Can an Illegitimate Child Inherit? Share and Limits

The rule in force is the last sentence of Family Code Article 176, as amended by Republic Act No. 9255:

The Civil Code articles on inheritance are older than the Family Code and still speak of "acknowledged natural children", "natural children by legal fiction" and "other illegitimate children", with different shares for each. Read those articles together with Family Code Article 176, which sets one share for each illegitimate child.

Two more rules apply when there is a will. Article 895 says the legitime of the illegitimate children is taken from the free portion, and their total legitime can never exceed that free portion. The surviving spouse's legitime must be fully satisfied first. For all the shares, see Legitime shares in the Philippines.

See also the comparison legitimate vs illegitimate child.

The Civil Code gives illegitimate children these shares in intestate succession:

How the whole estate is split when legitimate and illegitimate children inherit together, without a will, is a question for a lawyer. The general order of heirs is in Who inherits if there is no will?

Yes. Article 887 lists illegitimate children among the compulsory heirs and adds:

Under Family Code Article 175, illegitimate children prove filiation "in the same way and on the same evidence as legitimate children". Article 172 lists that evidence: the record of birth in the civil register or a final judgment, or an admission signed by the parent in a public document or a private handwritten instrument. Without those, filiation may be proved by open and continuous possession of the status of a child, or other means allowed by the Rules of Court.

That last kind of proof has a time limit:

In plain words: if the child has no birth record or signed admission and relies only on how the family treated him or her, the case must be filed while the alleged parent is still alive. The father's recognition also matters for the child's surname: see Can an illegitimate child use the father's surname?

Article 992, often called the "iron curtain" rule, reads:

In Aquino v. Aquino (2021), the Supreme Court sitting en banc re-read this article. A granddaughter claimed a share in the estate of her alleged grandfather. She said that her father, the grandfather's son, had died before she was born and before he could marry her mother. The Court held that a child whose parents did not marry each other can inherit from a grandparent by right of representation (Article 982), "regardless of the grandparent's marital status at the birth of the child's parent."

The Court also set limits. It said the ruling applies when the nonmarital child represents a parent in the grandparent's estate, and: "We are not now ruling on the extent of the right of a nonmarital child to inherit in their own right." It did not decide cases with collateral relatives, such as aunts, uncles or cousins. So this page does not say whether Article 992 still blocks those cases: that is open.

The granddaughter still had to prove she was her father's daughter. The Court sent the case back to the trial court to resolve her filiation, including by receiving DNA evidence.

These are made-up examples to show how the rule works. They are not advice for any real case.

Rodrigo, a widower, dies with a will. His net estate is PHP 1,200,000. He leaves one legitimate son and Liza, his daughter born outside marriage, whose birth record shows him as her father. The son's legitime is one-half of the estate, PHP 600,000 (Art. 888). Liza's legitime is half of the son's, PHP 300,000, taken from the free portion (FC Art. 176; Art. 895). The will can freely give the PHP 300,000 that is left.

Ramon, the legitimate son of his parents, never married. He dies without a will, leaving a son born outside marriage and his own mother. Under Article 991, the son takes one-half of the estate and Ramon's mother the other half.

Bea's father, Marco, died before he could marry her mother. Years later, Marco's father, Lolo Andres, dies without a will. Following Aquino v. Aquino, Bea can claim the share Marco would have received, by right of representation, if she proves she is Marco's child.

Proving filiation is often the hardest part, and it can involve a court case, witnesses and DNA tests. Talk to a lawyer if the other heirs deny the relationship, if the parent has already died, if the estate is being divided without you, or if you want to inherit from a relative other than a parent or grandparent. A lawyer can also check the deadlines that apply to your evidence.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines for the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and other options. For the whole topic, see Inheritance in the Philippines.