After much confusion with regards to the unfair Inheritance Law in the Philippines, I was finally consoled by a lawyer friend. At first glance at the Family Code, I thought that an illegitimate child is only entitled to half what a legitimate child can inherit. An example would be; a man has 3 legitimate children and 1 illegitimate child; his estate is worth 1 million. If the legal children can inherit let’s say 330,000; an illegitimate child is only entitled to half of that which is 165,000. I know it’s all too mathematically confusing, and I have scratched my head a hundred times trying to come up with an equation and solution. Don’t even try to comprehend my example because it is not accurate. (The paragraph below will explain the correct law in detail – I hope!)

From the above example my friend explained the inheritance law to me. The 4 children will have an equal share of the estate, meaning each will have 250,000. From what my friend has explained to me, an illegitimate child is entitled a fair portion of his father’s estate upon death of the latter. If the child’s father is legally married, his whole estate will be divided into two; 50% will go to his legal wife, the other part will be divided between his heirs (this, meaning all his children; legitimate and illegitimate). I guess this could be the reason why a lot of people thought that an illegitimate child can only inherit half. In the case wherein the father is not married, but have a number of illegitimate children; his estate will be divided among his heirs. So if the father only had one offspring in his lifetime, that child will inherit everything his father left. The father’s family, meaning his parents and siblings will have no claims for the estate, because in the Family Code; the child comes before other family members. It goes like this (according to my friend) – Wife – Child – Siblings – Parents or Wife – Child – Parents – Siblings. Honestly, I got a little confused about the latter part of our conversation because we were out drinking and I already had a lot. In another case where a father is living under a common law marriage, the live-in partner will not have any claims to the estate. However, if she can prove to the court that she has indeed been living in a de-facto marriage with the man for two or four years (again, I’m not sure how long because of San Miguel); she may get a portion of that estate.

I hope that I covered the basics. It’s very early in the morning, and I have a terrible hangover. Again, if you have questions, please email me or consult a lawyer.