Q. Dear Atty Rogelio Wong, I read the above Q&A on Balita Canada and it was a very timely topic for me and my siblings.
We have a situation where 6 siblings inherited beachfront agricultural land in Ilocos. Five of the six siblings reside in the U.S.
Our brother in the Philippines received a decent offer from a distant relative to purchase the land, which title is not yet transferred to our names.
All but one sibling has consented to sell the property. The sibling that wants to keep the land will have to do exactly what you described in your response to Louie regarding the Muntinlupa property, as explained in your previous column.
The rest of the siblings are unfamiliar with subdividing land and are afraid that the process will take years and could cause our prospective buyer to withdraw his offer to purchase the land which he intends to use for farming.
Are we too paranoid about potential complexities and/or issues that could arise in carving out a sixth portion of the land and excluding it that from the sale?
What type of delays can you envision given our very bureaucratic system in the Philippines? W really appreciate your expert advice on this matter. Thank you, Patricia L.
Ans: Hello Patricia, for as long as all the siblings(heirs) agree as regards the distribution and partition of the inherited property that you mentioned, there is really nothing to be concerned about that could pose a problem in the disposition of the property in question.
The complexities and potential problems (bureaucratic maze and legwork) that are incidentals in the tasks on hand can be avoided to great extent by engaging competent professionals in the disposition of real properties.
Mostly of the problems and complications that are encountered in matters of land disposition are attributable to the absence or inadequate professional guidance.
To address your concerns, it is best that you let the professionals handle the tasks for you. Primarily in the matters of legal leg works and documentation .For as long as all the necessary papers, documents and the formalities are complied with, the concerns of bureaucratic maze and the anticipated delay, could be substantially avoided, and the normal course of bureaucratic processing time could be reasonably expected.
The dreaded delay or complexities could be engendered where the heirs could not agree in the manner of distribution and partition of the properties. More often, such disagreement results in litigation and lengthy court proceedings.
However, this is not the situation of your case, as all of you (6 siblings) have agreed in the manner and means of disposing the inherited property. Five of the siblings in the US agreed to sell the property and the other sibling in the Philippines, agreed to keep his share of the property.
For the said purpose, all the siblings should agree to the extent of their respective shares, by way of project of partition/subdivision, to segregate from the whole undivided property, which portion thereof belongs to whom. From this project of partition, the portion belonging to the siblings who does not want to sell shall be segregated from the whole property, as a separate lot with its corresponding technical description and area of the property.
The project of partition shall be prepared by a licensed land surveyor or Geodetic engineer who also will be responsible to secure the approval of the subdivision plan of the lot together with its technical descriptions and the corresponding area of the subdivided lots.
Considering that the inherited property is still under the name of your deceased parents, it is apparent that their estates have not yet been liquidated and settled.
Hence there is a need therefore for all the heirs to execute an Extrajudicial Settlement of the Estate with project of partition, and to comply with all the formalities thereof, including the payment of the corresponding estate tax (interest and penalties for the delay in the settlement of the estate) and such other fees to the appropriate government authorities, incident to the transfer or disposition of the said properties. This is a crucial task and should be handled by competent and trusted professionals in the community.
Looking forward you’ll find the above in order as we welcome you for being part of the Batas Pinoy Global Community.
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