Start with your family’s situation: who has died, whether a will exists, who may be entitled to inherit, and which property or debt needs attention. Choose a guide below for shares, estate settlement, tax and title transfer, or a disagreement between heirs.
These guides provide general information. A guide or calculator does not identify every lawful heir, resolve a disputed share, or complete an estate settlement.
WHAT HAPPENED? CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP
• Someone has died: what happens now? — See what passes to the heirs, who pays the debts and the first steps. Start with the overview.
• We need to understand the heirs’ shares — Start with the guide to legitimes and inheritance without a will before estimating a share.
• There is a will, or we are unsure — Compare inheritance with and without a will and find the relevant next guide.
• Can we settle the estate without court? — Check the conditions for extrajudicial settlement before choosing that route.
• An heir refuses to sign — Find options when agreement is missing. Review disagreement routes.
• The title remains in a deceased parent’s name — Prepare the settlement and transfer documents. Follow the transfer guide.
START HERE — WHO INHERITS?
• What Happens to Property and Debts After Death — what passes to the heirs, what ends, creditors, settlement routes and estate tax.
• Will vs No Will — how testamentary and intestate succession differ, from heirs and legitime to probate and settlement.
• Who Inherits When Someone Dies Without a Will? — intestate succession by family situation.
• Compulsory Heirs and Legitime — protected heirs and reserved shares.
• How Is Inheritance Divided? — overview of legitimes and intestate shares.
• Representation in Inheritance — when descendants step into an heir’s place.
• Surviving spouse’s inheritance share — Read how the guide separates the spouse’s own property from their inheritance and compares family situations.
• Estimate a compulsory heir’s legitime — Check the existing calculator’s supported situations and limits before using it. It estimates minimum protected shares, not the full distribution without a will or estate tax.
SETTLE THE ESTATE
• Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate — Rule 74 requirements and common problems.
• Judicial Settlement of Estate — when court supervision is needed.
• Probate of a Will — allowance of wills, objections, and procedure.
• How Long Does Estate Settlement Take? — stages and common delays.
TAX, eCAR, AND TITLE TRANSFER
• Estate Tax in the Philippines — Read the tax guide and, for a straightforward estate within its stated scope, use the existing basic estimator. Check its limits and the law applicable at the date of death.
• How to Get an eCAR for Inherited Property — BIR tax-clearance step before registration.
• Transfer a Land Title From a Deceased Parent — settlement, BIR/eCAR, and Registry of Deeds.
• Land Title Still in a Grandparent’s Name — multi-generation settlement and title chain.
TRANSFER OR DIVIDE INHERITED PROPERTY
• Co-Ownership Disputes — the heirs’ rights as co-owners before partition, legal redemption and partition rules.
• Can One Heir Sell Inherited Land? — hereditary shares versus a specific parcel.
• Can Heirs Sell Before Estate Settlement? — undivided rights and buyer risk.
• Divide Inherited Property When Siblings Cannot Agree — negotiated and judicial partition.
• Can an Heir Be Forced to Sell Inherited Property? — partition, buyout, and court-ordered sale.
• Heirs Disagree About Property Value — appraisal, buyout, and valuation evidence.
INHERITANCE DISPUTES
• Missing Heir — what to do when a lawful heir cannot be located.
• One Heir Occupies the Property — possession, exclusion, rent, and partition.
• One Heir Collects the Rent — accounting and sharing income from common property.
• An Heir Dies Before Settlement — second-estate and succession-layer issues.
• Challenge a Signed Extrajudicial Settlement — fraud, consent, forgery, and prescription issues.
• Hidden Heir or Property — fraud, reconveyance, and omitted-estate remedies.
• Can an Heir Be Removed? — when heirship can actually be disputed.
ESTATE EXPENSES, REIMBURSEMENTS & ACCOUNTING
• Who Pays Real Property Tax Before Partition? — taxes and proportional contribution among co-heirs.
• Reimbursement for Estate Tax Paid by One Heir — advances and credits during settlement.
• Who Pays Repairs and Maintenance? — preservation expenses versus optional upgrades.
• Reimbursement for Improvements — necessary and useful expenses.
• One Heir Pays the Mortgage — debt, foreclosure risk, and reimbursement.
• Funeral, Medical, and Settlement Expenses — estate charges and advances.
• Can an Heir Use Estate Money? — estate funds, authority, and misuse.
• Demand an Accounting From the Managing Heir — records, income, and disbursements.
• Who Gets Rental Income Before Settlement? — rent, expenses, and allocation.
• Deductions Before Sharing Sale Proceeds — taxes, mortgage, repairs, and closing costs.
REMEDIES, PRESCRIPTION & COURT ACTIONS
• Which Remedy Should an Heir Use? — decision guide for partition, reconveyance, cancellation, accounting, injunction, and title remedies.
• How to File a Partition Case — Rule 69 procedure, parties, accounting, division, and sale.
• Reconveyance of Inherited Property — recovering land wrongfully transferred or registered.
• Cancel a Fraudulent Deed or Title — nullity, cancellation, and registration relief.
• Injunction to Stop Sale or Transfer — preserving disputed property while a case is pending.
• Lis Pendens — notice to later buyers that property is under litigation.
• Prescription and Deadlines — when partition, fraud, reconveyance, and recovery claims may differ.
• Buyer in Good Faith — third-party purchaser risk and notice.
• Accounting Action Between Heirs — judicial disclosure of rent, estate funds, expenses, and proceeds.
• Quieting of Title — removing clouds and conflicting claims affecting inherited property.
POSSESSION, REPUDIATION & LONG-RUNNING PROPERTY CLAIMS
• Can One Heir Become Sole Owner Through Adverse Possession? — when prescription can run against co-heirs.
• When Does Co-Heir Possession Become Adverse? — repudiation, notice, and proof.
• Can an Heir Lose Inherited Property by Prescription? — partition versus recovery after repudiation.
• Repudiation of Co-Ownership — acts and evidence needed to reject shared ownership.
• Long-Term Exclusive Possession — why decades of occupation are not automatically enough.
• One Heir Paying Real Property Tax for 20 Years — tax payments, reimbursement, and ownership claims.
• Can a Tax Declaration Prove Ownership Against Other Heirs? — evidentiary value and limits.
• One Family Branch Occupied the Land for Generations — multi-generation co-ownership and prescription.
• Can an Heir File an Adverse Claim? — Section 70 title annotation and limits.
• Adverse Claim vs Lis Pendens — which annotation fits which stage of the dispute.
WILLS, LEGITIMES, AND EXCLUSION OF HEIRS
• Notarial vs Holographic Wills — formalities and common defects.
• Preterition — omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line.
• Disinheritance — statutory grounds and proof.
• Waiver of Inheritance — repudiation versus transfer.
• An Heir Was Left Out — remedies for omitted heirs.
Core legal framework: Civil Code, Book III on succession; Rules of Court on probate, settlement, partition, evidence, and Rule 74; Republic Act No. 11576 on probate jurisdiction; Supreme Court jurisprudence; and current BIR and Land Registration Authority procedures.
In the Code: Book III — Different Modes of Acquiring Ownership. Family-status questions such as legitimacy, filiation, adoption, and spousal status are governed by the Family Code and may also be covered on FamilyCode.ph.Related property guides: For ownership, possession, title and co-ownership issues affecting inherited land, see the Property and Ownership hub, Land Title vs Tax Declaration, Co-Owner Sale Without Consent, and Land Boundary Disputes.
Quick answers: See the Succession and Inheritance FAQ for short, cited answers to the most common questions in this hub.
Can one heir sell inherited land without the consent of the other heirs? Learn the difference between selling an undivided hereditary share and selling a specific inherited parcel before partition.
What happens when one heir refuses to sign an extrajudicial settlement in the Philippines? Learn when agreement is required, when partition or court action may be needed, and what the other heirs should do next.
A step-by-step Philippine guide to transferring titled land from a deceased parent to the heirs, including estate settlement, BIR eCAR, taxes, Registry of Deeds requirements, and common transfer problems.
A practical guide to intestate succession in the Philippines: who inherits, how the surviving spouse and children share, what happens when there are no descendants, and why family relationships must be verified before the estate is divided.
A practical Philippine guide to extrajudicial settlement of estate under Rule 74: who may use it, required documents, publication, taxes, title transfer, excluded heirs, common problems, and when court action may be necessary.
Under Philippine law, most of an estate is not freely disposable. Compulsory heirs — legitimate children and descendants, legitimate parents and ascendants in their default, the surviving spouse, and illegitimate children — are entitled to a reserved share called the legitime, and a will can dispose only of what is left after those legitimes are…