Succession & Estate Law in the Philippines

[mogo51]

On 4/10/2017 at 8:36 AM, jrlee183 said:

 

It is true to an extent; Although Sections 3 and 8 of Article XII of the Constitution restrict the ownership of land by individuals to Filipinos and former Filipinos, Section 7 of the same Article allows foreign citizens to own land by way of legal inheritance.

Section 7: Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.

 

Basically, if your filipina wife dies before you without a Will then as her spouse you are a compulsory heir and entitled to your share of her estate.   HOWEVER, this is only good news if you are the only surviving compulsory heir.  If her parents are still alive then they will be entitled to their share too.  Likewise with children.   The end result is that the other heirs may want to 'cash in' their inheritance by way of selling the land/your home.   Whilst you can fight this it is an long and expensive process and something no one would want to experience.

Best solution for this is that you sign a long term renewable lease (25 or 50 years) that would legally entitle you to remain in the property even if it is sold. 

This is news to me as I thought having a 'lease' on a property owned by partner (but paid for by you) was against the 'contrary' laws (or whatever they call it). Does this apply for 'common law wife' also, if she happened to die before me?  

[mogo51]

On 4/10/2017 at 11:38 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

The option I use, which is admittedly limited, is I have a joint account in Canada with my mother.  In the event of my demise, or her demise, that account is NOT locked.  We specifically asked about that.  It means if anything happens to me and someone contacts my mother she will be devastated, as any mother would be, but she can walk into the bank and send money for any hospital or funeral expenses etc instantly.

Not everyone has such a great relationship with their mother so I guess I'm lucky to be a momma's boy :-)

Indeed Dave, my mother does not know what a bank is!

[mogo51]

On 4/10/2017 at 6:03 PM, jrlee183 said:

 

Unfortunately, if you have a will it has to follow the Legitime (Forced Heirship) of the philippines.  You cant leave 100% of your estate to your daughter unless she is the sole compulsory heir.  In your case it sounds like you are married with one legitimate child.  Your daughter is entitled to 50% of your/your wifes estate.  You, as her spouse, are entitled to 25% of the estate (excluding the land, unless in the case of intestate succession), and the parents the remaining 25%.    Regardless of what a will says, this is how the estate will be divided.

 

I wonder what is the purpose of a will in Philippines, if it counts for nothing?

[mogo51]

9 hours ago, jrlee183 said:

It would depend on his legitime, and his will would have to follow that.  If his parents are still alive then they could potentially inherit all of the land. 

This is all somewhat confusing and complex.  In my instance, when we come to Philippines, we eventually want to buy a small property (for my SO after my demise).  So probably best for her to own the land and me to own the house.  This will cover the unlikely event of her passing first.  Do I need a lease drawn up, if I own the house?  As Bigpearl has done (I assume this covers the ownership of the land issue?)

Also I have a daughter in Oz but we are permanently estranged, but she has 2 boys that SO and I had discussed to leave half to them and half to her 2 siblings when she checks out.  But all this seems to make that just a dream?  Could my daughter lodge a claim in Philippines?

[stevewool]

Can I just add this.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain things so clear for us to understand, much appreciated.

[Gary D]

3 hours ago, mogo51 said:

This is all somewhat confusing and complex.  In my instance, when we come to Philippines, we eventually want to buy a small property (for my SO after my demise).  So probably best for her to own the land and me to own the house.  This will cover the unlikely event of her passing first.  Do I need a lease drawn up, if I own the house?  As Bigpearl has done (I assume this covers the ownership of the land issue?)

Also I have a daughter in Oz but we are permanently estranged, but she has 2 boys that SO and I had discussed to leave half to them and half to her 2 siblings when she checks out.  But all this seems to make that just a dream?  Could my daughter lodge a claim in Philippines?

As far as I'm aware you can't lease from your wife. If your wife did pass before you her heirs could ask you to remove your house from their land.

[Jollygoodfellow]

8 hours ago, mogo51 said:

 In my instance, when we come to Philippines, we eventually want to buy a small property (for my SO after my demise).  So probably best for her to own the land and me to own the house.  This will cover the unlikely event of her passing first.  Do I need a lease drawn up, if I own the house?  As Bigpearl has done (I assume this covers the ownership of the land issue?)

Of course you can not own the land. Im also sure you will find you can not lease off your wife. 

[mogo51]

6 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Of course you can not own the land. Im also sure you will find you can not lease off your wife. 

That was my understanding also.

[mogo51]

11 hours ago, Gary D said:

As far as I'm aware you can't lease from your wife. If your wife did pass before you her heirs could ask you to remove your house from their land.

So it would appear to be a futile exercise?  But what I read appeared to say otherwise, confusing?

Edited May 23, 2017 by mogo51

[jrlee183]

16 hours ago, mogo51 said:

I wonder what is the purpose of a will in Philippines, if it counts for nothing?

There are some slight differences between how your estate would be distributed if you were to die with or without a will.  It also gives you an opportunity to specify burial rights/cremation etc.   It also allows you to use the free portion of your estate to leave to those who are not compulsory heirs.