Succession Rights of a Remarried Spouse in the Philippines

(A comprehensive practitioner-oriented article)

1. Governing Sources of Law

Instrument	Core provisions that matter for a remarried spouse
Civil Code (NCC, Book III, Title IV)	Arts. 777 (opening of succession), 960-1016 (intestate and testamentary rules), 887 (compulsory heirs), 906-908 (legitime), 1032-1039 (unworthiness & disinheritance)
Family Code of 1987	Arts. 74-76 (property regimes), 88 (absence of conjugal partnership after remarriage unless stipulated), 96/124 (administration of community/conjugal property), 147-148 (property relations in unions without valid marriage)
Rules of Court, Rule 73 et seq.	Settlement of estate, letters of administration, extrajudicial settlement requirements
National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC)	Secs. 84-97 on estate tax; deduction of the surviving spouse’s net share from the gross estate
Select Supreme Court Decisions	Heirs of Malate v. Gamboa (G.R. 181174, 15 June 2015), Spouses Abalos v. Gomez (G.R. 158989, 20 June 2005), Heirs of Mijares v. Marquez (G.R. 139325, 12 Oct 2015), Boles v. Felix (G.R. 173408, 9 Aug 2010), among others

2. Key Concepts

Succession opens at the exact moment of the decedent’s death (Art. 777, NCC).
Vesting is instantaneous. Whatever the surviving spouse receives is fixed on that date; a later remarriage never divests what has already vested.
“Remarried spouse” scenarios
- Type A – Surviving spouse who later remarries. Rights arise from the first spouse’s death and remain despite the new marriage.
- Type B – Decedent who had contracted two or more marriages successively. Only the last valid spouse at the time of death is a compulsory heir.
- Type C – Putative or bigamous second marriage. Rights depend on validity and good faith (see § 7).

3. The Surviving (Now Remarried) Spouse as a Compulsory Heir

Intestate constellation	Share of the (future) remarried spouse	Statutory basis
With legitimate child/ren	Same fraction as each legitimate child	Art. 996
With legitimate ascendants but no descendants	½ of the estate; the other ½ to the ascendants	Art. 997
With only illegitimate child/ren	⅓ of the estate; ⅔ to the illegitimate children	Art. 998 (construed with 895 & 992)
With legitimate and illegitimate children	Treated like one legitimate child; illegitimate children each get ½ of that share (ratio 1 : 1 : ½)	Arts. 996 & 895
No descendants or ascendants	Entire inheritance	Art. 1001

Legitime in testamentary succession mirrors the above: testators can dispose of the free portion only after reserving the spouse’s legitime.

Effect of remarriage: once the estate is open and accepted, remarriage is irrelevant. Estate tax law likewise allows deduction of the spouse’s net share even if she/he remarries before the estate is finally settled (BIR RR 12-2018).

4. Property Regimes and the Bread-and-Butter Question: What Exactly Does the Surviving Spouse Inherit?

Absolute Community of Property (ACP, default on/after 3 Aug 1988):
- Estate consists of decedent’s ½ share in the community + exclusive property.
- Surviving spouse automatically owns the other ½; that portion is not subject to succession or estate tax.
Conjugal Partnership of Gains (CPG, default before 3 Aug 1988):
- Conjugal partnership terminates at death; net profits are divided 50-50, then succession applies to decedent’s share.
Separation of Property (by pre-nup or judicial decree):
- Only the decedent’s exclusive assets enter the estate.
Articles 147-148 unions (no valid marriage):
- No successional rights at all for the partner; only a co-ownership over property acquired by joint effort, enforceable in a separate action.
- If one partner later validly marries the other, full spousal rights accrue only after the celebration of that valid marriage.

5. Complications When the Deceased Contracted Multiple Marriages

A. Successive valid marriages

The spouse in force at the moment of death is the only compulsory-heir spouse.
Children from every valid marriage are all legitimate and inherit pro rata (Art. 979).

B. Void Second (or Third) Marriage

Situation	Rights of the “void” spouse	Rights of the lawful spouse
Spouse contracted the void marriage in good faith	None as heir, but may get up to ½ of property acquired during the union under Art. 147 (“co-ownership”)	Full successional rights
Spouse in bad faith (knew of existing marriage)	No heir-ship and only the extent of actual contributions to the common property (Art. 147 last ¶)	Full successional rights

Children from the void marriage are illegitimate, yet they still qualify as compulsory heirs (Art. 887 par. (4)), sharing in the estate subject to the legitime proportions (½ share of legitimate heirs).

C. Voidable or Annulled First Marriage

If the first marriage is annulled before the decedent’s death, the subsequent marriage becomes the valid one, flipping the roles above.
If annulment occurs after death, the marriage is deemed void ab initio; the “second” spouse loses heir-ship but may still invoke Art. 147 co-ownership if in good faith.

6. Unworthiness & Disinheritance of a Remarried Spouse

A surviving spouse may still be excluded if:

Disinherited in a valid will on any of the grounds in Arts. 919-921 (e.g., adultery/concubinage leading to death of spouse, maltreatment, abandonment).
Declared unworthy under Art. 1032 (e.g., attempt on the life of the decedent, false accusation of an offense punishable by ≥6 years). Upon judicial declaration, that spouse loses the legitime; representation passes to his/her descendants (Art. 1035). Remarriage per se is never a ground for unworthiness.

7. Effect of Post-Death Remarriage on Pending Proceedings

Stage of settlement	Can new spouse intervene?	Notes
Intestate or testate proceedings ongoing	No, but the remarried spouse may waive or assign his/her vested hereditary share to the new spouse (Art. 777 in relation to 1318)
Extrajudicial settlement already executed	New spouse has no standing, except insofar as rights were assigned to him/her by deed or donation mortis causa
Estate tax unpaid	Marriage does not create joint liability; the original surviving spouse remains responsible, but subsequent conjugal property (in new marriage) is not reachable for estate tax of the prior decedent

8. Retirement, Insurance and Death Benefits vs. Successional Rights

SSS/GSIS Survivorship Pension ceases when the widow/er remarries or cohabits (SSS Law, Sec. 13-A (2); GSIS Act, Sec. 21).
Life insurance proceeds go directly to the designated beneficiary and do not form part of the estate (Ins. Code § 182). Succession rights, however, are civil law entitlements and remain intact. Practitioners should therefore handle pensions and inheritance separately during estate planning.

9. Procedure for Estate Settlement Involving a Remarried Spouse

Inventory & classification of property into ACP/CPG/exclusive to isolate the free patrimony.
Determine compulsory heirs and legitimes.
Account for Art. 147 co-ownership claims if a void union is involved.
Draft Deed of Extra-Judicial Settlement (or pursue probate) naming the spouse in her/his maiden or former married name if remarried.
Secure BIR eCAR after computing estate tax; remember to deduct the spouse’s net share.
Annotate titles: If the surviving spouse is now using a new surname, include an alias notation (e.g., “Juanita Cruz-Reyes, now remarried as Juanita Cruz-Santos”).

10. Selected Jurisprudence for Ready Citation

Case & G.R. No.	Lesson for the remarried-spouse problem
Heirs of Malate v. Gamboa (G.R. 181174, 15 Jun 2015)	Surviving spouse’s share is computed before the legitime of illegitimate children; failure to recognize latter is preterition.
Spouses Abalos v. Gomez (G.R. 158989, 20 Jun 2005)	A void second marriage confers no successional rights; good-faith partner limited to Art. 147 co-ownership.
Heirs of Mijares v. Marquez (G.R. 139325, 12 Oct 2015)	Recognition of illegitimate children is unnecessary for succession; filiation can be proved after decedent’s death.
Boles v. Felix (G.R. 173408, 9 Aug 2010)	Estate settlement must first liquidate the property regime; heirs cannot partition until the community/partnership is dissolved.

11. Practical Estate-Planning Tips

Execute a will specifying legitimes and free portion to avoid confusion among two sets of children.
Use prenuptial agreements in second marriages to insulate the new conjugal estate from first-family issues.
Update insurance and SSS/GSIS beneficiaries—pensions may stop upon remarriage.
Consider a family home waiver or designation to ensure the residential house can pass undivided to children.

12. Conclusion

The remarriage of a surviving spouse does not strip away vested successional rights; what counts is the legal landscape at the instant of the decedent’s death. Issues arise, however, when the deceased had multiple unions (valid or otherwise) or when settlement commingles property regimes. Mastery of the Civil Code’s intestacy tables, the Family Code’s property rules, and the Supreme Court’s nuanced jurisprudence is therefore indispensable for Filipino practitioners navigating estates that involve remarried spouses.

This article is for scholarly and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For case-specific queries, consult a Philippine lawyer competent in estate and family law.