LEGITIME

PROF. RANIL M. REYNANTE

A.B., M.A., LlB., M.M.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Art. 886. Legitime is that part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law
has reserved it for certain heirs who are, therefore, called compulsory heirs.

 Although the system of legitimes limits the testator’s right to dispose of property mortis
causa, the limitation upon acts inter vivos is confined to dispositions by lucrative or
gratuitous title.
 (Following the above) when the disposition is for valuable consideration, there is no
diminution of the estate, but merely a substitution of values.
 The legitime does not consist in determinate or specific property which the testator
must reserve for his compulsory heirs. It consists of a part or fraction of the entire mass
of the hereditary estate.
>> The standard or measure for its determination is fixed by the law, but the quantity
may vary according to the number and relation of the heirs to the testator.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Art. 887. The following are compulsory heirs:
(1) Legitimate children and descendants, with respect to their legitimate parents and ascendants;
(2) In default of the following, legitimate parents and ascendants, with respect to their
legitimate children and descendants;
(3) The widow or widower;
(4) Acknowledged natural children, and natural children by legal fiction;
(5) Other illegitimate children referred to in Article 287
[Art. 287. (NCC) Illegitimate children other than natural in accordance with article
269 and other than natural children by legal fiction are entitled to support
and such successional rights as are granted in this Code.
Art. 269. (NCC) Only natural children can be legitimated. Children born outside
wedlock of parents who, at the time of the conception of the former,
were not disqualified by any impediment to marry each other, are natural.]
Compulsory heirs mentioned in Nos. 3, 4, and 5 are not excluded by those in Nos. 1 and 2;
neither do they exclude one another.
In all cases of illegitimate children, their filiation must be duly proved.
The father or mother of illegitimate children of the three classes mentioned, shall inherit
from them in the manner and to the extent established by this Code.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Notes to Art. 887.
 In succession, there are three (3) kinds of heirs, namely:
(a) Voluntary Heirs who become such only by the express will of the testator; thus, they can
only be present in testamentary succession.
(b) Legal or Intestate Heirs who are called by the Law to the succession in the absence of voluntary
heirs designated by the testator; thus, they are present only in intestate succession.
(c) Compulsory Heirs, for whom the legitime is reserved by the law, and who succeed whether the
testator likes it or not, for they cannot be deprived by the testator of their participation in the
inheritance except by disinheritance properly effected.
[Art. 915. A compulsory heir may, in consequence of disinheritance, be deprived of his legitime,
for causes expressly stated by law.
Art. 916. Disinheritance can be effected only through a will wherein the legal cause therefor
shall be specified.
Art. 919. The following shall be sufficient causes for the disinheritance of children and descen-
dants, legitimate as well as illegitimate:
(1) When a child or descendant has been found guilty of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or
her spouse, descendants, or ascendants;
(2) When a child or descendant has accused the testator of a crime for which the law prescribes imprisonment
for six years or more, if the accusation has been found groundless;
(3) When a child or descendant has been convicted of adultery or 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 without justifiable cause to support the parent or ascendant who disinherits such child or
descendant;
(6) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed, by the child or descendant;
(7) When a child or descendant leads a dishonorable or disgraceful life:
(8) Conviction of a crime which carries with it the penalty of civil interdiction
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 920. The following shall be sufficient causes for the disinheritance of parents or ascendants,
whether legitimate or illegitimate:

(1) When the parents have abandoned their children or induced their daughters to live a
corrupt or immoral life, or attempted against their virtue;
(2) When the parent or ascendant has been convicted of an attempt against the life of the
testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or ascendants;
(3) When the parent or ascendant has accused the testator of a crime for which the law
prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the accusation has been found to be false;
(4) When the parent or ascendant has been convicted of adultery or concubinage with the
spouse of the testator;
(5) When the parent or ascendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes
the testator to make a will or to change one already made;
(6) The loss of parental authority for causes specified in this Code;
(7) The refusal to support the children or descendants without justifiable cause;
(8) An attempt by one of the parents against the life of the other, unless there has been a
reconciliation between them. (756, 854, 674a)
 Section 5
LEGITIME

 Both the compulsory and the intestate heirs are called to the succession by operation of law.
 In the case of intestate heir, he/she succeeds only when the decedent has not disposed of his property
by will.
 On the other hand, in the case of a compulsory heir, he/she succeeds to his/her legitime even when
the testator has so disposed of his property by will. The presence of a compulsory heir is
consistent with testamentary succession.
 There are three (3) classes of Compulsory Heirs, namely:
>> Primary heirs – those who have precedence over and exclude other compulsory heirs.
e.g., legitimate children and descendants
>> Secondary heirs – those who succeed only in the absence of the primary heirs.
e.g., legitimate parents and ascendants
>> Concurring heirs – those who succeed together with the primary and secondary compulsory
heirs. e.g., acknowledged natural children, illegitimate children, and the
surviving spouse
 Illegitimate Parents of natural and illegitimate children are compulsory heirs of the latter only in
the cases and to the extent provided for by Article 903.

[Art. 903. The legitime of the parents who have an illegitimate child, when such child leaves neither legitimate descendants, nor a
surviving spouse, nor illegitimate children, is ½ of the hereditary estate of such illegitimate child. If only legitimate or
illegitimate children are left, the parents are not entitled to any legitime whatsoever. If only the widow or widower
survives with parents of the illegitimate child, the legitime of the parents is ¼ of the hereditary estate of the child,
that of the suriving spouse also ¼ of the estate.]
 Section 5
LEGITIME
 Surviving Spouse (SS) – There should have been a valid marriage between the deceased and the
survivor.
>> If marriage is null and void ab initio, e.g., bigamous, incestuous, or void (Arts. 80, 81, 82),
then the survivor is not a surviving spouse; hence, not entitled to a legitime.
>> But, in a case of bigamous marriages - - - where the two wives contract marriage in good
faith, both widows are entitled to inherit from the deceased. They share equally in the portion
which is the legitime of the surviving spouse. (cf. “akin to per estirpes” in intestacy)
 General Observations. – (3 Tolentino 269, et seq.)
>> When a compulsory heir or compulsory heirs of the same kind survive alone, without the concurrence of other
kinds of compulsory heirs, the legitime is always ½ of the estate, except that of the surviving spouse (which is 1/3
of the estate) when the deceased spouse dies within three months after a marriage in articulo mortis.
>> The legitimes of children are graduated according to their status; thus, the natural child gets less than the legitimate
child while the other legitmate children get still less than the natural children.
>> Not only is the legitime of the legitimate children bigger in amount than that of other kinds of children, but it is also
preferred in character; the legitimes of the natural and other illegitimate children are subject to reduction in certain
cases, but that of the legitimate child is never reduced.
>> There is no absolutely fixed criterion for the legitime of the SS. When concurring with legitimate children, she is placed
at par with them; but when concurring with illegitimate children or illegitimate parents alone, she is also placed at par with
them.
However, when she concurs with legitmate parents and illegitmate chidren, her legitime is less than that of the illegitimate
children.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Shares in Legitime. – In the succession to the legitime, the distribution among the children and descendants
follows the rules of intestate succession, inasmuch as the will of the testator does not have any
intervention in the distribution of such portion of the inheritance.
Inherent in the system of legitimes is the principles of equality; thus:
>> When the testator institutes several heirs without express designation of shares, they inherit
equally.
>> Following the above, when the law establishes a legitime for several persons without designating
their shares, all should inherit equally.
>> On the other hand, if there should be any child who dies before the testator, or who is incapacitated
to inherit, or who has been legally disinherited, then the descendants of the latter according to
proximity in relationship should, by the right of representation, take his place in the succession,
dividing equally the share that would have pertained to him if he had succeeded.
>> If no children survive, but only grandchildren, all of them inherit, not equally, but by right of
representation (i.e., per estirpes).
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Free Portion. – The “free portion” or ½ of the estate is not always disposable by the testator; it is expressly
made subject to the rights of illegitimate children and the SS.
The legitimes of each of the illegitimate children and the SS, compulsory heirs, are taken from
the “free portion” - - - and only that which remains after such legitimes have been covered is
subject to the free disposal by the testator.
Therefore, if the legitimes of the illegitimate children and the SS consume the whole “free
portion,” there is really no part of the estate subject to the free disposal by the testator.
This is evident in Art. 889:
“The legitime of legitmate parents or ascendants consists of ½ of the hereditary estate of their children and
descendants.
“The children or descendants may freely dispose of the other half, subject to the rights of illegitimate children
and of the surviving spouse as hereinafter provided.”
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 890. The legitime reserved for the legitimate parents shall be divided them equally; if one of the parents should
have died, the whole shall pass to the survivor.
If the testator leaves neither father nor mother, but is survived by ascendants of equal degree of the
paternal and maternal lines, the legitime shall be divided equally between both lines. If the ascendants
should be of different degrees, it shall pertain entirely to the ones nearest in degree of either line.

 The distribution of the legitime among parents and ascendants is controlled primarily by the rule
that the nearest relative excludes the more remote.
 If both mother and father survive, they divide the legitime equally. On the other hand, if only one
of them survives, he/she gets the entire legitime, even if there are other ascendants, such as grandparents,
in the line of the predeceased parent.
 There is no representation in the ascending line.
Art. 890 (2). If the ascendants should be of different degrees, it shall pertain entirely to the ones
nearest in degree of either line.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 890.
Division by Lines.
 Paternal and Maternal lines – If there are ascendants in the same degree, some of them in the
paternal and others in the maternal lines, the legitime is divided equally between the two lines,
irrespective of the number of persons in each line.
Equal Division.
 The share that goes to each line is to be divided equally by the persons in that line who are
entitled to the legitime. (per estirpes)
 Section 5
LEGITIME
RESERVA TRONCAL

Art. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant

>> any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title
>> from another ascendant, or a brother or sister,

is obliged to reserve such property

>> as he may have acquired by operation of law
for the benefit of relatives who are within the 3rd degree and who belong to the line
from which said property came.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Reference to Art. 812 (Old Civil Code) on “Reversion Legal”

“Ascendants succeed, to the exclusion of all other persons, to the things given by them to their children
or descendants, who died without issue, when the very objects donated exist in the hereditary estate.
“If these have been alienated, they shall succeed to all rights of action which the done may have with
respect to such things, and to the price thereof, if they have been sold, or to the property which has
been substituted for them if he has bartered or exchanged them.”

“Reversion Viudal”

“Besides the reservation imposed by article 811, the widower or widow who contracts a second marriage
shall be obliged to reserve for the children and descendants of the first marriage the ownership of all
the property acquired from the deceased spouse by will, by intestate succession, by donation, or by any
other lucrative title, but not his or her half of the conjugal property.” (Article 968)
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Reserva Troncal or Lineal. –
 Its purpose is to reserve certain property in favor of certain relatives.

 It seeks to prevent persons outside a family from securing, by some special accident of life, property
that would otherwise have remained therein.
 Its principal aim is to maintain as absolutely as is possible, with respect to the property to which it
refers, a separation between the paternal and maternal lines, so that property of one line may not
pass to the other, or through them to strangers.
 Nature of the Reserva. – It creates a double resolutory condition to which the right of ownership
of the person obliged to reserve is subjected. This pair of resolutory conditions are:
First, the death of the ascendant obliged to reserve (“reservista”); and

Second, the survival at that moment of relatives within the 3rd degree belonging to the
line from which the property came.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Edroso vs. Sablan (25 Phil. 295)
 The ascendant who inherits from a descendant, whether by the latter’s wish or by
operation of law, acquires the inheritance by virtue of a title perfectly transferring
absolute ownership.
 All the attributes of the right of ownership belong the ascendant exclusively:
(a) use;
(b) enjoyment;
(c) disposal: and
(d) recovery
 This absolute ownership, which is inherent in the hereditary title, is not altered in the
least, if there be no relatives within the 3rd degree in the line whence the property
proceeds or they (i.e., relatives within the 3rd degree) die before the ascendant heir
who is the possessor and absolute owner of the property.
 If there should be relatives within the 3rd degree who belong to the line whence the
property proceeded, then a limitation to that absolute ownership would arise.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
 During the whole period between the constitution in legal form of the right required by law to
be reserved and extinction thereof, the relatives within the 3rd degree, after the right that in their
turn may pertain to them has been assured, have only an expectation, and, therefore, they do not
even have the capacity to transmit that expectation to their heirs.
Limited to Legitimate Relations. – There are four (4) parties to consider in Reserva Troncal, to wit:
(1) the ascendant or brother or sister from whom the property originally came;
(2) the descendant who acquired the property by lucrative title from the foregoing (“Prepositus”);
(3) the Reservistas or (the) ascendant who received the property by operation of law from the
descendant (“prepositus”); and
(4) the Reservatarios (or reserves), or the relatives within the 3rd degree belonging to the line which
the property came.
 All these persons, in order that the reserve may exist, should be legitimate relations.
 No reserve will exist in favor of natural or illegitimate relatives; nor are natural and illegitimate
ascendants bound to reserve.
 Reserva truncal or lineal exists only in the legitimate family.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 892. If only one legitimate child or descendant of the deceased survives, the widow or widower shall be entitled
to ¼ of the hereditary estate.
In case of a legal separation, the surviving spouse may inherit if it was the deceased who had given cause
for the same.
If there are two or more legitimate children or descendants, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to a
portion equal to the legitime of each of the legitimate children or descendants.
In both cases, the legitime of the surviving spouse shall be taken from the portion that can be disposed
of by the testator.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Art. 893. If the testator leaves no legitimate descendants, but leaves legitimate ascendants, the surviving spouse
shall have aright to ¼ of the hereditary estate.
This fourth shall be taken from the free portion of the estate.

 Limited to the concurrence of the surviving spouse with legitimate ascendants of the
deceased.
 If the ascendants are not legitimate, as when they are the acknowledging parents of a natural
child, Article 903 applies:

“The legitime of the parents who have an illegitmate child, when such child leaves neither legitimate
descendants nor a surviving spouse, nor illegitimate children, is ½ of the hereditary estate of such
illegitimate child.
“If only legitimate or illegitimate children are left, the parents are not entitled to any legitime whatsoever.
“If only the widow or widower survives with parents of the illegitimate child, the legitime of the parents
is ¼ of the hereditary estate of the child, and that of the surviving spouse also ¼ of the estate.”
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 894. If the testator leaves illegitimate children, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to 1/3 of the hereditary
estate of the deceased and the illegitimate children to another third.
The remaining third shall be at the free disposal of the testator.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 895. The legitime of each acknowledged natural children and each of the natural children by legal
fiction shall consist of ½ of the legitime of each of the legitimate children or descendants.
The legitime of an illegitimate child who is neither an acknowledged natural, nor a natural
child by legal fiction, shall be equal in every case to 4/5 of the legitime of an acknowledged
natural child.
The legitime of the illegitimate children shall be taken from the portion of the estate at the
free disposal of the testator, provided that in no case shall the total legitime of such illegitimate
children exceed that free portion, and that the legitime of the surviving spouse must first be fully satisfied.

 Filiation of illegitimate children must be duly proved

 Share of all illegitimate children are taken only from the free portion;
 If they concur with a SS, the legitime of the SS must first be satisfied
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 896. Illegitimate children who may survive with legitimate parents or ascendants of the deceased shall be
entitled to ¼ of the hereditary estate to be taken from the portion at the free disposal of the testator.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 897. When the widow or widower survives with legitimate children or descendants, and acknowledged natural
children or natural children by legal fiction, such surviving spouse shall be entitled to a portion equal to
the legitime of each of the legitimate children which must be taken from that part of the estate which
the testator can freely dispose.

Art. 898. If the widow or widower survives with legitimate children or descendants, and with illegitimate children
other than acknowledged natural, or natural children by legal fiction, the share of the surviving spouse
shall be the same as that provided in the preceding article.

Art. 899. When the widow or widower survives with legitimate parents or ascendants and with illegitimate children,
such surviving spouse shall be entitled to 1/8 of the hereditary estate of the deceased which must be
taken from the free portion, and the illegitimate children shall be entitled to ¼ of the estate which shall
be taken also from the disposal portion. The testator may freely dispose of the remaining 1/8 of the
estate.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Concurrent Legitimate Legitimate Illegitimate Legitimate

Heirs Parents/Ascend Parents (Art. Children (Art. parents /
ants (Art. 899) 893) 894) Ascendants +
Illegitimate
children
Surviving 1/8 1/4 1/3 (same as 1/8
Spouse the children)
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 900. If the only survivor is the widow or widower, she or he shall be entitled to ½ of the hereditary estate
of the deceased spouse, and the testator may freely dispose of the other half.
If the marriage between the surviving spouse and the testator was solemnized in articulo mortis, and the
testator died within 3 months from the time of the marriage, the legitime of the surviving spouse as the
sole heir shall be 1/3 of the hereditary estate, except when they have been living as husband and wife for more
than five years. In the latter case, the legitime of the surviving spouse shall be that in the preceding
paragraph (i.e., ½ of the hereditary estate)

Art. 901. When the testator dies leaving illegitimate children and no other compulsory heirs, such illegitimate
children shall have a right to ½ of the hereditary estate of the deceased.
The other half shall be at the free disposal of the testator.
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Art. 902. The rights of illegitimate children set forth in the preceding articles are transmitted upon their death to
their descendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate.
______________________
 Right of Representation limited to legitime –
> Only the illegitimate children of an illegitimate child are given the right of representation
* Only the rights of illegitimate children “set forth in the preceding articles” are transmitted
upon their death to their descendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate.
** (Following the above*) the illegitimate children of an illegitimate child can represent the
latter only in the rights “set forth in the preceding articles”.
*** (Following the above**) this would mean only the legitimes of the illegitimate child
granted and specified in Articles 894, 895, 896, 899, and 901.

>The present article allows both the legitimate and the illegitimate descendants to represent the
illegitimate child who predeceases his own parent
 Section 5
LEGITIME
Art. 903. The legitime of the parents who have an illegitimate child, when such child leaves neither legitimate
descendants, nor a surviving spouse, nor illegitimate children, is ½ of the hereditary estate of such
illegitimate child.
If only legitimate or illegitimate children are left, the parents are not entitled to any legitime whatsoever.

If only the widow or widower survives with parents or the illegitimate child, the legitime of the parents
is ¼ of the hereditary estate of the child, and that of the surviving spouse also ¼ of the estate.
_______________________
 The illegitimate parents of the deceased are compulsory heirs only when the latter (“deceased”)
does not have legitimate or illegitimate children or descendants.
 When the deceased has legitimate children or descendants, even a legitimate parent or ascendant
is excluded as a compulsory heir; with more reason should an illegitimate parent be thus excluded.
 Even when the illegitimate parent of the deceased concurs only with illegitimate children of the
latter, the former are still excluded by analogy to legitimate relationship, the descendants exclude
the ascendants.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 904. The testator cannot deprive his compulsory heirs of their legitime, except in cases expressly specified
by law.
Neither can he impose upon the same any burden, encumbrance, condition, or substitution of any kind
whatsoever.
______________________

 The legitime is that portion of the inheritance which the testator cannot dispose. This is so since
the Law has reserved it for the compulsory heirs.
 Following the above, he cannot deprive the compulsory heir(s) of such legitime.
 The testator cannot reduce the legitime, or impose any charges, burdens, conditions, or
substitutions thereon.
 The legitime goes to the heir by operation of law, whether the testator likes it or not.
 The legitime does not go to the heir by the will of the testator; thus, the legitime cannot be subject
to his freedom tom impose encumbrances, conditions, and substitutions.

** Exception: Deprivation of an heir’s legitime could be had through disinheritance, legally made.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 905. Every renunciation or compromise as regards a future legitime between the person owing it and his
compulsory heirs is void, the latter may claim the same upon the death of the former; but they must
bring to collation whatever they may have received by virtue of the renunciation or compromise.
_______________________
 A future legitime is merely an expectancy, and the heir does not acquire any right over the same
until the death of the testator.
 Juridically, there is nothing to renounce, and nothing to compromise.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 906. Any compulsory heir to whom the testator has left by any title less than the legitime belonginh to him may
demand that the same be fully satisfied.
____________________
 When the testator completely omits the compulsory heir from the will, it may be due to an oversight.
 On the other hand, if there was something left to the heir, such presumption cannot obtain.

 If what has been left, however, is less than the share which pertains to the compulsory heir in
the legitime, he should be entitled to as ask for the balance to complete such legitime.
> Following the above, the heir cannot ask for more than the completion of the legitime, because
that is the only part to which he is legally entitled, of which he cannot be deprived by the
testator who has expressed his will. Neither can he ask for annulment of other testamentary
dispositions unless they are inofficious and subject to reduction.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 907. Testamentary dispositions impair or diminish the legitime of the compulsory heirs shall be
reduced on petition of the same, insofar as they may be inofficious or excessive.

______________________
 The disposition that may impair the legitime, however, may not be in a will, but in the
form of a donation inter vivos.
 Section 5
LEGITIME

Art. 908. To determine the legitime, the value of the property left at the death of the testator shall be considered,
deducting all debts and charges, which shall not include those imposed in the will.
To the net value of the hereditary estate, shall be added the value of all donations by the testator
that are subject to collation, at the time he made them.
Art. 909. Donations given to children shall be charged to their legitime.
Donations made to strangers shall be charged to that part of the estate of which the testator
could have disposed by his last will.
Insofar as they may be inofficious or may exceed the disposable portion, they shall be reduced
according to the rules established by this Code.