Succession Transcription Atty.

Mayol

Bautista/ Lesigues/ Novabos/ Oclarit/ Po/ Rosas/ Salvador/ Tantuan / Verana

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6-13-2012

Succession
Definition. - Art. 774. Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and
obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death
to another or others either by his will or by operation of law.

What is acquired by the person who succeeds the property of a decedent? Ownership
Art. 712. Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.
Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by
estate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts, by tradition.
They may also be acquired by means of prescription.

Materially/Objectively, what do you acquire from the decedent? Real and personal property (tangible
and intangible), transmissible rights and obligations.

To the extent of the value of his inheritance.
The decedent dies without the benefit of payment of his obligation (50k), his estate is 40k, does that
suggest that you have to run to the rescue of the balance of 10k.? Asa kutob ang estate, naa ra diha ang
iyang obligation pagbayad.

Succession is mortis causa. In the time before the death of the testator, the testator can modify,
withdraw, alter, and revoke his will because the will is not yet in effect since the testator is still alive. The
last will and testament will only take effect upon the death of the testator.

If during lifetime he executed a valid will, the distribution of the property of the decedent shall be
dictated by the contents of the will so far as permissible by law. If he dies without a will, then
distribution will be by operation of law (legal/intestate succession).

Art. 775. In this Title, "decedent" is the general term applied to the person whose property is
transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will. If he left a will, he is also called the
testator.
If a person dies with a will, he is called a testator. If theres no will, a decedent. Although loosely
speaking, all testators can be called a decedent but not all decedents can be called testator.

Art. 776. The inheritance includes all the property, rights and obligations of a person which are not
extinguished by his death.
***The death of a usufructuary extinguishes the usufruct.

When succession deemed to have taken place/what operative act will make the succession effective?
Art. 777. The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent.
Succession Transcription Atty. Mayol

Bautista/ Lesigues/ Novabos/ Oclarit/ Po/ Rosas/ Salvador/ Tantuan / Verana

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The State (Republic of the Philippines) is the last heir thats why the property can never be ownerless.
The right to the inheritance is transmitted from the moment of death of the decedent. It is not the right
to the succession. Succession is the process that makes possible the acquisition of the inheritance.

Succession is classified into three under Art. 778. Succession may be:
(1) Testamentary; (your right to inherit is sourced from the last will and testament)
(2) Legal or intestate; (no will; the transfer of property is by operation of law; legitime)
(3) Mixed. (part testamentary, part by operation of law.)

Art. 779. Testamentary succession is that which results from the designation of an heir, made in a will
executed in the form prescribed by law.

Art. 780. Mixed succession is that effected partly by will and partly by operation of law.

Art. 781. The inheritance of a person includes not only the property and the transmissible rights and
obligations existing at the time of his death, but also those which have accrued thereto since the
opening of the succession.

Art. 782. An heir is a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of
law.
Devisees and legatees are persons to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given
by virtue of a will.

Generally, there are the heirs (ang mga tao nga nakadawat or nakapanunod). There are also those that
are called legacy (gift of personal property given by virtue of a will). For example, this car is a legacy
given by my late grandfather given to me. The recipient of the personal property is called the legatee
and the process is legacy. Real properties are referred to as devise; the recipient of such is called
devisee. The common denominator for both devise and legacy is that succession is testamentary
because it is founded upon a valid will. Theres no devise/legacy that is not in a will.

Can we just use the term heir? Yes, the heir is all embracing. It embraces any person who succeeds the
property of another but then there are certain articles later on by which the heir, legatee and devisee
are separated. They have different rights and obligations. But generally talking if you are receiving
something from a deceased person, youll be referred to as an heir.

The operative acts that facilitate the transfer of the property from the dead to the living is the death of
the person. You should realize that there are two kinds of death.
1. Actual/Physical
2. Presumed Death
2.1. Ordinary Presumption of Death
2.2. Extraordinary/Qualified Presumption of Death

Succession Transcription Atty. Mayol

Bautista/ Lesigues/ Novabos/ Oclarit/ Po/ Rosas/ Salvador/ Tantuan / Verana

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Art. 390. After an absence of seven years, it being unknown whether or not the absentee still lives, he
shall be presumed dead for all purposes, except for those of succession.
The absentee shall not be presumed dead for the purpose of opening his succession till after an
absence of ten years. If he disappeared after the age of seventy-five years, an absence of five years
shall be sufficient in order that his succession may be opened.

2.1 Ordinary Absence. For purposes of succession, an absence of ten years is required for a person to be
presumed dead under ordinary circumstance. But if the person is after the age of 75, only 5 years of
absence is required to open his succession.

Art. 391. The following shall be presumed dead for all purposes, including the division of the estate
among the heirs:
(1) A person on board a vessel lost during a sea voyage, or an aeroplane which is missing, who has not
been heard of for four years since the loss of the vessel or aeroplane;
(2) A person in the armed forces who has taken part in war, and has been missing for four years;
(3) A person who has been in danger of death under other circumstances and his existence has not
been known for four years.

2.2 Extraordinary Absence. The common denominator of the three: existence unknown/unheard for
four years. So what then is the result? The heirs may now partition the property after four years
counted from the death of the occurrence of the event.

What then is the difference between 390 and 391? In 390 you must allow ten years to lapse before the
presumption of death can set in. In 391, for example in year 2000 a passenger of a commercial aircraft
was reported missing, this possession and enjoyment of his property is left to the heir during the time
he is missing but the property cant be divided before the lapse of four years. The date of death is
retroactive. In 2004, the property can now be divided. In extraordinary, you became owner at the time
of the occurrence of the event which was four years ago. The four year period is only the holdover for
purposes of division of property and not ownership.


Wills
Definition. Art. 783. A will is an act whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by
law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of this estate, to take effect after his death.

A will is generally an act of disposition because you are to name the person of the recipient and likewise
the thing that you are giving. Therefore in making a will, primordially you are disposing your property.
Only a natural person can execute a will. Permitted because a legitime is set aside by operation of law
and theres only a certain extent you can dispose freely. To control the disposition provided it does not
run counter against the restriction prescribed by law.

Succession Transcription Atty. Mayol

Bautista/ Lesigues/ Novabos/ Oclarit/ Po/ Rosas/ Salvador/ Tantuan / Verana

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Art. 784. The making of a will is a strictly personal act; it cannot be left in whole or in part of the
discretion of a third person, or accomplished through the instrumentality of an agent or attorney.
Will making is addressed to the sound discretion of the testator who and how the property should be
distributed. Nobody else can dictate to the testator what should the testamentary disposition be. No
other person can pass judgment for you.
Art. 785. The duration or efficacy of the designation of heirs, devisees or legatees, or the
determination of the portions which they are to take, when referred to by name, cannot be left to the
discretion of a third person.
Art. 787. The testator may not make a testamentary disposition in such manner that another person
has to determine whether or not it is to be operative.
Articles 785 & 787 - Same message as 784 but differently worded. (purely personal act)