Who Inherits Property If Both Spouses Die Without Children?

A comprehensive guide under Philippine law

1. Why this scenario matters

Although Philippine succession law often focuses on parents passing their estates to children, many couples remain child-free, or their children pre-decease them. Understanding who inherits the family assets when both husband and wife die intestate (without a will) and childless is therefore crucial for families, advisers, and courts.

2. Governing statutes & core concepts

Key Law	What it covers	Articles to review
Civil Code of the Philippines (Book III, Title IV: Succession)	Intestate order of heirs, legitimes, commorientes, collation, escheat	Arts. 960-1101
Family Code	Property regimes (Absolute Community, Conjugal Partnership, Separation), marriage void/annulled effects	Arts. 74-147
Tax Reform for Acceleration & Inclusion (TRAIN) Law	Flat 6 % estate-tax rate, donor’s-tax reforms, filing deadlines	Sec. 84 (NIRC, as amended)

Intestacy vs. testacy Everything below applies only when neither spouse leaves a valid will. Once a will exists, testamentary dispositions override, subject to legitime rules.

3. Step 1 – Identify the couple’s property regime

Absolute Community of Property (ACP) – default for marriages after 3 Aug 1988.
Conjugal Partnership of Gains (CPG) – default for marriages before 3 Aug 1988 unless spouses adopted the ACP retroactively.
Separation of Property – requires a pre-nup or judicial separation.

The regime matters because you must liquidate the community or partnership first, then treat each spouse’s resulting share as a separate estate.

4. Step 2 – Liquidate and partition the common fund

Regime	Preliminary actions when both spouses are dead
ACP	(a) Pay community debts; (b) deliver each spouse’s paraphernal/exclusive property; (c) everything left is split 50-50 between the two estates.
CPG	(a) Return each spouse’s capital; (b) pay conjugal debts and charges; (c) divide the net gains equally.
Separation	No liquidation needed; each spouse’s individual assets are already distinct.

Rule on commorientes (Art. 43) If the spouses die in the same calamity and it cannot be proven who died first, the law deems them to have died simultaneously. The liquidation above still applies, but the share of each is immediately transmitted to their respective intestate heirs as though each had outlived the other.

5. Step 3 – Apply the intestate order of succession to each estate

The absence of descendants triggers the following hierarchy (Arts. 960, 972-1016):

Priority	Entitled Intestate Heirs	Share (per estate)
1	Legitimate parents or legitimate ascendants in the nearer degree (e.g., surviving mother, father, or grandparents)	Entire estate divided equally among them (Art. 995).
2	Illegitimate parents (if no legitimate ascendant survives)	Entire estate (Art. 998).
3	Surviving brothers and sisters of full blood, with representation in favor of nephews/nieces of a pre-deceased sibling	Whole estate, divided per stirpes; full-blood take double the share of half-blood (Art. 1006).
4	Other collateral relatives within the 5th civil degree (uncles/aunts, cousins)	Entire estate, by proximity (Art. 1009).
5	The State (escheat)	When no relatives within the 5th degree exist (Art. 1011).

No surviving spouse? Because both spouses are dead, there is no surviving spouse to inherit. Each estate is processed separately using the table above.

6. Worked examples

Parents alive on both sides Facts: Husband and wife under ACP perish in a plane crash; both sets of parents survive. Process:
- Liquidate ACP → split community into Husband ½ and Wife ½.
- Husband’s ½: taken entirely by his father & mother (½ each).
- Wife’s ½: taken entirely by her father & mother.
Only collateral relatives remain Facts: Couple under separation of property, no ascendants, but each left two full-blood siblings and one half-blood sibling. Sharing per estate:
- Each full-blood sibling gets 2 units.
- Half-blood sibling gets 1 unit.
- Total units = 2 + 2 + 1 = 5.
- Divide the net estate into 5 equal parts.
Simultaneous death & nephews/nieces Facts: Husband’s parents already dead; he has one deceased brother survived by three children. Wife’s parents alive. Outcome:
- Wife’s ½: goes to her parents.
- Husband’s ½: Brother’s children inherit by representation, dividing the whole ½ estate equally (⅙ each).

7. Do illegitimate relatives compete with legitimate ones?

Legitimate ascendants wholly exclude illegitimate parents (Art. 998).
When only collateral lines remain, legitimate collaterals exclude illegitimate collaterals.
Illegitimate relatives never inherit together with legitimate ones in the same degree except for descendants.

8. Procedural roadmap

Secure death certificates – establish date, time, and simultaneity (for Art. 43 application).
Publish notice of death (Rule 74, ROC) before any extrajudicial settlement.
Inventory & appraisal of assets and debts.
Liquidate property regime (File a petition if judicial liquidation is necessary).
Draft & register Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement (if heirs are of age and agree).
Pay estate tax – within one year from the latest decedent’s death; 6 % on net estate, with P5 million standard deduction + family home & other deductions.
Transfer certificates of title / shares – Bureau of Internal Revenue eCAR → Registry of Deeds/SEC/LTFRB, etc.

9. Frequently-litigated corners

Issue	Practical tip
Unclear death order	Gather eyewitness accounts, autopsy findings; otherwise Art. 43 default applies.
Hidden or foreign assets	Locate via bank inquiries (RA 1405 exceptions), estate information requests, cross-border probate.
Disputed legitimacy	DNA testing admissible (Rules on DNA Evidence, A.M. No. 06-11-5-SC).
Creditors of the spouses	File claims during probate; community/liquidation assets answer before distribution.

10. Planning pointers

Make a mutual will – intestacy rarely reflects spouses’ joint wishes, especially on charitable bequests.
Adopt insurance & survivorship clauses – life insurance proceeds with named beneficiaries bypass estate distribution.
Consider an irrevocable trust – shields assets from escheat when families are small.
Keep titles updated – mismatched names and marital status slow probate.

Conclusion

When a Filipino couple die childless and intestate, the estate settlement hinges on (a) the marital property regime, (b) liquidation of that regime, and (c) the Civil Code’s intestate ladder—ascendants first, then collaterals, and ultimately the State. The absence of a surviving spouse simplifies some computations but heightens the importance of meticulous liquidation and timely estate-tax compliance. Robust estate planning can prevent both uncertainty and family conflict in this delicate scenario.

(This article reflects statutes and jurisprudence up to August 2 2025. Always consult a lawyer for case-specific advice.)