Q. Our Dad passed away without leaving a will and testament. He’s a U.S citizen and so are all his heirs. Our parents have ten real properties left in the Philippines. I understand following the 50/50 division of conjugal properties between a husband and wife, that our mother as a surviving spouse is entitled to half of their conjugal properties. And the remaining half shall be divided into the number of heirs plus one share more for the surviving spouse.
My questions are:
1. Can my mother choose the prime property and leave the less entire valuable to her kids?
2. I refused to sign the extrajudicial settlement because I don’t agree with the division of properties. What form will I need to file to stop them from faking my signature?
3. Can my mother sell any property that she wants without my signature because she owns the 50% of these properties?
Ans:
The answers to your queries are premised that your father at the time of death was a US citizen and resident of the USA.
As a general rule, when it comes to the laws on real property situated in the Philippines, the laws of the Philippines shall be applicable as regards to the extrinsic and intrinsic validity of land disposition or alienation, transfers, mortgages, capacity of the parties, interpretation of documents, effect of ownerships, co-ownership, accession, usufruct, lease, easement, eminent domain, taxation, registration, quieting of title and prescription, among others.
However, there are EXCEPTIONS to the above. Under the doctrine of “lex rei sitae” of Art. 16, par. 1, of the Civil Code of the Philippines, matters governing real estate in the Philippines, concerning:
a) Succession rights to real property shall be governed by the national law of the deceased. (Art. 16, par. 2, Civil Code of the Philippines).
b) Capacity to succeed (in inheritance problems) is also governed by the national law of the deceased. (Art.1039-Civil Code of the Philippines).
The above exceptions are more fitting, as the deceased left no WILL at the time of his death and not citizen and resident of the Philippines.
Thus, the issue of partition and disposition of the estate of your deceased father assuming that at the time of death he was a US citizen and resident of the USA, should be governed by US laws.
Ordinarily, if the deceased was a Filipino citizen at the time of death, and in relations to your queries # 1 to 3, the estate of the deceased will be settled either by:
1) Extra judicially. Where the heirs are of legal age, the deceased left no will and has no debt and all the heirs agree on the manner of the disposition and sharing of the estate., the heirs will just execute a document, referred to as the Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate, before a notary public and comply with the formalities thereof and the pay the required estate tax and other fees prescribed by law. It is in this situation where the issues you raised in question #1 are considered by all the heirs. Otherwise, the heirs could not agree or refused to compromise, their only option is to go court and litigate amongst themselves who gets what.
2) Judicially. If the heirs could not agree amongst themselves how the estate is to be partitioned based on the formula mentioned above and/or an heir is still a minor, or the deceased left a debt , then the court will have to decide on the matter of disposition of the estate and its partition .
Whether the estate is under Extrajudicial or through Judicial Settlement, under the Philippine law on succession, the surviving spouse gets 50% from these properties as her conjugal share to the exclusion of other heirs.
The remaining 50% shall constitute the estate of the deceased which will be divided by the heirs including the surviving spouse who have the same share as that of each legitimate child. An illegitimate child gets ¼ shares as his/her inheritance or the equivalent of ½ of the share of the legitimate child. Following the above principles the Court will then decide to partition and dispose the estate, assuming that the heirs cannot agree in the manner of partition. A case in point is your mother is choosing the best part of the properties and left the less valuable to the children.
As to the issue in question #3, whether your nanay or her conjugal share of fifty percent (50%) of the property could be disposed of by her, even without the consent of all the heirs. The answer is YES but only to the extent of her interest in the conjugal share. Of course, the process of the disposition of the estate and its division, would still be subject to the processes (extra judicially or judicially) as prescribed by law, and as explained above.
The settlement of the estate will be more convenient and less expensive, where all the heirs agree amongst themselves the division and sharing of the estate amongst themselves. Otherwise, the bitter route and consequence shall be the Judicial Settlement of the estate.
Lastly, to protect yourself from possible fraud or your concern that your signature might be forged , it is suggested that you confer with your lawyer in your community , as well as with a Filipino lawyer in the Philippines , to put a lien over these properties and to trace out and reconcile the positions of your co- heirs as regards the disposition of the estate of your deceased father vis-à-vis the laws of the Philippines and the USA . Thank you for writing and good luck.