Basic Concept of Succession oDevisees – persons to whom gifts of real property are given

by virtue of a will
Succession
o Legatees – person to whom gifts of personal property are
- Mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and given by virtue of a will
obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person 4) Acceptance
are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his o Express or tacit
will or by operation of law o Express Acceptance (public/private docs)
o Tacit acceptance – results from acts by which intention to
Elements of Succession
accept is necessarily implied.
1) Death of Decedent o An heir may accept or repudiate and inheritance
o Decedent – person whose property is transmitted through o Acceptance or repudiation is a purely voluntary act and free
succession, whether or not he left a will act
o Testator/Testatrix - if decedent left a will
Executors
Kinds of Succession
 Person appointed by testator to carry out the directions and
a) Testamentary or Testate – which result form the designation of an requests in his will, and to dispose of the property according to his
heir made in a will executed in the form prescribed by law testamentary provisions after his death
b) Legal or Intestate – effected by operation of law since the decedent
Administrator
did not execute a will
c) Mixed – effected partly by will and partly by operation of law  Person appointed by court to administer the assets and liabilities of
a decedent.
 Usually, a relative who comes forward and apply for the position.
2) Inheritance
Testamentary Succession
o includes all the property, rights and obligations of a person
which are not extinguished by his death Will
o includes not only the property and the transmissible rights
o Legal declaration made by a person before his death regarding how
and obligations existing at the time of death, but also those
he wants his property transferred after his death
which accrue thereto since the opening of the succession.
o Act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed
o A personal right (licensed to practice law) cannot eb
by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of his estate to
inherited
take effect after his death.
o Devise – real estate
o Making of a will – strictly personal act, cannot be left, in whole or in
o Legacy – personal property
part, to the discretion of a third person, or accomplished through
3) Successors
the instrumentality of an agent or attorney
o Heirs – person called to the succession either by the
provision of a will (voluntary) or by operation of law (legal
or interstate)
Codicil

o Instrument that amends the provision of a will Forms of Will

o Must be executed with the same formalities as will, but required to
o must be in writing and executed in a language/dialect known to the
have a provision amending a will
testator
Probate of a Will o must be subscribed at the end thereof by the testator himself or by
testator’s name written by some other person in his presence, and
o Court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid
by his express direction, attested and subscribed by 3 or more
o Involves collecting a decedent’s estate, liquidating liabilities, paying
credible witnesses in the presence of the testator and of one
necessary taxes and distributing property to heirs another
Capacity and Intent to make a will o must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and
the witnesses
o All persons not expressly prohibited by law may make a will. o Holographic Will – will written entirely by the testator with his own
o Persons of either sex under 18 years of age cannot make a will hand and not witnessed or attested.
although he/she may own property. He/she does not have the legal o May be made in or out of the Philippines
capacity to make contracts, hence, he/she cannot acquire and o In the probate of a holographic will, it is necessary that at least one
control property independently. witness who knows the handwriting and signature of the testator
o A testator must be of sound mind at the time of execution explicitly declare that the will and signature are in the handwriting
o If some signs an instrument and he does not know what the of the testator himself.
instrument said at the time of signing, the instrument is not a will o if the signature in the will is contested, at least three of such
o If one is forced to sign a will (against his will/under duress), the witnesses shall be required.
instrument is not a will
o A married woman may make a will w/o the consent of her husband Revocation of Wills and Testamentary Disposition
and w/o the authority of the court o a will may be revoked by the testator any time before his death
Capacity to Succeed by Will or by Intestacy Institution of Heir
o Persons not incapacitated by law may succeed o An act by virtue of which a testator designates in his will the person
o must be living at the moment the succession opens, except in case or persons who are to succeed him in his property and transmissible
of representation rights and obligations
o a child already conceived at the time of the death of the decedent is
capable of succeeding provided it be born later Legitime
o a testamentary disposition may be made to the state, province,
o part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because
municipal corporations, private corporations, org. or associations,
the law has reserved it for certain heirs who are, therefore, called
unless there is a provision to the contrary in their charter
compulsory heirs.
 o A will is valid even if it does not contain an institution of an heir or If there are 2 legitimate children, and the hereditary estate is
such institution should not comprise the entire estate, and even P’1.5M, ½ goes to the 2 children at P’375,000 each, P’375,000 to the
though the person so instituted should not accept the inheritance surviving spouse and P’375,000 is the free portion.
or should be incapacitated to succeed.
If there are 3 children, ½ goes to the 3 children at P’250,000 each,
Compulsory Heirs
the surviving spouse gets P’250,000 and P’500,000 is the free
1) Legitimate children and descendants with respect to their legitimate portion. The illegitimate child always gets ½ of the share of a
parents and ascendants legitimate child.
2) In default of the foregoing, legitimate parents and ascendants, with B) The legitime of legitimate parents/ascendants consist of ½ of the
respect to their legitimate children and descendants hereditary estate of their children. This assumes that there are no
3) Widow or widower legitimate children, surviving spouse and illegitimate children. Free
4) Acknowledged natural children, and natural children by legal fiction portion is the other ½.
5) Other Legitimate children C) The legitime of legitimate parents/ascendants consist of ½ of the
hereditary estate of their children. ¼ will go to the surviving spouse
Illustration: and ¼ is the free portion. This assumes that there are no
Legitimate Legitimate Surviving Illegitimate Free legitimate/illegitimate children.
Children/ Parents/ Spouse Children/Descendant Portion D) If the only survivor is the spouse, she/he shall be entitled to ½ of the
Descendant Ascendants s hereditary estate. If there are illegitimate children, the surviving
s spouse is entitled to 1/3, the illegitimate children to another 1/3
½ Excluded Sames as ½ of legitimate child Varies and the remaining 1/3 is the free portion.
legitimate
child Disinheritance
None surv ½ Non surv None surv ½ o Can be effected only through a will wherein the legal cause shall be
None surv ½ ¼ Non surv ¼ specified.
None surv None surv ½ Non surv ½
None surv Non surv 1/3 1/3 1/3 Causes of Disinheritance (Children and Descendants)
Explanation:
1) When a child or descendant has been found guilty of an attempt
A) The legitime of legitimate children/descendants consists of ½ of the against the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants or
hereditary estate of the father and of the mother. Legitimate ascendants
parents are excluded. Should there be only 1 legitimate 2) When a child or descendant has accused the testator of a crime for
child/descendant, ½ of the hereditary estate goes to the child, ¼ to which the law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the
the surviving spouse and the other ¼ is the free portion. Thus, if the accusation has been found groundless
hereditary estate is P’1.5M, P’750,000 goes to the child, P’375,000 3) When a child or descendant has been convicted of adultery or
to the surviving spouse and P’375,000 is the free portion concubinage with the spouse of the testator
4) When a child or descendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or
undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one
already made.
 5) A refusal w/o justifiable cause to support the parent or ascendant Legal Succession takes place:
who disinherits such child or descendant
1) If a person dies w/o a will, or with a void will, or one which has
6) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed, by the child or
subsequently lost its validity
descendant
2) When the will does not institute an heir to, or dispose of all the
7) When a child or descendant leads a dishonorable or disgraceful life
property belonging to the testator
8) Conviction of a crime which carries with it the penalty of civil
3) If the suspensive condition attached to the institution of heir does
interdiction
not happen or is not fulfilled, or if the heir dies before the testator,
Cause of Disinheritance (Spouse) or repudiates the inheritance, there being no substitution, and no
right of accretion takes place.
1) When the spouse has been convicted of an attempt against the life
4) When the heir instituted is incapable of succeeding, except in cases
of the testator, his/her descendants or ascendants
provided in the Civil Code
2) When the spouse has accused the testator of a crime for which the
law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, and the Consanguinity
accusation has been found to be false.
o Relation of persons descending from the same stock or common
3) When the spouse by fraud, violence, intimidation or undue
ancestor
influence causes the testator to make a will or change one already
o Blood Relatives
made
4) When the spouse has given cause for legal separation. o Lineal Consanguinity
5) When the spouse has given grounds for the loss of parental  Ascending or descending
authority.  Which subsists between persons of whom one is
6) Unjustifiable refusal to support the children or the other spouse descended in a direct line from the other as
between son, father, grandfather, great grandfather
Legal or Interstate Succession and so upwards in the direct ascending line or
(between son, grandson, great grandson, and so
Intestacy (Status)
downwards) in the direct descending line
o If a person dies w/o leaving a will, the person is said to have died o Collateral Consanguinity
intestate  that which subsists between persons who have the
o government provides a default estate plan same ancestors, but do not descend (or ascend) one
o In default of testamentary heirs, the law vests the inheritance in from the other.
accordance with the rules hereinafter set forth, in the legitimate  Example: Uncle andAB nephew
and illegitimate relatives of the deceased, in the surviving spouse
Affinity CE DF
and in the State.
o In every inheritance, the relative nearest in degree excludes the o Connection existing on consequence of a marriage between each of
GK H I JL
more distant ones, saving the right of representation when it the married spouse and the kindred of the other.
properly takes place. Proximity of relationship is determined by the M N
number of generations. Each generation forms a degree.
 o if a widow/widower survives with illegitimate children,
such widow/widower shall be entitled to ½ of the
inheritance and the illegitimate children to the other half
4) Surviving Spouse
o in the absence of legitimate descendants, ascendants and
Right of Representation illegitimate children, the surviving spouse shall inherit the
entire estate.
Representation
o should brothers and sisters or their children survive with
o right created by fiction of law, by virtue of which the representative the widow/widower, the latter shall be entitled to ½ of the
is raised to the place and degree of the person represented and inheritance and the brothers and sisters or their children
acquires the rights which the latter would have if he were living or if to the other half
he could have inherited 5) Collateral Relatives
o takes place only in the direct descending line and never in the o should the only survivors be brothers and sisters of full
ascending blood, they shall inherit in equal shares.
o if there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate
Order of intestate succession children or a surviving spouse the collateral relatives shall
1) Descending Direct Line (legitimate children/descendants) succeed to the entire estate of the deceased
o when legitimate children/descendants are left alone, the 6) The State
entire estate is to be divided among them in equal shares o in default of persons entitled to succeed in accordance with
o when only one legitimate child and spouse survive, each is law, the state shall inherit the whole estate
entitled to ½ of the estate
o when two legitimate children with the spouse survive, each
is entitled to 1/3 of the estate
2) Ascending Direct Line
o when only the legitimate parents survive, the father and
mother, if living, shall inherit in equal shares.
o Should only one of them survive, he/she shall succeed the
entire estate of the child
3) Illegitimate Children
o if legitimate ascendants, the surviving spouse and
illegitimate children are left, the ascendants shall be
entitled to ½ of the inheritance and the other half shall be
divided between the surviving spouse and the illegitimate
children