In the early biblical and contemporary times, after one person dies, all of his properties are given to his descendants. However, the contemporary state of law has come up with referrals that pass particular properties upon a person’s death. These referrals in law do not, however, require that one does not leave the whole property to one person. In contrast, one may decide to share the estate amongst his or her siblings. This is accepted as long as one does not have children. Now, when a person has children but marries a second time, he may include the latter or pass it on through transferable rights of his or her spouse. In the same manner, it is advisable that others should have knowledge or information on their rights. Besides, an individual should have a last will and testament to address economic hardships and poverty. In this regard, this rule teaches us that by giving to others, a person enables them to maintain their living standard even after his or her death. Therefore, it is important to note that economic hardships convert over some degree of compunction.
Estate and inheritance in the Philippines is a social or civil law involving tribute to one’s ancestors or to the death of other individuals serving as one’s ancestors. This law defines the property, rights, and obligations that a person should consider to conform with the law. All the properties one leaves are part of the estate. There are two kinds of properties in a state as defined by the law: the estate land and the residuary estate. By estate, it means the property that you receive when you die. On the other hand, residuary estate refers to the property you get when you die. The estate involves two (2) types of law: the testate or intestate, and these laws are adjudicated by the personal properties which are the jewels, real estates, and religious items. The real properties are actually lands and houses. The other personal properties consist of the jewelry that you have and the sacred properties such as those of your religious denominations personal properties. The extrajudicial settlement of estate Philippines allows heirs to distribute the assets of a deceased person without court intervention.
Understanding Estate and Inheritance Laws in the Philippines
Philippines has the Republic Act 8424 or the National Internal Revenue Code and the Family Code. All of the laws, whether national or regional, are based on the Acts of Donations, Successions and Wills. This Act provides for the division of the properties of the decedent (in legal term, Salaysay Inchibinsiyo) and who will get how much. In fact, the rule seems to be unnecessarily complex and convoluted, but the legal formalities are as strict as in other jurisdictions. Intestate is a term related to dying without making a last will and testament. Within the code are a complex set of base rules that would be a complete set of rules if no one would make a last will and testament. If someone would make a last will and testament, the rules within the Act of Donations, Successions and Wills Act seemingly cannot be changed; effectively giving no one the capability of allocating assets based on their last will and testament.
This is an attempt to make everyone understand the concept of estate or inheritance and its implications. This is a concept everyone needs to understand even if you are not going to write a last will and testament. The “intestate” concept is very important, but it is usually something that people never talk about. This article attempts to explain the importance of the concept and also possibilities when people cannot agree on the inheritance of an estate of a major contributor. Understanding the process of extrajudicial settlement of estate in the Philippines is crucial for heirs to efficiently and legally transfer ownership of inherited properties.
The Process of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate in the Philippines
It has been said that the only option of the heirs occurs in the division of the communal property and in the settlement of the debts of the deceased and the determination of the shares falling to each of the heirs, whether legitimate or not. It is subject to three conditions, namely, that the deceased died intestate, that the legatees are all of age and enjoy civil rights, and the creditors give consent thereto. How property is to be divided by the heirs entitled to the same, and when it shall be the duty of the court granting the petition to hold said legal proceedings if the same are prayed for by interested party or parties.
Dr. Frederic Sawyer, in his writing “The Inhabitants of the Philippines” which came out in 1855, narrates the system followed by the natives in the distribution of the properties left by the deceased, and his account to us comes as a real comment on what he described. “The property of the deceased,” he says, “is divided equitably among the survivors by a judge who is termed umpoksu, or another person in whom they have confidence; to this sentence, when pronounced, it is customary to submit without dispute, everyone relying on the impartiality of the judge.” This, I may add, is a common practice among the inhabitants of the village of Tinta. At present, however, this practice is restricted to the distribution of the communal property. Any individual property of the villagers passes from one generation to another in accordance with the law of testate or intestate succession. An extrajudicial settlement of estate is a legal procedure enabling the heirs to amicably divide the deceased’s estate without lengthy court proceedings.
Benefits and Limitations of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate
As a rule, however, practicality has its drawbacks too. A document extrajudicially settling estate, whether notarized or not, is not meant to be opened and initiated at just any joinder of persons, especially if such persons are of different and opposing interests, confidentiality, and level of understanding of legal matters. An improper extrajudicial settlement of estate, especially when obtained with the intention of circumventing the law, has even been held to nullify a sale of a legal or successional rights, most especially when the sale is contrary to law, morals, and public policy. There lies a seeming benefit, therefore, in the rigorous procedures and requirements of a judicial settlement of estate, where everyone takes part and where every appearance and intervention is safeguarded by court orders and management for the interests of all concerned.
At first glance, an extrajudicial settlement of estate, as the term connotes, is the most cost-beneficial way to settle an estate. The expenses typically associated with a judicial settlement of estate – among those include attorney’s fees, costs and expenses for the publication of notices, and the like – are almost non-existent; there is not even any docket or filing fees to be paid to the court. With a minimum of two (2) witnesses to one (1) document of extrajudicial settlement of estate and the notarization of the same document, the heirs of a decedent may line up any day, any time in the year to have the shorthand procedure notarized by a notary public if, as a practical matter, applying for probate of a Last Will and Testament may not be expedient.
Sutton and Anderson suggest that while property is a right, “people learn to ‘read’ land so to speak, in ways that are aurally, kinetically, and haptically informed.” They talk of the ability of family members to read the landscape with “embodied knowledge that tells them who is buried at a particular spot in their complex web of kin connections.” They point out that “once one or more party fails to recognize these rich mnemonic hotspots, the larger hegemony over land ceases.” While usually associated with anthropological research, this account of the diminishing significance of the mnemonic hotspots finds echoes in the guardian discussion made above. They also recognize that new lands may be bought as a patriarch’s burial place. Rudimentary as the local land and family practices may seem to the external observer, they are in fact highly sophisticated mechanisms for the dotage support of living members.
Clearly, Philippine landed estates and family dynamics are complex phenomena with deeply embedded cultural roots. The continuation of landholding by elite families is related to the country’s colonial history, where the Spanish government used land grants to gain local hegemony, and where the American government developed the individual freehold system to foster a strong middle class, which had implications on land control and land dispersion among local families. The traditional dependence of the Filipino family on the elders and the preference for usufruct over property transactions in setting out land arrangements have permitted the perpetuation by the family elders of the legacy of the ancestors as exemplified by initial observations in the guardian system. The preference for surnames of fathers over mothers has thus facilitated land estate consolidation. When the perceived need to sell the land has arisen, it has often been the result of distance from the larger group of family members who continue to reside in closer proximity to the land itself. This is most evident when the lands were sold by siblings who had relocated away from the rest of the family after having completed their education.