vehicle registration, stock ledger or bank record.

Evidence to preserve

Keep originals where available and make secure digital copies of:

The death certificate and all versions of the will;
Birth, marriage, adoption and court records;
Land titles, tax declarations, survey plans and tax receipts;
Bank statements, passbooks and deposit records;
Stock certificates, corporate records and business ledgers;
Vehicle registrations and insurance policies;
Loan agreements, mortgages, receipts and creditor communications;
Deeds of sale, donation, assignment and powers of attorney;
Medical records relevant to testamentary capacity or undue influence;
Messages concerning ownership, acknowledgments, threats or concealment;
Proof of rent, harvests, withdrawals and expenses after death; and
Copies of every publication, BIR filing, eCAR and Registry of Deeds submission.

Do not take an original title, will or bank record secretly or destroy another person’s access. Preserve evidence lawfully and document who holds each original.

Common mistakes

Dividing the entire conjugal property as though it all belonged to the decedent;
Treating the eldest child as automatically entitled to a larger share;
Assuming a child loses inheritance rights by using the mother’s surname;
Excluding an adopted or nonmarital child without examining the legal documents;
Treating a live-in partner as a surviving spouse—or ignoring a valid co-ownership claim;
Believing notarization eliminates the need to probate a will;
Signing an EJS without identifying every heir and property;
Selling a specific estate asset before partition without authority from all owners or the court;
Withdrawing estate money without keeping a full accounting;
Assuming property tax declarations conclusively establish ownership;
Treating a casual “waiver” as a valid, tax-free repudiation;
Paying family members before lawful debts and taxes are addressed; or
Waiting for family agreement while tax, creditor or court periods expire.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a Philippine succession lawyer promptly if:

Someone is hiding a will, title, bank account or heir;
A property is being sold, mortgaged or transferred without everyone’s authority;
A co-heir sold hereditary rights and written notice has been received;
The estate-tax deadline is near or has passed;
The will may have been forged or signed under pressure or incapacity;
A child’s filiation is disputed or DNA evidence may be needed;
An heir was omitted from an EJS or affidavit of self-adjudication;
There are minors, incapacitated heirs, missing heirs or conflicting representatives;
The decedent or assets are connected to another country;
The decedent was Muslim and the Code of Muslim Personal Laws may apply;
Estate property is being damaged, occupied exclusively or stripped of income; or
A creditor notice, summons, probate petition or proposed settlement has been received.

Qualified indigent persons may ask the Public Attorney’s Office about eligibility for assistance. Local Integrated Bar of the Philippines legal-aid programs may also be available.

Frequently asked questions

Can a parent leave everything to only one child?

Only to the extent the arrangement does not impair the other compulsory heirs’ legitimes, unless those heirs validly renounced after death, were lawfully disinherited or were legally incapable of inheriting.

Does the eldest child receive a bigger share?

No general Philippine rule gives the eldest child a larger hereditary share merely because of age or gender.

Can an heir sell inherited land before partition?

An heir may generally transfer only the undivided hereditary interest that may eventually be allotted to that heir. The heir cannot sell the other heirs’ interests. If hereditary rights are sold to a stranger before partition, co-heirs may have a one-month statutory redemption right from written notice.

Can one heir remain in the family home and exclude everyone else?

Not merely because that heir already lives there. Co-owners have corresponding rights, subject to estate administration, the surviving spouse’s rights, family-home protections and any agreement or court order. Exclusive use and collected income may require an accounting.

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

Generally, liability as an heir does not exceed the value inherited. A person may nevertheless have separate liability as a co-borrower, guarantor, mortgagor or contracting party.

Can an heir refuse the inheritance?

Yes, but repudiation must follow Article 1051’s formal requirements. Obtain advice before signing because a waiver benefiting selected heirs may instead be treated as acceptance followed by a taxable transfer.

Does publication make an EJS valid against an omitted heir?

Not automatically. Rule 74 expressly states that an extrajudicial settlement does not bind a person who did not participate and had no notice.

Can a foreign citizen inherit Philippine land?

Article XII, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution recognizes hereditary succession as an exception to the general restriction on transfers of private land to foreigners. The route of succession, nationality law, title restrictions and tax consequences should still be reviewed in a cross-border case.

Official legal sources

This article provides general legal information, not advice for a specific estate. Shares, remedies and deadlines can change with the documents, date of death, family relationships, property regime and procedural history. Primary legal and agency sources were checked through August 1, 2026.