Faces of Death: Inheritance in the Philippines
On the “beneficial” side of thinking about death in the country, when we hear things like top pre need companies in the Philippines, death insurance, life savings, and assets, our thoughts mostly go to the subject of inheritance.
Inheritance, or mana in Filipino, is one subject that we don’t openly discuss but do think about when we talk about relatives, especially those whom we dislike, who are on the verge. As a Hollywood and mainstream media educated culture, some of us have skewed views of inheritance.
In a popular 90s movie titled Weder Weder Lang ‘Yan (1999), we watch 2 families fight over the favor of one Don Emilio because of his great riches. Halfway through the movie, Emilio goes bankrupt, is forced to live with relatives (who treat him poorly after learning of his bankruptcy), and end up giving all his inheritance to the brother whom he proved to have never been after his money in the first place―much the like plot of the American film Greedy (Imagine Entertainment, 1994).
But is this really how inheritance works in the Philippines?
In summary, inheritance is divided into 2 portions, the legitime or the part of the deceased’s possessions that is compulsorily distributed to legally determined heirs, and the free portion, a fraction of the whole value of the possession that may be given to anyone (mostly to whom the deceased has details in a last will, if he has one).
The legitime is subdivided into a hierarchy, putting the surviving spouse and legitimate children on top, offspring of legitimate children (grandchildren; in case legitimate child is deceased) and illegitimate children on the second tier, and parents (ascendants) on the third tier.
There is a table on how the free portion is computed but the biggest free portion (half of the total estate value) can be free if only illegitimate children or parents alone are the sole remaining heirs. In most cases, very little or no free portion might be left meaning.
Which brings us to the matter of the last will—the last will might be most iconic of all inheritance articles but if the New Civil Code is to be followed, only the free portion of the estate can be distributed according to what the last will provides for. Not even the top pre needs companies in the Philippines can circumvent this as, if they had the provision for post humus benefits, they should strictly follow New Civil Code guidelines as well.
Not only that, but the execution of last wills are very time consuming, difficult, and expensive, so much so that a good portion of the inheritable estate might go into definitively executing a last will prior to the testator (person executing a will) dying.
If, however, testator is convinced of a potential heir being unworthy of inheritance, he can file for disinheritance provided that certain conditions (child actively trying to kill the testator, child maltreats testator, etc) are proven to be present. But aside from this, many papers also require execution by both the testator, and a lawyer-notary public and if at least one requisite of disinheritance is not complied with, the issue is rendered moot and the inheritance prevails.
According to the Inquirer, the best way to not have to go through all the legal paperwork (not to mention fees) is to write a letter to his most trusted child or to his surviving spouse and hope that they honor his wishes. This letter will by no means be legally binding that even top pre needs companies in the Philippines nor the best attorneys can use it to distribute legitime or free estate.
If, however, testator is convinced of a potential heir being unworthy of inheritance, he can file for disinheritance provided that certain conditions (child actively trying to kill the testator, child maltreats testator, etc) are proven to be present. But aside from this, many papers also require execution by both the testator, and a lawyer-notary public and if at least one requisite of disinheritance is not complied with, the issue is rendered moot and the inheritance prevails.
According to the Inquirer, the best way to not have to go through all the legal paperwork (not to mention fees) is to write a letter to his most trusted child or to his surviving spouse and hope that they honor his wishes. This letter will by no means be legally binding that even top pre needs companies in the Philippines nor the best attorneys can use it to distribute legitime or free estate.
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