Succession & Estate Law in the Philippines

[Jack Peterson]

11 hours ago, Gary D said:

you her heirs could ask you to remove your house from their land.

Not if you are legally Married, It passes to you for your Lifetime then it goes to the Estate for heirs

[jrlee183]

15 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?

Presumably you are not married?  If so then you should be able to draw up a lease, but you cannot lease from your wife.  You can lease from a corporation however so that is an option.  Need to seek the advice of an attorney to find a solution to best fit your circumstances.

Your daughter, estranged or not, is still a compulsory heir and as such has a claim on your estate.  Only in the event of her death would your grandchildren become compulsory heirs. 

[jrlee183]

12 hours ago, stevewool said:

Can I just add this.

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

My pleasure .

[mogo51]

2 minutes ago, jrlee183 said:

Presumably you are not married?  If so then you should be able to draw up a lease, but you cannot lease from your wife.  You can lease from a corporation however so that is an option.  Need to seek the advice of an attorney to find a solution to best fit your circumstances.

Your daughter, estranged or not, is still a compulsory heir and as such has a claim on your estate.  Only in the event of her death would your grandchildren become compulsory heirs. 

Thank you, ignore my PM, you answered after I composed it. Many thanks for your efforts on the forum in this matter.

[bigpearl]

On 22/05/2017 at 10:09 AM, scott h said:

Now I am not a lawyer, and I do not play one on TV (sorry Yank joke) but:

It will be as LONG as there is no one here in the Philippines to contest it. Any family member kould get a TRO (temporary restraining order) at tie probate up in knots for ages. In the mean time, the house will either stand vacant or those contesting will just move in.

What I would ask myself is will my sister in OZ want to travel to, or hire a Filipino lawyer to navigate through the morass of the legal system here? If you look around your area, I am sure you will se vacant houses all over the plase. In my area there are a lot of vacant mansions just sitting there. I have asked a lot of questions about them. The majority are tied up in probate battles where the kids are all overseas, the parents passed and the lawyers are making a mint or the kids just gave up.

Just some random thoughts

Good thoughts scott, I will ask my Attorney these questions also, no point asking my solicitor here as she would have no idea, family in PH do not have the funds or resources to fight such a battle and personally I don't want them to, our moving there and property/lease will be spelt out in black and white to our family there, also my family (sister) here in Oz. My sister would fight skullduggery to the bitter end if such occurred, but if I live out my life naturally then she will be happy for Bengie and myself. Then as directed in my will, sign over funds, relinquish the lease/assets in PH to Bengie. Simple.

My earlier question to Jamie and readers in a nutshell was this,,,,,,,, how secure is my 25+25 lease (and as Jamie clearly stated) Depends on how good my attorney did her home work in relation to Filipino law,,,,,,, as sad state of affairs at the best of times. Regardless I push ahead and hope to live our life without any dramas but, one can never be too careful.

Cheers, Steve.

Edited May 23, 2017 by bigpearl

[bigpearl]

17 hours ago, mogo51 said:

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?  

Ron, a married couple are one and cannot lease from each other under PH law, same entity, simple. Setting up a corporation/company is one way around it but involves more time and paperwork annually, who apart from your wife would you trust with 60% of the assets? While there are ways around this, if caught out you will end up the loser, anti dummy laws in Ph carry heavy penalties. Hence many foreigners purchase condos so they are in control.

Cheers, Steve.

[bigpearl]

46 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

Not if you are legally Married, It passes to you for your Lifetime then it goes to the Estate for heirs

Lol, there in lies the skullduggery, life is cheap in PH. If legally tied up in the families eyes your chances of a long life will/could prevail. That's what I'm hoping.

Cheers, Steve.

[Jack Peterson]

19 minutes ago, bigpearl said:

Lol, there in lies the skullduggery, life is cheap in PH. If legally tied up in the families eyes your chances of a long life will/could prevail. That's what I'm hoping.

Cheers, Steve.

On the Other Hand 

Edited May 23, 2017 by Jack Peterson
changed a little

[bigpearl]

4 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

On the Other Hand 

touché.

Jack, life is a gamble as us older chaps know/see. When our number is up so be it but if some XXXXXXXX decides before you are ready do depart then we need to make sure that/those persons are aware of the ramifications, will they think twice? Who knows, most likely not when dollars come into the equation but at the end of the day the perpetrators will be facing long expensive legal battles. A partner that may or may not be involved? Jealous family members?

My sister will fight them tooth and nail for justice and she is a tenacious woman that is far wealthier than me and loves family. My last will and testament leaves plenty of money for her to fight and plenty leftover. She won't walk away if something is amiss, all these things have been relayed to family/perpetrators of a potential gain in their favour. While I love our family there, this site and others has made me question the validity/security of my/our tenure in our/my retirement. A relaxed life without the threat of who knows what.

Cheers, Steve.   

[mogo51]

2 hours ago, bigpearl said:

Ron, a married couple are one and cannot lease from each other under PH law, same entity, simple. Setting up a corporation/company is one way around it but involves more time and paperwork annually, who apart from your wife would you trust with 60% of the assets? While there are ways around this, if caught out you will end up the loser, anti dummy laws in Ph carry heavy penalties. Hence many foreigners purchase condos so they are in control.

Cheers, Steve.

Hi Steve,

Yes that was how I believed it to be and all the information on this discussion, seems to enforce that.  Viz why there are so many stories in Phils and indeed Thailand of westerners being 'screwed'.  

From what I can see, buying a condo is indeed the alternative, but I seem to remember some discussion that also can have difficulties relating to ownership?

The condos that I have seen advertised (mainly around Manila, Angeles etc) seem to be too small and too expensive, I have not looked at the corporate fees but imagine they are up there also?

Where we are headed, there does not seem to be a great variety of choices in that area?  But I assume the same problems would apply there?

As many of the members seem to be asserting, rental might have to be embraced as the only alternative.  Which of course goes against everything I have strived for in my life.  the other of course, is taking the plunge and putting a house in partner's name, but against everything I have ever been taught?