Your parent died without a will. Now what?
In Filipino soap operas, that is when the drama starts—siblings fighting, relationships deteriorating, family members cutting ties, threats, and emotional distress. Under the law, however, it doesn’t have to be that dramatic. When a person dies without a will, it doesn’t automatically mean that their estate is free for anyone claiming to be an heir. Instead, the law determines who inherits through a process known as intestate succession.
Intestate succession occurs when a person dies without a valid last will and testament. In such cases, the Civil Code determines who inherits the estate and in what proportions. The law generally favors those who are closest to the decedent by blood or marriage. As famously explained by legal scholars, love or affection descends, then ascends, and finally spreads.
Who Succeeds When There’s No Will?
The Civil Code sets out the rules for inheritance when a person dies without a will. Generally, legitimate descendants exclude legitimate ascendants and collateral relatives from intestate succession. If there are no legitimate descendants, the legitimate ascendants may inherit. In the absence of both legitimate descendants and legitimate ascendants, collateral relatives may succeed. The surviving spouse, however, is not simply next in line after blood relatives. Depending on the circumstances, the surviving spouse may inherit together with legitimate descendants, legitimate ascendants, or illegitimate children, or may inherit alone. If there are no heirs qualified by law, the estate ultimately escheats to the State.
So what does this mean? To illustrate, consider this example: when a parent dies without a will, leaving legitimate children, the children generally inherit the estate together with the surviving spouse, if there is one. In this situation, the legitimate parents and collateral relatives, such as siblings, are excluded from inheriting.
On the other hand, if the decedent leaves no legitimate children but is survived by the legitimate parents, the parents may inherit together with the surviving spouse, if any. In this instance, collateral relatives are excluded from the inheritance.
If the decedent leaves neither legitimate descendants nor legitimate ascendants, collateral relatives may inherit in accordance with the Civil Code. This includes the decedent’s brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces. However, not every collateral relative is entitled to inherit. Article 962 of the Civil Code provides that the relative nearest in degree excludes the more distant ones. Thus, if the decedent is survived by brothers or sisters, more distant collateral relatives are generally excluded.
As a general rule, relatives of the same degree inherit in equal shares. However, when full-blood and half-blood brothers and sisters inherit together, the Civil Code provides that a full-blood sibling receives a share twice that of a half-blood sibling.
Do Illegitimate Children Have Successional Rights?
One of the most frequently asked questions about succession is whether illegitimate children have successional rights. This issue commonly arises when the decedent leaves behind a child born outside of marriage. Some people mistakenly believe that an illegitimate child must be included in the last will of the decedent to be recognized as an heir; otherwise, they receive nothing. That is not the law.
In the case of Ilano v. Court of Appeals, it was discussed that illegitimate children are entitled to successional rights granted in the Civil Code. The Court specifically stated:
The Civil Code has given these rights to them because the transgressions of social conventions committed by the parents should not be visited upon them. They were born with a social handicap and the law should help them to surmount the disadvantages facing them through the misdeeds of their parents.
However, how much they would receive would depend on the circumstances of the case. Regardless, Succession Law can be one of the most complicated aspects of Civil Law. The general rules oftentimes do not apply because of the complex nature of Filipino families. To know your successional rights and how much you will inherit in case there is no will, it is best to consult a lawyer.