1.
Grounds for Disinheritance
A. Grounds for Disinheriting Children and Descendants (Art. 919)
1. Serious physical or verbal maltreatment against the parent.
2. Attempt to kill the parent (whether principal or accomplice).
3. Accusation against the parent of a crime punishable by more than six years, if the
accusation is false.
4. Refusal to support the parent when able.
5. Corrupting or attempting to corrupt the parent’s children (grandchildren)
6. Leading a dishonorable or immoral life.
7. Conviction of a crime carrying civil interdiction.
B. Grounds for Disinheriting Parents or Ascendants (Art. 920)
1. Attempt to kill the descendant, his/her spouse, or children.
2. Accusation of a crime punishable by more than six years, if false.
3. Use of violence or serious insults toward the descendant or his/her family.
4. Living a dishonorable or immoral life.
5. Abandonment or refusal to support the descendant without just cause.
C. Grounds for Disinheriting the Spouse (Art. 921)
1. Adultery or concubinage.
2. Attempt to kill the other spouse.
3. False accusation of a crime punishable by more than six years.
4. Serious insults or maltreatment.
5. Refusal to support the other spouse.
6. Leading a dishonorable or immoral life.
Note:
Disinheritance must be express and for a legal cause, stated clearly in the testament
(will).
The heir has the right to contest the disinheritance by proving the falsity of the cause.
2. Order of Instestate Succession
1. Legitimate Children and Descendants (Art. 979-980)
They inherit first and exclude all others, except the surviving spouse.
Descendants (e.g., grandchildren) inherit by right of representation if the child
predeceases the decedent.
2. Legitimate Parents and Ascendants (Art. 982-983)
If the decedent leaves no legitimate children, the father and mother (or other
ascendants) inherit.
Nearest ascendants exclude more remote ones.
3. Illegitimate Children (Art. 982)
If there are no legitimate children or ascendants, illegitimate children inherit.
They share the estate equally but their shares may be affected if there are legitimate heirs
(in which case, rules on legitimes apply).
4. Surviving Spouse (Art. 994)
The spouse always inherits, but the share depends on who else survives:
o With legitimate children: gets the same share as each child.
o With legitimate ascendants: gets one-fourth.
o Alone with illegitimate children: gets half.
o Alone: gets the entire estate.
5. Brothers and Sisters, Nephews and Nieces (Art. 1003)
If there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or spouse, the collateral
relatives inherit.
Full-blood siblings have preference over half-blood siblings.
Nephews/nieces inherit by representation of their deceased parent.
6. Other Collateral Relatives up to the Fifth Degree (Art. 1004)
If there are no closer relatives, collateral relatives like cousins, uncles, aunts may inherit
up to the fifth degree.
Beyond the fifth degree, they are excluded.
7. The State (Escheat) (Art. 1011)
If no heirs exist, the estate escheats to the State.
It is used for public schools, charities, and hospitals in the area of the decedent’s last
residence.
3. Legitime and Intestate Succession
Legitime
Under the Civil Code of the Philippines, particularly Articles 886 to 887, legitime refers to the
portion of the testator’s estate that is reserved by law for compulsory heirs and cannot be
impaired by will. It is a fixed part of the inheritance that must be given to these heirs,
regardless of the testator’s wishes.
Compulsory heirs include:
1. Legitimate children and descendants
2. Legitimate parents and ascendants (if no children)
3. Surviving spouse
4. Illegitimate children
5. In some cases, adopted children
The legitime ensures that these heirs receive their legal share, and any testamentary dispositions
that reduce or disregard it are null with respect to the impaired portion.
1. Legitimate Children and Descendants
Legitime: ½ of the estate, to be divided equally among them.
The remaining ½ is the free portion, which may be disposed of by will (but still subject
to rights of other compulsory heirs like the spouse and illegitimate children).
2. Legitimate Parents or Ascendants (if no children)
Legitime: ½ of the estate, divided equally between them.
The other ½ is the free portion.
3. Surviving Spouse
Legitime varies depending on who survives with the spouse:
With one legitimate child: Same share as the child (i.e., ½ of ½ = ¼).
With two or more legitimate children: Share equal to one legitimate child (also taken
from the legitime portion).
With legitimate parents/ascendants: ¼ of the estate.
With illegitimate children: ½ of the estate, divided equally with them.
Alone (no other heirs): ½ of the estate as legitime.
4. Illegitimate Children
Legitime: ½ of the share of a legitimate child.
The total legitime of all illegitimate children is deducted from the free portion.
If there are no legitimate children or parents, they get ½ of the estate (shared with the
spouse, if any).
5. Adopted Children
Treated the same as legitimate children, as per jurisprudence (e.g., Republic v. Court of
Appeals, G.R. No. 92326).
4. Revocation of Wills
Under the Civil Code of the Philippines, particularly Articles 830 to 832, revocation of wills
refers to the act of the testator cancelling or invalidating his will, either in whole or in part, at
any time before death, provided that the testator still has the capacity to make a will.
Modes of Revocation (Art. 830)
1. By Implication of Law
o Occurs when subsequent events or legal changes render the will ineffective,
such as preterition of a compulsory heir, or a marriage or birth of a child after
the will is made.
2. By a Subsequent Will, Codicil, or Other Writing
o A new will or codicil expressly revoking the previous one, or containing
provisions inconsistent with the former, revokes the prior will in whole or in
part.
3. By Physical Acts (Burning, Tearing, Cancelling, or Obliterating)
o The testator must personally destroy the will, or it must be done at his express
direction and in his presence, with intent to revoke.
Important Rules:
Revocation must be intentional.
If the revoking will is void, the earlier will is not revived unless the testator expressly
so provides (Art. 831).
A will revoked by a later will is not revived merely because the second will is void or is
revoked, unless the first will is republished.
5. Doctrine of Dependent Relative Revocation
the Doctrine of Dependent Relative Revocation is a legal principle that treats the
revocation of a will as invalid if it was done based on a mistaken belief that a
new will or disposition would be effective, but that new disposition turns out to be
invalid.
6. Prepetition
preterition refers to the total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line
(either a legitimate child or legitimate parent/ascendant) from the testator’s will,
whether intentional or not, without disinheritance.