ASCENDING DIRECT LINE

Article 985. In default of legitimate

children and descendants of the
deceased, his parents and
ascendants shall inherit from him,
to the exclusion of collateral
relatives.
Inheritance by parents and ascendants

Parents and ascendants referred should

be LEGITIMATE.
Example: A died intestate leaving P1M.
Surviving relatives are his legitimate
father (B) and his brother . The whole
estate goes to the father (B) to the
exclusion of the brother.
Article 986. The father and mother,
if living, shall inherit in equal shares.

Should only one of them survive, he

or she shall succeed to the entire
estate of the child.
SHARES OF PARENTS
Reason for the 1st paragraph both
are equally entitled to the gratitude of the
children.
Reason for the 2nd paragraph
there is no right of representation in the
ascending line.
 Example: A died intestate leaving P1M.
Surviving him are his father, B; his
grandfather, C (the father of B); and his
grandfather, D (the father of As mother).
B gets the whole P1M.
Article 987. In default of the father and
mother, the ascendants nearest in
degree shall inherit.

Should there be more than one equal

degree belonging to the same line
they shall divide the inheritance per
capita; should they be of different
lines but of equal degree, one-half
shall go to the paternal and the other
half to the maternal ascendants. In
each line the division shall be made
per capita.
INHERITANCE BY OTHER ASCENDANTS
Example: A and B are the parents of E. C
and D are the parents of F. E and F are
married to each other, and G is their
child. Estate of G who dies without a will
is P1M.
If A, B, C, D, E and F survive, E and F gets
P500T each. (Art. 986, par. 1). The others
are excluded.
 If A, C, D, and F survive, F gets P1M (Art.
986, par. 2), A cannot represent E, because
there is no right of representation in the
ascending line (Art. 972, par. 1). C and D
are excluded by F (Art. 962, par. 1).

If A and B survive, each gets P500T.

Should there be more than one of equal
degree belonging to the same line, they
shall divide the inheritance per capita.
(Art. 987, par. 2, 1st clause)
 If A, B, and C survive, C gets P500T. A and
B gets P250T each. Should they be of
different lines but of equal degree, 1/2
shall go to the paternal, and the other half
to the maternal ascendants. In each line,
the division shall be made per capita.
(Art. 987, par. 2, 2nd clause)
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN
Article 988. In the absence of legitimate
descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate
children shall succeed to the entire estate
of the deceased.

Article 989. If, together with illegitimate

children, there should survive descendants
of another illegitimate child who is dead,
the former shall succeed in their own right
and the latter by right of representation.
Illegitimate children concurring with
descendants of another illegitimate
child

Example: A has 3 illegitimate children, B, C,

and D. E and F are the illegitimate children
of D. Estate is P900T. D predeceases A. B
and C each gets P300T. E and F each gets
P150T.
Suppose E and F were the legitimate
children of D, the answer would be the
same. Descendants in this Article refer
to legitimate and illegitimate descendants,
since the law does not distinguish.
Article 990. The hereditary rights granted by the
two preceding articles to illegitimate children shall
be transmitted upon their death to their
descendants, who shall inherit by right of
representation from their deceased grandparent.

TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY RIGHTS OF

ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN
Example: B and C are As illegitimate
children. D and E are the legitimate
children of B. F is the legitimate child of
C. B and C predeceased A, who later died
leaving an estate of P1M. F gets P500T in
representation of C. D and E each gets
P250T because together they represent
B.
Note: Descendants as used in Article
990 refers to legitimate or illegitimate
descendants. Rights of illegitimate children
(to the legitime, and therefore, also to the
intestate shares) are transmitted upon
their death to their descendants, whether
legitimate or illegitimate.
Article 991. If legitimate ascendants are
left, the illegitimate children shall divide the
inheritance with them, taking one-half of
the estate, whatever be the number of the
ascendants or of the illegitimate children.
Illegitimate children concurring with
legitimate ascendants
Example: A dies leaving B, his legitimate
father, and C and D, his (As) illegitimate
children. Estate is P1M. B gets P500T. C
and D gets P250T each.
Partial Intestacy
Suppose there is partial intestacy in that a
part of the inheritance has been given to
strangers, but surviving are legitimate
parents and illegitimate children, how
should the remainder be disposed of?
ANSWER:
Charge the part given to the stranger to
the intestate share of the illegitimate
children, without, however, impairing the
legitime of the latter.
Example: A man had an estate of P1M. He
made a will giving a legacy of P200T to a
friend. There are no provisions about the
rest of the estate. Surviving are one
legitimate father and one illegitimate child.
This is a case of partial intestacy. There is
no doubt that the legacy is not inofficious.
 The legitimate ascendants and illegitimate
children get 1/2 each. Now then, if
following the literal wording of the law,
we give the P800T equally to the
survivors (P400T each), the legitime of
the legitimate parent would be impaired.
This should not be done; otherwise, a
testator could easily decrease his
compulsory heirs legitime by the simple
expedient of dying without a will.
 Hence, the rule is this: the intestate share
is either equal to, or more than the
legitime; it can never be less. Therefore,
the proper solution would be this: Give to
the father his legitime of P500T (1/2);
charge the P200T to the share of the
illegitimate child, who will now receive
only P300T. This is all right, since after all,
he has received even more than his
legitime.
NOTE:

The intestate share is either EQUAL TO,

or MORE than the legitime; it can NEVER
be less.
THE BARRIER BETWEEN THE
LEGITIMATE AND THE ILLEGITIMATE
FAMILIES

Article 992. An illegitimate child has no

right to inherit ab intestato from the
legitimate children and relatives of his
father or mother; nor shall such children or
relatives inherit in the same manner from
the illegitimate child.
IRON CURTAIN RULE/IRON CLAD
BARRIER

This creates a barrier between the

legitimate family on the one hand, and the
illegitimate family on the other hand.
Example: A has a legitimate child B, and an
illegitimate child C. B has a legitimate
child D, and an illegitimate child E. C has a
legitimate child F, and an illegitimate child
G.

Problem: If B and C predeaces A, and

surviving are the four grandchildren, will
they inherit intestate from A?
ANSWER:
D can represent his father B, because a legitimate
child B can be represented by his own legitimate child
D.

E cannot represent B in the succession from As

estate. REASON: An illegitimate child E has no right
to inherit ab intestate from the legitimate children
and relatives of his father B and vice versa.

F and G can represent C in the succession from A

because the rights granted an illegitimate child C are
transmitted upon his death to his descendants,
whether legitimate (F) or illegitimate (G).
IS THE RULE UNFAIR?
The heirs of a legitimate child (B) are
granted LESS rights than the heirs of an
illegitimate child (C).

ANSWER: YES but the law is the law no

matter how hard it may be. (DURA LEX
SED LEX)
REASON FOR THE BARRIER:
The illegitimate child is disgracefully looked
down upon by the legitimate family; the
legitimate family is in turn, hated by the
illegitimate child; the latter considers the
privileged condition of the former, and the
resources of which it is thereby deprived; the
former, in turn, sees in the illegitimate child
nothing but the product of sin, palpable
evidence of a blemish broken in life; the law
does no more than recognize this truth, by
avoiding further grounds of resentment.
DOES AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD HAVE THE
RIGHT TO REPRESENT HIS PREDECEASED
NATURAL FATHER TO CLAIM A PORTION OF
THE INHERITANCE LEFT BY THE LATTERS
FATHER?

If the illegitimate child is going to

represent a person who is a legitimate
child of the decedent, the answer is NO,
because of the barrier in Art. 992.
 But if he is going to represent a person
who is an illegitimate child of the
decedent, the answer is YES, for this time,
there is no barrier since the whole line is
illegitimate. Moreover, the hereditary
rights of an illegitimate child are
transmitted to his descendants, whether
legitimate or illegitimate.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

A has a legitimate child B who had an

illegitimate child C. A dies, leaving as only
survivor, C. Will C inherit intestate from
A?

ANSWER: NO, because of the barrier.

Note:
The rule on Iron-clad Barrier applies not only to
intestate succession, but also to testamentary
succession, insofar as the legitime is concerned
because succession to the legitime is also
succession by operation of law.

Art. 992 is reciprocal, therefore just as the

illegitimate child cannot inherit ab intestate from
the legitimate relatives of his parents, so also the
legitimate relatives cannot inherit ab intestate
from said illegitimate child.This rule is just.
How do you reconcile Articles 902, 989 and 990
with Article 992?
Arts 902, 989 & 992 Art 992
Speaks of the successional right of This is the exception. Even if
illegitimate children which rights are illegitimate children have the right to
transmitted to their descendant upon succeed from their parents they
their death whether legitimate or cannot inherit from the RELATIVE of
illegitimate. (General Rule) their parents.
END