Quick answer

An heir’s right generally arises at the moment of the decedent’s death, but the heir cannot simply take, sell, or register particular estate property as exclusively theirs. The estate must first be identified, the spouses’ property regime liquidated when applicable, debts and taxes settled, any will probated, and the remaining estate partitioned among the proper heirs.

Philippine law protects certain compulsory heirs through a reserved share called the legitime. A valid will may distribute only the disposable portion without impairing those legitimes. If there is no valid will—or the will does not cover the whole estate—the rules on legal or intestate succession determine who inherits and in what proportions. These principles come primarily from the Civil Code, especially Articles 774–1105.

The actual result depends on the decedent’s citizenship, marital status and property regime; the validity of the marriage and will; the number, status and filiation of children; surviving parents and other relatives; lifetime donations; debts; and the ownership records for each asset.

What passes to the heirs

The inheritance includes the decedent’s property, transmissible rights, and obligations that were not extinguished by death. Liability transmitted through succession is limited to the value of the inheritance. An heir does not become personally liable beyond that value merely because they inherited, although the heir may still be separately liable as a co-borrower, guarantor, mortgagor, or contracting party.

Not everything associated with the decedent necessarily belongs to the estate. Before computing shares, determine whether each item was:

Exclusively owned by the decedent;
Part of an absolute community or conjugal partnership;
Co-owned with a live-in partner, sibling, business associate, or another person;
Held in trust or only possessed by the decedent;
Covered by a valid beneficiary designation or contract; or
Already validly transferred during the decedent’s lifetime.

For a married decedent, the surviving spouse’s ownership share in the community or conjugal property is separated first. Only the decedent’s resulting share enters the hereditary estate. Under the Family Code, if no judicial estate proceeding is filed, the surviving spouse must liquidate the terminated community or conjugal partnership judicially or extrajudicially within six months from death. A later disposition or encumbrance of unliquidated community property may be void. See Articles 102–103 and 129–130 of the Family Code.

Who are compulsory heirs

Compulsory heirs are persons for whom the law reserves a legitime. Depending on who survives, they may include:

Legitimate or legitimated children and descendants;
Legally adopted children;
In default of legitimate descendants, legitimate parents or other legitimate ascendants;
The surviving legal spouse;
Illegitimate or nonmarital children whose filiation is duly established; and
In the situations specified by law, the parents of a nonmarital decedent.

“Compulsory heir” does not mean that every person in this list inherits in every case. Nearer descendants may exclude more remote descendants, subject to representation. Legitimate parents generally do not receive a legitime when legitimate descendants survive. The surviving spouse and duly established nonmarital children may concur with other compulsory heirs.

Brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, cousins, stepchildren who were not adopted, parents-in-law, and an unmarried partner are not compulsory heirs merely because of their relationship with the decedent. They may inherit under a valid will or, for certain blood relatives, through intestate succession when the preferred classes are absent.

Legitimes when there is a will

A legitime is calculated from the hereditary estate after the legally required accounting. The computation is not necessarily based on the property visibly left at death: allowable debts and charges must be deducted, and certain lifetime donations must be added back for purposes of collation and determining whether compulsory heirs were prejudiced.

Some principal rules are:

Legitimate children and descendants collectively have a legitime equal to one-half of the hereditary estate, normally divided equally among children or by family branch when representation applies.
A nonmarital child’s individual legitime is generally one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child, subject to the statutory limits protecting the surviving spouse and the collective legitime of legitimate descendants.
The surviving spouse’s legitime varies according to the heirs with whom the spouse concurs. For example, with one legitimate child, the spouse’s legitime is one-fourth; with two or more legitimate children, it is generally equal to the legitime of one legitimate child.
In default of legitimate descendants, legitimate parents or ascendants generally have a collective legitime of one-half, subject to the rights of the surviving spouse and nonmarital children.
If the surviving spouse is the only compulsory heir, the ordinary legitime is one-half. A special rule applies to certain marriages celebrated in articulo mortis where the testator dies within three months.

These are only starting rules. Mixed families, representation, prior donations, an adopted child, a legally separated spouse, an articulo mortis marriage, or an estate involving several marriages require a complete computation.

A person with compulsory heirs may dispose freely only of the portion remaining after all legitimes are protected. Testamentary gifts and excessive lifetime donations may be reduced insofar as necessary to complete an impaired legitime.

Can an heir be disinherited?

Yes, but not merely because the parent and child were estranged, had an argument, or stopped communicating.

A compulsory heir can be deprived of the legitime only when:

The disinheritance is made in a valid will;
The will states a specific cause recognized by the Civil Code; and
If the heir denies the cause, the other heirs prove it.

The Civil Code separately lists the permissible causes for disinheriting descendants, parents or ascendants, and a spouse. Examples include specified attempts against life, certain serious accusations or convictions, unjustified refusal of support, and other causes expressly stated in Articles 919–921. Reconciliation can cancel the right to disinherit or make an earlier disinheritance ineffective.

A clause simply saying “I leave nothing to my child” is not necessarily an effective disinheritance. If the legal requirements are absent, the affected heir may demand completion of the legitime.

What if a compulsory heir was omitted from the will?

Complete and unintentional 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 impair legitimes.

This does not mean every omission invalidates the entire will. The result differs when the heir received something through a legacy, devise, lifetime donation, or another provision; when the omission was intentional; or when the omitted person is not a direct-line compulsory heir. The will and the complete donation history must be reviewed together.

Rights of children born outside marriage

A nonmarital child can inherit from the child’s own mother and, when paternal filiation is duly established, from the father. Article 176 of the Family Code provides that the child’s legitime is one-half of that of a legitimate child.

Filiation may be proved through the civil-registry birth record, a final judgment, an admission in a public document or qualifying private handwritten instrument, open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or other evidence permitted by law. The available evidence affects the deadline for bringing an action. When a claim depends only on secondary evidence under the second paragraph of Article 172, an action concerning paternal filiation generally must be brought during the alleged parent’s lifetime. Delay can therefore be fatal.

For inheritance from grandparents, the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Aquino v. Aquino reinterpreted Article 992. A child, regardless of birth status, may inherit from a direct ascendant such as a grandparent by representing a predeceased parent, provided filiation and the other requirements for representation are established. The ruling was expressly limited: it did not settle every issue involving intestate inheritance from collateral relatives. See Aquino v. Aquino, G.R. Nos. 208912 and 209018, December 7, 2021.

Rights of adopted and legitimated children

Under the Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act, an adoptee is considered the legitimate child of the adopter. The adoptee and adopter have reciprocal rights of succession without distinction from legitimate filiation. The legal relationship extends as provided by the adoption law to specified members of the adoptive family.

Except in a stepparent adoption, legal ties with the biological parents are generally severed upon adoption. Section 43 nevertheless provides that when adoptees and biological parents leave wills, testamentary-succession law governs. The adoption order, its date and finality, any rescission, and whether the adoption was by a biological parent’s spouse must be examined.

A legitimated child enjoys the same rights as a legitimate child, with the effects of legitimation generally retroacting to birth. Proof of the parents’ subsequent valid marriage and the child’s corrected or annotated civil-registry record should be preserved.

Rights of a surviving spouse or live-in partner

A surviving legal spouse is ordinarily both a compulsory heir and an intestate heir. Separation in fact alone does not end the marriage or automatically remove inheritance rights. Different consequences can follow from a decree of legal separation, including loss of rights by the spouse who gave cause for the separation.

A live-in partner who was not legally married to the decedent is not a surviving spouse for succession purposes, regardless of how long the couple lived together. The partner may nevertheless:

Own a share in property under the co-ownership rules in Articles 147 or 148 of the Family Code;
Be a creditor of the estate;
Receive property under a valid will from the disposable portion, if legally capable of receiving it; or
Have rights under a valid beneficiary designation or other contract.

Ownership must be resolved before inheritance. A partner’s proven co-ownership share does not become part of the estate. Conversely, living in a house or contributing household work does not automatically make the partner an intestate heir. Testamentary dispositions can also be affected by statutory prohibitions, particularly where either partner was validly married to someone else.

Who inherits when there is no valid will

Intestate succession applies when there is no will, the will is void or has lost validity, the will does not dispose of the whole estate, or an instituted heir cannot inherit and no substitution or accretion applies.

Common combinations include:

Survivors	General intestate result
Legitimate, legitimated, or adopted children only	They divide the estate equally, subject to representation by descendants of a predeceased child.
Such children and a surviving spouse	The spouse generally receives the same share as each child.
Such children and nonmarital children	A nonmarital child generally starts with one-half of a legitimate child’s share, subject to statutory legitimes and caps.
Such children, nonmarital children, and a spouse	The spouse generally takes the share of a legitimate child; each nonmarital child starts at one-half of that share, subject to statutory protections and limits.
Nonmarital children only, with no preferred descendants or ascendants and no spouse	They divide the estate equally.
Nonmarital children and a surviving spouse	The spouse receives one-half; the nonmarital children collectively receive one-half.
Legitimate parents or ascendants and a spouse	One-half goes to the spouse and one-half to the parents or ascendants.
Legitimate ascendants and nonmarital children	Each class collectively receives one-half.
Legitimate ascendants, spouse, and nonmarital children	One-half goes to the ascendants, one-fourth to the spouse, and one-fourth collectively to the nonmarital children.
Spouse and brothers, sisters, nephews, or nieces, with no descendants, ascendants, or nonmarital children	One-half goes to the spouse and one-half to the qualifying collateral relatives.
Brothers and sisters only	Full siblings inherit equally. A full sibling generally receives twice the share of a half sibling when both classes concur.
More remote collateral relatives	They may inherit only in the absence of preferred heirs; intestate succession does not extend beyond the fifth collateral degree.
No qualified heir	The State inherits through escheat proceedings.

The mixed-descendant formulas can be affected when numerous nonmarital children compete with legitimate children and a spouse because the legitimate descendants’ collective legitime, the spouse’s priority, and the ceiling on nonmarital children’s legitimes must still be observed. A simple “two-to-one” calculation is not reliable in every estate.

Representation: when grandchildren inherit a parent’s place

Representation allows a qualified descendant to step into the place and degree of a person who would have inherited. It generally operates in the direct descending line and, in the collateral line, only for children of the decedent’s brothers or sisters.

The representatives divide per stirpes—by family branch. They collectively receive no more than the represented person would have received.

Representation may apply when the represented heir predeceased the decedent or was incapacitated or disqualified in circumstances recognized by law. It generally does not allow descendants to represent an heir who voluntarily repudiated the inheritance. Because death order and the reason an heir cannot take are decisive, secure the death certificates of all relevant family members.

Acceptance, waiver, and sale of inheritance rights

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 for vitiated consent or the later discovery of an unknown will.

Repudiation must be made in a public or authentic instrument or through a petition in the estate proceeding. A parent or guardian cannot repudiate a minor’s inheritance without judicial authorization. A purported waiver made before the decedent’s death concerning a future legitime is void.

Before partition, co-heirs generally own the estate in common, subject to its debts. An heir may deal with an undivided hereditary interest but cannot unilaterally sell the entire estate or promise exclusive ownership of a specific property that has not yet been awarded to that heir. If hereditary rights are sold to a stranger before partition, co-heirs may have a statutory right of redemption within one month from written notice of the sale.

How an estate is settled

If there is a will

No will transfers real or personal property unless it is proved and allowed by the proper court. Probate is required even if all heirs agree that the will is genuine.

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. The named executor has a corresponding 20-day duty to present the will and accept or refuse the trust. The proceeding is ordinarily filed in the Regional Trial Court for the place where the decedent resided at death; special jurisdictional rules apply when the decedent resided abroad.

If there is no will

An extrajudicial settlement may be used only when:

The decedent left no will;
The estate has no outstanding debts;
All heirs participate;
All heirs are of age, or minors are properly represented by judicial or legal representatives authorized for the purpose; and
The requirements of Rule 74 are followed.

Multiple heirs execute a public instrument of extrajudicial settlement. A genuine sole heir may execute an affidavit of self-adjudication. The settlement must be published in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three consecutive weeks. Registration may require the Rule 74 bond covering personal property, together with tax clearances and Registry of Deeds requirements.

Publication does not cure the omission of an heir. Rule 74 expressly states that an extrajudicial settlement does not bind a person who did not participate or have notice.

If there is a will, unresolved debt, disputed heirship, disagreement that cannot be settled, concealed property, a need for an administrator, or an inadequately represented minor, judicial settlement is usually required. The controlling procedures appear in the Supreme Court’s Rules 72–109 on special proceedings.

Estate tax and transfer requirements

For deaths covered by the current TRAIN-law regime, estate tax is generally 6% of the net taxable estate, not 6% of every asset’s gross value. For a citizen or resident decedent, the law provides a ₱5 million standard deduction and a family-home deduction of up to ₱10 million, among other deductions requiring proof. These tax deductions are different from inheritance shares.

An estate-tax return is generally due within one year from death. A return is also required, regardless of gross value, when the estate includes registered or registrable property requiring BIR clearance for transfer. If the gross estate exceeds ₱5 million, the return must be supported by a CPA-certified statement. A filing extension of up to 30 days may be granted in meritorious cases. Where estate cash is insufficient, installment payment may be available under statutory and BIR conditions; this should be requested before the ordinary deadline.

The statutory estate-tax amnesty window under Republic Act No. 11956 ended in June 2025. Old unsettled estates should not assume that the amnesty remains available; ordinary tax, interest, penalties, and any applicable relief must be assessed under the law governing the date of death.

Use the BIR’s current estate-tax page and Revenue District Office checklist because filing channels and documentary requirements depend on the decedent’s residence, date of death, assets, and mode of settlement. Registered land, vehicles, and shares generally cannot be transferred without the applicable electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration or other BIR clearance.

Evidence to preserve immediately

Keep originals safe and make secure digital copies of:

PSA and local civil-registry death, birth, and marriage certificates;
The original will, codicils, envelopes, and information about witnesses;
Adoption orders, certificates of finality, and amended birth records;
Acknowledgments of paternity, public documents, and qualifying handwritten admissions;
Land titles, deeds, tax declarations, surveys, lease records, and real-property tax receipts;
Bank, investment, insurance, pension, stock, cryptocurrency, and digital-wallet records;
Corporate records, partnership agreements, business permits, and accounting files;
Marriage settlements and records showing which assets were exclusive, community, or conjugal;
Loan agreements, mortgages, unpaid bills, tax assessments, funeral expenses, and creditor communications;
Records of lifetime donations or property placed in an heir’s name;
Messages, receipts, photographs, school or medical records, and other evidence relevant to disputed filiation or ownership; and
Proof of who possesses, manages, rents, or receives income from estate property after death.

Do not alter the original will, backdate deeds, sign in the decedent’s name, use a deceased person’s power of attorney, conceal accounts, or withdraw funds through the decedent’s ATM credentials. Preserve records and use the lawful estate or bank procedure.

Common mistakes that prejudice heirs

Dividing the gross property without first separating the surviving spouse’s ownership share;
Treating the surviving spouse’s property share and inheritance share as the same thing;
Assuming the eldest child, title-holder, or person paying taxes owns the whole estate;
Excluding a nonmarital or adopted child without checking filiation and current law;
Treating a live-in partner as either an automatic heir or as having no possible property rights;
Ignoring lifetime donations that may be subject to collation or reduction;
Using self-adjudication when more than one heir exists;
Publishing an extrajudicial settlement but failing to include or personally notify a known heir;
Selling a specific estate property before debts, taxes, authority, and co-heirs’ rights are resolved;
Assuming a handwritten note is automatically a valid will;
Believing notarization alone makes a will valid;
Missing the estate-tax deadline while the family negotiates;
Signing a waiver without an inventory, valuation, tax computation, or independent advice; and
Assuming the two-year Rule 74 period automatically defeats every omitted heir.

The Supreme Court has clarified that Rule 74’s two-year bar generally applies only to persons who participated or had notice and when Rule 74 was strictly followed. Other actions, including reconveyance based on fraud or constructive trust, may have different prescriptive periods. See Treyes v. Larlar, G.R. No. 232579, September 8, 2020.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a Philippine succession lawyer promptly when:

Someone is transferring, mortgaging, selling, or occupying estate property without authority;
A supposed sole heir has executed an affidavit of self-adjudication despite other heirs;
A will is being hidden, altered, destroyed, or withheld;
The decedent left a business, foreign property, several marriages, substantial debt, or contested ownership;
Filiation is disputed, especially while the alleged parent is still alive;
An heir is a minor, incapacitated, missing, or inadequately represented;
A spouse’s marriage, legal separation, or property regime is disputed;
The estate-tax deadline is near or has passed;
A creditor-claim period has been announced in a judicial estate proceeding;
A title has already been transferred to another heir or buyer;
There are allegations of forgery, undue influence, simulation of sale, concealment, or violence; or
You are being asked to sign a quitclaim, waiver, sale, or extrajudicial settlement without full disclosure.

In a judicial estate proceeding, the court’s notice to creditors fixes a filing period of not less than six months nor more than 12 months from first publication. Money claims covered by Rule 86 can be barred if not filed on time, subject only to limited relief before distribution.

Frequently asked questions

Does the eldest child receive a bigger share?

No. Age and sex do not create a preferred share. Children in the same legal position generally inherit equally, subject to the rules on nonmarital children, representation, adoption, legitimes, and valid testamentary dispositions.

Can a parent leave everything to only one child?

Usually not when other compulsory heirs survive. The favored child may receive their legitime plus some or all of the disposable portion, but other compulsory heirs may demand completion of their legitimes and reduction of excessive gifts.

Does a child lose inheritance rights for not caring for a parent?

Not automatically. Disinheritance requires a valid will, a statutory cause, and proof if contested. Ordinary estrangement or failure to visit is not by itself enough.

Can grandchildren inherit while their parent is alive?

Ordinarily, the nearer descendant excludes the more remote one. Grandchildren usually inherit from a grandparent through representation when their parent predeceased or was disqualified in a situation recognized by law, or through a valid will from the disposable portion.

Can an heir demand partition?

As a rule, a co-heir may seek partition after the estate is ready for distribution. Exceptions include a valid temporary prohibition in a will, unresolved debts or administration, and the Family Code rule protecting a family home for 10 years after death or for as long as a minor beneficiary remains, unless the court finds compelling reasons.

Can heirs settle the estate even if taxes are unpaid?

They may prepare or execute settlement documents, but registered property normally cannot be transferred without satisfying BIR requirements. Distribution should not defeat estate creditors or tax obligations.

Does paying real-property tax make one heir the owner?

No. Tax payments may support a claim for reimbursement or be relevant evidence, but they do not by themselves erase the ownership and inheritance rights of other heirs.

What law applies if the decedent or property is abroad?

For a Filipino decedent, Philippine law generally governs the order of succession, the amount of successional rights, and the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions regardless of where the property is located. Foreign probate, tax, land-registration, and conflict-of-laws procedures may still be necessary. If the decedent was a foreign national, the decedent’s national law may govern these intrinsic succession questions.

Official legal sources

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice or a computation for any particular estate. Succession outcomes depend on the complete family history, citizenship, property records, will, donations, debts, and dates involved. Laws and official procedures were checked through August 5, 2026.