Legitime Calculator: Compulsory Heirs’ Shares in the Philippines
Short answer: The legitime is the share of an estate the law reserves for compulsory heirs, and it is fixed by fractions in the Civil Code. Enter the net estate and who survived the decedent below, and this calculator shows each compulsory heir’s minimum share in fractions and pesos, the legal basis, and the free portion the decedent could give away by will.
Legitime calculator
The calculator runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent or saved. It assumes the decedent was a legitimate child, died after the Family Code took effect, and that no heir was validly disinherited, renounced or is unworthy to inherit. See “What this calculator does not cover” below.
How do I use the calculator?
- Net estate: the value of everything the decedent owned at death, minus debts and charges. Do not deduct gifts left in the will; those come out of the free portion (Civil Code Art. 908).
- Donations: add the value, at the time they were made, of lifetime donations that are subject to collation, such as property given to a child (Arts. 908–910).
- Legitimate children: include legally adopted children, who are treated as legitimate children for all purposes and in succession (R.A. 11642, Secs. 41 and 43). If a child died before the parent and left children of their own, count that child’s line as one.
- Illegitimate children: count only those whose filiation can be proved (Art. 887).
- Spouse and parents: tick the boxes that apply. The parents box appears only when there are no legitimate children, because legitimate parents and ascendants are compulsory heirs only “in default of” legitimate children and descendants (Art. 887(2)).
What share does each compulsory heir get?
These are the fractions the calculator applies. Each is a share of the whole estate computed under Article 908.
| Who survived | Legitime | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Legitimate children only | One-half, divided equally among them | Civil Code Art. 888 |
| One legitimate child and spouse | Child one-half; spouse one-fourth | Arts. 888, 892 par. 1 |
| Two or more legitimate children and spouse | Children one-half; spouse the same as one child | Arts. 888, 892 par. 2 |
| Legitimate children and illegitimate children | Each illegitimate child gets one-half of one legitimate child’s legitime, from the free portion | Family Code Art. 176; Civil Code Art. 895 par. 3 |
| Legitimate parents only | One-half, between the parents equally | Arts. 889, 890 |
| Legitimate parents and spouse | Parents one-half; spouse one-fourth | Arts. 889, 893 |
| Legitimate parents and illegitimate children | Parents one-half; illegitimate children one-fourth | Arts. 889, 896 |
| Parents, spouse and illegitimate children | Parents one-half; spouse one-eighth; illegitimate children one-fourth | Arts. 889, 899 |
| Spouse and illegitimate children | Spouse one-third; illegitimate children one-third | Art. 894 |
| Spouse only | One-half (one-third in an articulo mortis marriage, unless they lived together over five years) | Art. 900 |
| Illegitimate children only | One-half | Art. 901 |
Whatever is not reserved as legitime is the free portion, which the decedent could leave to anyone by will. The spouse’s and the illegitimate children’s legitimes are taken from that free portion, not from the legitimate children’s half (Arts. 892, 895).
What happens when the free portion is not enough?
With several illegitimate children, their full shares can be larger than what is left of the free portion. Article 895 says 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.” The calculator pays the spouse first, then reduces the illegitimate children’s shares equally so that they fit.
Example: Net estate ₱6,000,000, one legitimate child, a spouse and two illegitimate children. The child gets ₱3,000,000 (one-half). The spouse gets ₱1,500,000 (one-fourth). Only ₱1,500,000 is left, so the two illegitimate children share it at ₱750,000 each instead of the ₱1,500,000 each they would otherwise get. Nothing is left as a free portion.
One point is debated. Articles 897 and 898 give the spouse “a portion equal to the legitime of each of the legitimate children” when illegitimate children also survive. Read literally with only one legitimate child, the spouse would take one-half and the illegitimate children nothing. The calculator instead applies Article 892’s one-fourth for a single legitimate child. The Supreme Court took the same approach in Macalinao v. Macalinao (G.R. No. 250613, April 3, 2024): with one legitimate child, a surviving spouse and two illegitimate children, it held Article 897 inapplicable because it contemplates more than one legitimate child, and gave the child one-half, the spouse one-fourth and each illegitimate child one-eighth. That case involved death benefits distributed without a will, so if your situation differs, ask a lawyer how it applies.
Worked examples you can check
These are the test cases the calculator was checked against. Try them yourself with any estate value.
| Situation | Result (fractions of the estate) | Free portion |
|---|---|---|
| 3 legitimate children, spouse | Children 1/2 (1/6 each); spouse 1/6 | 1/3 |
| 2 legitimate children, spouse, 1 illegitimate child | Children 1/2 (1/4 each); spouse 1/4; illegitimate child 1/8 | 1/8 |
| 2 legitimate children, 2 illegitimate children, no spouse | Children 1/2 (1/4 each); illegitimate children 1/4 (1/8 each) | 1/4 |
| 2 legitimate children, spouse, 4 illegitimate children | Children 1/2; spouse 1/4; illegitimate children 1/4, reduced to 1/16 each | 0 |
| Parents, spouse, 2 illegitimate children | Parents 1/2; spouse 1/8; illegitimate children 1/4 (1/8 each) | 1/8 |
| Spouse, 3 illegitimate children | Spouse 1/3; illegitimate children 1/3 (1/9 each) | 1/3 |
| Spouse only, articulo mortis marriage | Spouse 1/3 | 2/3 |
What this calculator does not cover
- An illegitimate decedent’s parents. Different fractions apply under Article 903.
- Disinheritance, unworthiness and renunciation. An heir validly disinherited or unworthy to inherit is removed, which changes the count. A future legitime cannot be renounced or compromised (Art. 905).
- Legal separation. A legally separated spouse may inherit only if the deceased gave cause for the separation (Art. 892).
- Intestate shares. Without a will, heirs can receive more than their legitime because the free portion is also distributed by law. See our guide to who inherits without a will.
- Estate tax and property values. The calculator divides a value you enter; it does not value property or compute estate tax.
- Which property belongs to the estate. If the decedent was married, the spouse’s own half of the community or conjugal property is not part of the estate. Settle that first.
Your options and what to do next
If you are an heir checking your share
- Gather the death certificate, proof of your relationship (birth or marriage certificate, adoption papers), the titles, tax declarations and bank records of the estate, and any will.
- Use the calculator to estimate your legitime, then compare it with what the will or the proposed settlement gives you.
- If you receive less than your legitime, you may demand that it be fully satisfied (Art. 906), and gifts in the will that impair it can be reduced on your petition (Art. 907). See compulsory heirs and legitime and, if you were left out of a will entirely, preterition.
- If the family agrees, the estate can be settled extrajudicially; if not, it goes to court through judicial settlement or partition. Our guide on how an inheritance is divided explains the routes.
- No single deadline for claiming a legitime was verified for this calculator; the period depends on the action (reduction of gifts, partition or annulment of a settlement), so raise a shortfall in writing with the other heirs promptly and get advice before the estate is distributed.
If you are planning your own estate
- Use the calculator to see your free portion before you write a will or make large gifts.
- Remember that donations to children are charged to their legitime and donations to others to the free portion (Art. 909); a gift that exceeds what you could freely give can later be reduced.
- Have the will prepared with a lawyer so that it respects every compulsory heir’s legitime.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, ask the Public Attorney’s Office whether you qualify for free legal assistance.
Key takeaways
- The legitime is a fixed share reserved by law for compulsory heirs; a will cannot take it away except by valid disinheritance (Arts. 886, 904).
- Legitimate children always take one-half of the estate together; the spouse and illegitimate children are paid from the free portion.
- Each illegitimate child’s legitime is one-half of a legitimate child’s (Family Code Art. 176), but their total cannot exceed the free portion after the spouse is paid (Art. 895).
- Compute on the net estate plus collationable donations (Art. 908).
- Adopted children count as legitimate children (R.A. 11642).
Frequently asked questions
Is the legitime the same as the share I get without a will?
No. The legitime is the minimum the law guarantees. Without a will, intestate succession also distributes the free portion, so heirs often receive more than their legitime.
Do grandchildren have a legitime?
They are compulsory heirs as legitimate descendants. When their parent died before the grandparent, they generally step into that parent’s share, so the calculator counts that line as one child.
Does the surviving spouse also get half of the conjugal property?
The spouse’s own half of the community or conjugal property is theirs by property-regime rules and is not inherited. Only the decedent’s half forms the estate on which the legitime is computed.
Can a parent give everything to one child by will?
Only the free portion. The other compulsory heirs can demand their full legitime (Art. 906), and the will’s dispositions are reduced as needed (Art. 907).
Sources
- Civil Code of the Philippines (R.A. 386), Arts. 886–911 — LawPhil
- Family Code of the Philippines (E.O. 209), Art. 176 — LawPhil
- Macalinao v. Macalinao, G.R. No. 250613, April 3, 2024 — LawPhil (quotes Civil Code Arts. 887, 888, 892–895 and Family Code Art. 176)
- Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act (R.A. 11642), Secs. 41 and 43 — LawPhil
- Public Attorney’s Office
Sources rechecked as of: October 21, 2026
This calculator and article are general legal information about Philippine law, not legal advice. For advice on a specific estate, consult a lawyer or the Public Attorney’s Office.