Q. My father had a property in Philippines and passed away many years ago without leaving a will. The property (house and lot) is still under his name. I am one of two surviving legitimate children (call us A and B). Before my father married my mother, my mother had four children with a previous marriage (she was a widow then). My father therefore had four step-children with my own mother, two of whom are surviving (call them C and D). They do not carry my father’s surname.
When my mother died, my father had a common law wife, still alive (call her E), with whom he had two surviving children (call them F and G). One of the surviving step children (C) has been living in the property even since my father died and C has been paying the property taxes. The property title remains under my father’s name. All the other surviving children have their own residences.
C is now old and sickly. The other surviving step-child (D) has expressed interest to inherit the property when C eventually passes away, God forbid. Question: 1) What are the inheritance rights of all the surviving children legitimate, illegitimate and step-children? 2) what is the inheritance right of the surviving common-law wife (E)? Thank you for your help. Dionee
A. Thanks for writing. Answering your queries requires more specific information which unfortunately your letter did not provide. Foremost of which is the citizenship and legal residence of your father at the time of death.
It is not also clear, when or at what stage of your father’s life, did he acquire the house and lot which is now the subject of your concern. Was the house and lot acquired during the first or second marriage?
Under Philippine law, the citizenship and residence of decedent determines the manner in which his estate is to be divided or partition amongst the surviving heirs. ( Art.1039 Civil Code of the Philippines).
For purposes of discussion, it is assumed by this corner that your father was a Filipino citizen at the time of his death. And that this house and lot under his name was acquired by him prior to his marriage with your mother. It is also assumed that the second marriage of your mother was legal for all intents and purposes.
Answers to your questions:
1) Inheritance of all surviving heirs.
a) You and your sibling (A & B) inherit from both the estate of your father and mother.
b) The 4 step-children of your father and who are the children of your mother by her first marriage, inherits from the estate of their mother only.
c) The common-law wife(E) gets nothing from the estate of your father. However, the two(2) illegitimate children (F&G), will receive the equivalent of one half (1/2) of the share of the legitimate children, from the estate of the deceased. Meaning that if the share of the legitimate child is $50.00, the share of the illegitimate is $25.00 or one fourth (1/4) of the estate. ( Art.176 Family Code of the Philippines, as amended).
d) Based on our premise, that the house and lot in question did not form part of the conjugal property by the second marriage of your mother , C and D(step-children) have no right to inherit from the estate of your father. Although C has the right to ask for reimbursement for the taxes paid on the property by him or her. Payment of tax(es) did not give C a right to inherit from the estate of your father. However, if your father was only married to your mother, and there was no previous marriage that existed, then it could be said that this property in the second marriage, can be considered as conjugal. In this case, your step siblings, inherits only from the estate of your mother.
Under the law, upon the death of a spouse, the conjugal property is deemed liquidated. Fifty(50%) thereof, will go to the surviving spouse, as his/her share of the conjugal property. The remaining 50% will be constituted as the estate of the deceased, which in turn will be shared and divided amongst the surviving heirs, in accordance with the laws of the country of the decedent.
Should you have anything further , you and all other readers are welcome touch base with this corner at your convenience.