What does a wife's inheritance in a Philippine inheritance law? - Lawyers in the Philippines (2024)

by Atty. Francesco C. Britanico | Updated: Oct 10, 2023 | Family Law, Estate Law, , Trusts and Wealth Management, Estate Taxes

Yes, a wife can inherit a husband’s inheritance under certain circ*mstances.

If the husband has already inherited the property before he passes away, the wife will inherit the property.

However, if the husband has already passed away before he inherits the property, the wife will not inherit the property.

So, whether or not a wife does inherit her husband’s estate can depend on the dates.

If a husband dies, the person who gets the property is the surviving spouse AS WELL AS any children of the deceased.

A wife is a legal heir of her husband.

Any child of the deceased husband are also legal heirs.

So, for example, if the deceased husband has illegitimate children and legitimate children, ALL these children inherit along with the spouse.

This holds true unless one of the parties was validly disinherited. (Inheritance rights of a surviving spouse in the Philippines are fairly protected given that Disinheritance is costly to do and relies on very narrow grounds).

Both a spouse and a child of the deceased inherit and share the same rights as heirs.

However, the amount that a spouse inherits may be more or less depending on number of children, whether those children are legitimate or illegitimate, and whether there was a will.

Let’s take one example first.

If there was a surviving spouse, 2 legitimate children and no will, a 1 million peso estate would be divided equally among them.

However, if there was a surviving spouse and 1 legitimate child and a will, then Php 500,000 goes to the child, Php 250,000 goes to the spouse, and the remainder is the free portion for disposition by the will.

The amount changes depending on different factors, so please look at my article Compulsory Heirs to understand what is applicable to you.

The legal wife and illegitimate children are both heirs.

As illegitimate children are considered compulsory heirs in the Philippines, they cannot be removed without a valid disinheritance from a will (which is difficult to do.)

However –

How much the spouse inherits (also called the legitime of surviving spouse in the Philippines) depends upon how many children the deceased had and what their status was.

For example –

If there is a surviving spouse, 1 legitimate child and 1 illegitimate child, Php 500,000 would be given to the legitimate child and Php 250,000 each would be given to the legal spouse and the illegitimate child.

Now, if there is a surviving spouse and 3 illegitimate children and no will, the surviving spouse would get Php 500,000 and the illegitimate children each inherit Php 166,667.

The share of a wife in inheritance from her husband depends on the number of children, their status and whether there is a will and it can get really, really complicated.

Please look at my article Compulsory Heirs to see what applies to you.

There is no easy solution for this.

It is possible to bring it to court, however, this is expensive.

It may be better to try to compromise with the other side.

No, there is no common law wife inheritance in the Philippines.

A common law wife is not considered an heir.

The only way that a common law wife can inherit is through a will.

A will must be validly created and then must be probated in court.

Most wills are not validly done, so if you are doing this, please consult with a lawyer.

Note also that you have to prove the will in court meaning that you will need to go to court and pay court filing fees of roughly 2% to the court. So, the filing fee of a 1 Million peso estate is about 20,000.

Consider if you wish to do this as it is a long and costly process.