Civil Law Bar Lecture 2023 Prop - Wills - JGP

CIVIL LAW
REVIEW
Bar
Examinations
2023
Atty. Joeffrey G. Pagdanganan, REB, LL.M

BAR EXAMINATIONS 2023 SCHEDULE
OUTLINE
1. Persons and Family Relations (1-161)
2. Property, Ownership, and Its Modifications (163-231, 612-738, 772-828)
3. Obligations and Contracts (235-352)
4. Special Contracts (358-425, 428-443, 492-514, 742-753, 518-557, 558-608)

PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS
I. Persons
II. Marriage
PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP, AND ITS
MODIFICATIONS
I. Classification of Property
II. Bundle of Rights
III. Different Modes of Acquiring Ownership
IV. Land, Titles, and Deeds
V. Wills and Succession

OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS
I. Obligations
II. Contracts
III. Natural Obligations

SPECIAL CONTRACTS
I. Sales
II. Lease
III. Agency
IV. Credit Transactions
V. Compromise
VI. Quasi-Contracts
VII. Torts and Damages

PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS
I. (insert)
MODIFICATIONS
I. CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
1. IMMOVABLE PROPERTY (Article 415, NCC)

a) By Nature
b) By Incorporation
c) By Destination
d) By Analogy
MODIFICATIONS
IMMOVABLE BY NATURE AND BY INCORPORATION:
Land, buildings, roads and constructions of all kinds adhered to the soil. (Art.
415(1), NCC)
• Land
• Building
• Trees and Plants
• Growing Fruits
MODIFICATIONS
IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION:
Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that it

cannot be separated therefrom without breaking the material or deterioration of
the object. (Art. 415(3), NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:
Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in

buildings or on lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner that it
reveals the intention to attach them permanently to the tenements. (Art. 415(4),
NCC)
Requisites:
1) Placed in buildings or on lands by the owner of the immovable or by
his agent; and
2) Placed there in a manner that it reveals the intention to attach them
permanently to the tenements.
MODIFICATIONS
Machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the

tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or on a
piece of land & which tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or
works. (Art. 415(5), NCC)
• Equipment and living quarters of crew permanently attached

MODIFICATIONS
Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fishponds or breeding places of similar

nature, in case their owner has placed them or preserves them with the intention
to have them permanently attached to the land, and forming a permanent part of
it; the animals in these places are included. (Art. 415(6), NCC)
• Animal houses, pigeon houses, etc.

• Beehives, fishponds, or breeding places of similar nature
• Animals contained therein are included
MODIFICATIONS
Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land. (Art. 415(7), NCC)

MODIFICATIONS
Mines, quarries and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed,
and waters either running or stagnant. (Art. 415(8), NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Docks and structure which, though floating, are intended by their nature and
object to remain at a fixed place on a river, lake or coast. (Art. 415(9), NCC)
• Power barges
• Floating platforms
MODIFICATIONS
IMMOVABLE BY ANALOGY:
Contracts for public works and servitudes and other real rights over immovable
property. (Art. 415(10), NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
I. CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY
2. MOVABLE PROPERTY (Article 416, 417, 418, NCC)

a) Movables Susceptible of appropriation not included in Art. 415, NCC.
b) Real property which by any Special provision of law considers as
personality.
c) Forces of nature brought under the control of science.
d) All things which can be transported from place to place without
impairment of the real property to which they are fixed.
e) Obligations and actions which have for their object movables or
demandable sums.
f) Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial and industrial entities,
although they have real estate.
MODIFICATIONS
II. BUNDLE OF RIGHTS
1. OWNERSHIP
Ownership may be exercised over things or rights. (Art. 427, NCC)

MODIFICATIONS
Kinds of Ownership:
1) Full ownership
2) Naked ownership
3) Sole ownership
4) Co-ownership
Attributes of Ownership
5) Jus utendi – right to enjoy
6) Jus fruendi – right to the fruits
7) Jus abutendi – right to abuse
8) Jus dispodendi – right to dispose
9) Jus vindicandi – right to recover
10) Jus accessiones – right to accessories
11) Jus possidendi – right to possess
MODIFICATIONS
2. RIGHTS OF ACCESSION
The right pertaining to the owner of a thing over everything which is produced
thereby, or which is incorporated or attached thereto, either naturally or
artificially. (Art. 440, NCC)
• Accession is NOT a mode of acquiring ownership.
Two Kinds:
1) Accession Industrial
2) Accession Natural
MODIFICATIONS
ACCESSION INDUSTRIAL:
Three Kinds:
1) Building
2) Planting
3) Sowing
Principles:
4) The accessory follows the principal.
5) The accessory follows the nature of that to which it relates.
6) What is built upon the land goes with it, or the land is the principal
and whatever is built on it becomes the accessory.
MODIFICATIONS
GR: The owner of the land is the owner of whatever is built, planted or sown
on that land, including the improvements or repairs made thereon.
XPNs:
1) When the doer is in good faith, the rule is modified; or
2) Improvements on the land of one of the spouses at the expense of the
conjugal partnership will belong to the partnership or to the spouse
who owns the land depending on which of the two properties has a
higher value. (Art. 120, F.C.)
MODIFICATIONS
Good Faith vs. Bad Faith
GOOD FAITH– a person who is not aware that there exists in his title or
mode of acquisition any flaw which invalidates the same.
BAD FAITH – a person who is aware that there exists in his title or mode of
acquisition any flaw which invalidates the same.
• Good faith is always presumed; he who alleges bad faith rests the
burden of proof. (Art. 527, NCC)
• If both parties are in bad faith, the bad faith of one cancels the bad
faith of the other. Hence, both are considered in good faith.
MODIFICATIONS
Rights of a Builder (B)/Planter (P) /Sower (S) in GOOD FAITH:

1) He who alleges bad faith on the part of the BPS has the burden of
proof.
2) The BPS may retain the thing until he has been reimbursed by the
landowner.
3) If useful improvements can be removed without damage to the
principal thing, BPS may remove them.
4) The BPS shall not be refunded for the expenses of pure luxury/mere
pleasure, but he may remove them if the principal thing will suffer
no injury, and if the successor in possession does not prefer to refund
the amount.
5) If BPS pays the owner of the materials, he may demand from
landowner the value of the same.
MODIFICATIONS
ACCESSION NATURAL:
Four Kinds:
1) Alluvium
2) Avulsion
3) Change of course of rivers
4) Formation of Islands
MODIFICATIONS
ACCESSION NATURAL:
Alluvium
Article 457. To the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong the
accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the
waters.
• The soil deposited or added to the lands adjoining the banks of rivers
and gradually received as an effect of the current of the waters.
Requisites:
1) The deposit should be gradual and imperceptible.
2) The cause is the current of river.
3) It cannot be done artificially.
4) The land where accretion takes place is adjacent to the bank of river.
5) The owner of the adjacent land will own the increase or deposited
soil.
MODIFICATIONS
ACCESSION NATURAL:
Avulsion
Article 459. Whenever the current of a river, creek or torrent segregates from an

estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another estate,
the owner of the land to which the segregated portion belonged retains the
ownership of it, provided that he removes the same within two years.
• The process of the removal of a considerable quantity of soil to the

land of another, suddenly, and by perceptible action of the water.
Requisites:
1) Sudden and violent.
2) The land is identifiable and known.
3) The owner of the land detached retains ownership – subject to
removal of the same within 2 years.
MODIFICATIONS
3. ACTIONS TO RECOVER OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION
Kinds:
1) Accion Reinvidicatoria
2) Accion Publiciana
3) Accion Interdictal
4) Quieting of Title
MODIFICATIONS
ACCION REINVINDICATORIA:
• It is an action whereby the plaintiff alleges ownership over a parcel of

land and seeks recovery of its full possession.
Requisites:
1) Identity of the property.
2) Plaintiff’s title to the property (Torren’s title, tax receipts, tax
declarations, long and actual possession prior to dispossession, etc.).
• The burden of proof lies on the party who asserts the affirmative of
an issue.
• The description of the property must be so definite that the court can
go to the place where the land is situated and could locate it.
MODIFICATIONS
ACCION PUBLICIANA:
• It refers to an ejectment suit within ten (10) years which can be filed
after the expiration of one (1) year from the dispossession or accrual
of the cause of action – the unlawful dispossession of real property.
• If at the time of the filing of the complaint, more than 1 year had
elapsed since the defendant turned the plaintiff out of possession or
the defendant’s possession had become illegal, the action will be, not
one of the forcible entry or illegal detainer, but an accion publiciana.
• It is an action for recovery of the right to possess and is a plenary

action in an ordinary civil proceeding to determine the better right of
possession of real property independent of the title or ownership of
the property.
MODIFICATIONS
ACCION INTERDICTAL:
• It is a summary action to recover physical or material possession only

of the real property, and it must be brought within one (1) year from
the time of dispossession or the cause of action arises.
Classifications:
1) Forcible Entry
2) Unlawful Detainer
MODIFICATIONS
ACCION INTERDICTAL:
Forcible Entry vs. Unlawful Detainer
FORCIBLE ENTRY UNLAWFUL DETAINER
Possession of the defendant is unlawful from Possession of the defendant is lawful in the
the beginning, as he acquired possession beginning but becomes illegal from the time
through – Force, Intimidation, Stealth, Threat, he unlawfully withholds possession of the
or Strategy. property after the expiration or termination of
his right to possess.
No previous demand for the defendant to Demand to pay and vacate is necessary and
vacate is necessary. jurisdictional if the ground is non-payment of
rentals or failure to comply with lease
contract.
The plaintiff must prove that he was in prior The plaintiff need not have been in prior
physical possession of the property. physical possession.
1 year period is counted from the date of 1 year period is counted from the date of the
actual entry or possession of defendant. last demand.
MODIFICATIONS
QUIETING OF TITLE:
Art. 476. Whenever there is a cloud on title to real property or any interest
therein, by reason of any instrument, record, claim, encumbrance or proceeding
which is apparently valid or effective but is in truth and in fact invalid,
ineffective, voidable, or unenforceable, and may be prejudicial to said title, an
action may be brought to remove such cloud or to quiet the title.
An action may also be brought to prevent a cloud from being cast upon title to
real property or any interest therein.
Art. 477. The plaintiff must have legal or equitable title to, or interest in the
real property which is the subject-matter of the action. He need not be in
possession of said property.
MODIFICATIONS
QUIETING OF TITLE:
Requisites:
1) The plaintiff has a legal or equitable title to or interest in the real
property subject of the action.
2) The deed, claim, encumbrance, or proceeding claimed to be casting a
cloud on his title must be shown to be in fact invalid or inoperative
despite its prima facie appearance of validity or legal efficacy.
MODIFICATIONS
QUIETING OF TITLE:
• Cloud on a title exists when:

 there is an instrument (deed, or contract) or record or claim or
encumbrance or proceeding;
 which is apparently valid or effective;
 but is, in truth and in fact, invalid, ineffective, voidable, or
unenforceable, or extinguished (or terminated) or barred by
extinctive prescription; and
 and may be prejudicial to the title.
MODIFICATIONS
QUIETING OF TITLE:
• In an action for quieting of title, the subject matter is the title sought to
have quieted.
• “Title” is not limited to the certificate of registration under the
Torrens System (i.e., OCT or TCT), the plaintiff must have legal or
equitable title to, or interest in, the real property subject of the action
for quieting of title. The plaintiff need not even be in possession of the
property.
MODIFICATIONS
QUIETING OF TITLE:
“There is no prescription when in an action for reconveyance, the claimant is

in actual possession of the property because this in effect is an action for
quieting of title: since if a person claiming to be the owner thereof is in actual
possession of the property, as the defendants are in the instant case, the right
to seek reconveyance, which in effect seeks to quiet title to the property, does
not prescribe.
The reason for this is that one who is in actual possession of a piece of land
claiming to be the owner thereof may wait until his possession is disturbed
or his title is attacked before taking steps to vindicate his right, the reason for
the rule being, that his undisturbed possession gives him a continuing right
to seek the aid of a court of equity to ascertain and determine the nature of
the adverse claim of a third party and its effect on his own title, which right
can be claimed only by one who is in possession.” (PNBv. Jumamoy, G.R.
No. 169901, August 3, 2011)
MODIFICATIONS
4. CO-OWNERSHIP
• There is co-ownership whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or
right belongs to different persons.
• It is the right of common dominion that two or more persons have in an

ideal part of the thing which is not physically divided.
MODIFICATIONS
Right to Property Owned in Common vs. Full Ownership Over Ideal Share
RIGHT TO PROPERTY OWNED IN COMMON – each co-owner is granted

the right to use the property owned in common for the purpose for which it
is intended.
Restrictions:
1) The co-ownership shall not be injured.
2) The exercise shall not prevent other co-owners from using the
property according to their own rights.
MODIFICATIONS
Right to Property Owned in Common vs. Full Ownership Over Ideal Share
FULL OWNERSHIP OVER HIS IDEAL SHARE –
Article 486. Each co-owner may use the thing owned in common, provided he does so
in accordance with the purpose for which it is intended and in such a way as not
to injure the interest of the co-ownership or prevent the other co-owners from
using it according to their rights.
Article 493. Each co-owner shall have the full ownership of his part and of the
fruits and benefits pertaining thereto, and he may therefore alienate, assign or
mortgage it, and even substitute another person in its enjoyment, except when
personal rights are involved. But the effect of the alienation or the mortgage,
with respect to the co-owners, shall be limited to the portion which may be
allotted to him in the division upon the termination of the co-ownership.
MODIFICATIONS
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR EXPENSES:
Kinds:
1) Necessary Expenses
2) Useful Expenses
3) Ornamental Expenses
• Necessary expenses are the only expenses that the co-owners can be
compelled to contribute.
MODIFICATIONS
REDEMPTION:
The shares of all or any other co-owner if sold to a third person may be redeemed
by a co-owner. If two or more co-owners want to redeem, they may do so in
proportion to the shares they respectively have. (Art. 1620, NCC)
• Redemption of the whole property by a co-owner does not vest in him

sole ownership over said property. Redemption within the period
prescribed by law will inure to the benefit of all co-owners. Hence, it
will not put an end to existing co-ownership.
MODIFICATIONS
REDEMPTION:
Once the property is subdivided and distributed among the co-owners, the
community ceases to exist and there is no more reason to sustain any right of
legal redemption. The exercise of this right presupposes the existence of a co-
ownership at the time the conveyance is made by a co-owner and when it is
demanded by the other co-owners. (Vda. de Ape v. CA, G.R. No. 133638, 15
Apr. 2005)
MODIFICATIONS
REDEMPTION:
While a co-owner has the right to freely sell and dispose of his undivided
interest, nevertheless, as a co-owner, he cannot alienate the shares of his
other co-owners. The disposition made by Villaner affects only his share pro
indiviso, and the transferee gets only what corresponds to his grantor's share
in the partition of the property owned in common. The property being
conjugal, Villaner's interest in it is the undivided one-half portion. When his
wife died, her rights to the other half was vested to her heirs including
Villaner and their eight (8) legitimate children. (Acabal v. Acabal, G.R. No.
148376, 31 Mar.2005)
MODIFICATIONS
PARTITION:
Effects of Partition of Co-ownership:

1) It confers upon the co-owner exclusive title over the property
adjudicated to him.
2) Possession of the co-owner over the property adjudicated to him
shall be deemed exclusive for the period during which the co-
possession lasted.
MODIFICATIONS
PARTITION:
Remedies in case co-owners cannot agree on the Partition:

1) Real Property – Action for Partition under Rule 69 of Rules of Court
may be filed.
2) Personal Property – it may be sold under the discretion of the court
and the proceeds shall be divided among the owners after deducting
any necessary expenses.
MODIFICATIONS
PARTITION:
A partition can be effected through:

1) By agreement
2) By judicial proceedings
MODIFICATIONS
5. POSSESSION
It refers to the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right. (Art. 523, NCC)
Requisites:
1) Existence of the thing or right.
2) Possession in fact or the holding of a thing or right.
3) Animus possidendi or the deliberate intent to possess.
4) Possession by virtue of one’s own right – as an owner or as a holder.
MODIFICATIONS
POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF A HOLDER:
• Lessees or those merely permitted to occupy

• Trustees
• Antichretic creditors
• Agents
• Attorneys/Counsels as to their client’s properties
• Depositaries
• Co-owners
MODIFICATIONS
POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF AN OWNER:
• The possessor can eventually become the owner through acquisitive

prescription.
• The possession must be adverse, public, and to the exclusion of all.
MODIFICATIONS
RELEVANCE OF GOOD FAITH AND BAD FAITH:

POSSESSION IN GOOD FAITH POSSESSION IN BAD FAITH
Entitled to fruits received before the possession is legally Must reimburse the fruits received and those which the
interrupted. legitimate possessor could have received.
Liable with legitimate possessor for expenses of No rights as to pending fruits.
cultivation for pending fruits and shall have a share in the
net harvest in proportion to the time of their possession.
Necessary Expenses – has the right of reimbursement and Necessary Expenses – has the right of reimbursement
retention. only.
Useful Expenses – has the right of reimbursement, Useful Expenses – no right.

retention, and limited right of removal.
Ornamental Expenses – No right of reimbursement, but Ornamental Expenses – No right of reimbursement, but
has a limited right of removal. has a limited right of removal.
Not liable in case of loss/deterioration. Except, Always liable.

loss/deterioration was due to his negligence.
MODIFICATIONS
RULES AS TO MOVABLES:
Possessor in Bad Faith – he has no right over the movable thing.

Possessor in Good Faith – he has presumed ownership equivalent to title.
GR: “Doctrine of Irrevindicability”
The possession of movable property acquired in good faith is equivalent to title

and the true owner cannot recover such movable. (Art. 559(1), NCC)
XPNs:
1) The owner has lost a movable.
2) The owner has been unlawfully deprived of a movable.
XPN to XPNs: Where the movable is acquired in good faith at a public sale,
the owner must first reimburse the price to recover the same.
MODIFICATIONS
RULES AS TO MOVABLES:
Whoever finds a lost movable, which is not a treasure, must return it to its
previous possessor. If the latter is unknown, the finder shall immediately
deposit it with the mayor of the city or municipality where the finding has taken
place. The mayor in turn must publicly announce the finding of the property for
two (2) consecutive weeks. (Art. 719(1-2), NCC)
If the movable cannot be kept without deterioration, or without expenses which

considerably diminish its value, it shall be sold at public auction eight (8)
days after the publication. (Art. 719(3), NCC)
If the owner or previous possessor did not appear after six (6) months from the
publication, the thing found or its value or proceeds if there was a sale, shall
be awarded to the finder. The finder, however, shall pay for the expenses
incurred for the publication. (Art. 719(4), NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
5. USUFRUCT
• The right of a person called usufructuary to enjoy the property of another

called the owner, with the obligation of returning it at the designated time
and preserving its form and substance, unless otherwise provided.
A usufruct can be constituted in favor of a town, corporation or association, but it

cannot be for more than 50 years. (Art. 605, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
RIGHTS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY:
1) To receive the fruits of the property in usufruct and half of the

hidden treasure he will accidentally find on the property.
2) To enjoy any increase in the property through accession.
3) To retain the thing until he is reimbursed for advances for
extraordinary expenses.
4) To make such improvements he may deem proper and to remove
them provided no damage is caused to the property.
5) To collect reimbursements from the owner for indispensable
extraordinary repairs, taxes, and damages.
6) To personally enjoy the thing or lease it to another for the same or
shorter period of the usufruct.
7) To set off the improvements he made on the property against any
damage he caused therein.
MODIFICATIONS
OBLIGATIONS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY:
BEFORE the usufruct:

1) To make an inventory
2) To give security
DURING the usufruct:

3) To take care of the property.
4) To replace the young of animals that die or are lost.
5) To make ordinary repairs.
6) To notify the owner of urgent extraordinary repairs, or any
prejudicial act committed by third persons.
7) To permit works and improvements by the naked owner.
8) To pay annual taxes, interests, and charges.
9) To pay debts.
10) To secure the naked owner or the court’s approval to collect credits.
11) To pay for court expenses and costs.
MODIFICATIONS
OBLIGATIONS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY:
AFTER/AT THE TERMINATION of the usufruct:

1) To return the thing, unless there is a right of retention.
2) To pay legal interest for the time that the usufruct lasts.
3) To indemnify the naked owner for any losses due to his negligence.
MODIFICATIONS
CLASSES OF USUFRUCT:
1. As to Origin:
a) Legal Usufruct
b) Voluntary Usufruct
c) Mixed/Prescriptive Usufruct
2. As to Beneficiaries:
a) Simple
b) Multiple
3. As to Object:
a) Total
b) Partial
MODIFICATIONS
CLASSES OF USUFRUCT:
1. As to the Subject Matter:

a) Over things
b) Over rights
2. As to Effectivity or Extinguishment:
a) Pure
b) With a term
c) Conditional
MODIFICATIONS
EXTINGUISHMENT OF USUFRUCT:
1. Acquisitive Prescription
2. Total Loss of the thing
3. Death of the usufructuary
4. Termination of the right of the person constituting the usufruct
5. Expiration of the term/period
6. Fulfillment of the resolutory condition
7. Renunciation by the usufructuary
8. Merger of the usufruct and ownership in the same person who becomes
the absolute owner.
MODIFICATIONS
6. EASEMENTS
Article 613. An easement or servitude is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for

the benefit of another immovable belonging to a different owner.
The immovable in favor of which the easement is established is called the dominant
estate; that which is subject thereto, the servient estate.
Article 614. Servitudes may also be established for the benefit of a community, or of

one or more persons to whom the encumbered estate does not belong.
MODIFICATIONS
CHARACTERISTICS OF EASEMENTS:
1. It is a right that is limited by the needs of the dominant owner.

2. It is inseparable from the property to which it is attached, and thus
cannot be alienated independently.
3. It involves two (2) neighboring estates – the dominant estate where the
right belongs, and the serviant estate where an obligation rests.
4. It is a limitation on the servient owner’s rights of ownership over the
property.
5. It is indivisible, and thus not affected by the division of the estate.
6. It is enjoyed over another immovable.
7. It is a real right but will only affect third persons once registered.
MODIFICATIONS
KINDS OF EASEMENTS:
1. As to the Recipient of Benefit:

a) Real
b) Personal
2. As to the Manner of Exercise:

a) Continuous
b) Discontinuous
3. As to whether their existence is Indicated:

a) Apparent
b) Non-apparent
MODIFICATIONS
KINDS OF EASEMENTS:
4. As to the Right given:

a) Right to partially use the servient estate
b) Right to get specific materials/objects from servient estate
c) Right to participate in the ownership
d) Right to impede or prevent the neighboring state from
performing a specific act of ownership
5. As to the Source:
a) Legal
b) Voluntary
c) Mixed
6. As to the Duty of Servient Owner:

a) Positive
b) Negative
MODIFICATIONS
EFFECTS OF EASEMENTS:
Where the easement may be established on any of several tenements

surrounding the dominant estate, the one where the way is shortest and will
cause the least damage should be chosen.
However, if these two circumstances do not concur in a single tenement, the

way which will cause the least damage should be used, even if it will not be
the shortest.
MODIFICATIONS
EXTINGUISHMENT OF EASEMENTS:
1. By merger in the same person of the ownership of the dominant and

servient estate.
2. By non-user for ten (10) years. (For Discontinuous easements, this period
shall be computed from the day when they ceased to be used. For
Continuous, from the day when an act contrary to the same took place)
3. When either or both of the estate fall into such condition that the
easement cannot be used anymore.
4. By the expiration of the term or the fulfillment of the condition, if its is
conditional or temporary only.
5. By the renunciation of the owner of the dominant estate.
6. By the redemption agreed upon between the owners of the dominant
and servient estates.
MODIFICATIONS
III. DIFFERENT MODES OF ACQUIRING OWNERSHIP
1. OCCUPATION
Article 713. Things appropriable by nature which are without an owner, such as

animals that are the object of hunting and fishing, hidden treasure and abandoned
movables, are acquired by occupation.
• It is the acquisition of ownership by seizing corporeal things that

have no owner, made with the intention of acquiring them and
accomplished according to legal rules.
• Only movables can be the object of occupation for the purposes of

acquiring ownership. Immovables are not included. (Sta. Maria,
2021)
MODIFICATIONS
Requisites of Occupation:
1) The seizure of a thing.
2) The thing must be corporeal personal property.
3) The thing must be susceptible to appropriation by nature.
4) The thing must be without an owner.
5) The intention to acquire ownership.
• Things without an owner

• Animals that are objects of hunting and fishing
• Hidden treasures
• Abandoned movables
• Domesticated animals that escaped from their owners
• Transfer of fish, bees, pigeons, etc.
MODIFICATIONS
2. TRADITION
• A derivative mode by virtue of which they are transmitted from

the patrimony of the grantor to that of the grantee by means of a
just title, there being both the intention and the capacity on the
part of both parties.
Requisites of Tradition:
1) The right to be transmitted should have previously existed in the
patrimony of the grantor.
2) The transmission is by virtue of just title.
3) Both grantor and grantee have the intention and capacity to transmit
and acquire.
4) The transmission should be manifested by some act – physical,
symbolic, or legal.
MODIFICATIONS
Kinds of Tradition:
1) Real Transfer
2) Constructive Transfer
 Traditio symbolica
 Traditio longa manu
 Traditio brevi manu
 Traditio constitutum possessorium
MODIFICATIONS
3. DONATION
Donation is an act of pure liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously of a

thing or right in favor of another who accepts it. (Art. 725, NCC)
Requisites of Donation:
1) Capacity to donate of the donor.
2) Donative intent or animus donandi of the donor.
3) Delivery in certain cases
4) Acceptance or consent of the done during the lifetime of the donor.
MODIFICATIONS
CLASSIFICATIONS OF DONATION:
1. As to Cause or Motive:
a) Simple
b) Remuneratory
c) Conditional/Modal
d) Onerous
2. As to Perfection or Extinguishment:
a) Pure
b) Conditional
c) With a term
3. As to Effectivity:
a) Inter vivos
b) Mortis causa
c) Propter nuptias
MODIFICATIONS
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DONATIONS MORTIS CAUSA & INTER VIVOS:
DONATION MORTIS CAUSA DONATION INTER VIVOS

A donation that is to take effect upon the death of the A donation which takes effect during the lifetime of the
donor. donor.
Always revocable at any time before the donor’s death. Generally irrevocable, except for grounds under the law.
Must comply with the formalities of a will. Must comply with the formalities of donations.
Acceptance shall be made after the donor’s death. Acceptance must be made during the donor’s lifetime.
Tax payable: Estate tax Tax payable: Donor’s tax

MODIFICATIONS
FORMS OF DONATION:
1. As to Movable Property:
a) Simultaneous delivery
 P5k or less – oral or written
 P5k or more – written either in a public or private document
b) No Simultaneous delivery – Both donation and acceptance must
be written in a public or private instrument regardless of value.
2. As to Immovable Property:
a) Public Instrument – both the donation and the acceptance
b) Another Public Instrument – acceptance of the donee
MODIFICATIONS
LIMITATIONS OF DONATION:
Limitations:
1) Donors must reserve sufficient means for support.
2) The donation cannot comprehend future property, except between
future husband and wife.
3) No person may give more than he may give by will.
MODIFICATIONS
LIMITATIONS OF DONATION:
Prohibited Donations under the Law:

1) By persons guilty of adultery or concubinage at the time of donation.
2) Between persons found guilty of the same criminal offense, in
consideration thereof.
3) Those made to a public officer, his wife, descendants, and
ascendants, by reason of his office.
4) By spouses to each other during the marriage.
5) Due to relative incapacity to succeed.
6) By individuals, associations, or corporations not permitted by law to
make donations.
7) By a ward to the guardian before approval of accounts.
8) To the priest who heard the confession of the donor during the
latter’s last illness, or to the relatives of a priest within 4th degree.
9) To an attesting witness to the executions of donations.
10) To a physician, surgeon, nurse, who took care of the donor during
MODIFICATIONS
GROUNDS FOR REVOCATION OF DONATION:
1. Article 760, NCC

2. Article 764, NCC
3. Article 765, NCC
MODIFICATIONS
GROUNDS FOR REDUCTION OF DONATION:
1. The same grounds for revocation under Art. 760, NCC.
The donation shall be reduced insofar as it exceeds the portion that may be
freely disposed of by will, considering the whole estate of the donor at the
time of the birth, appearance, or adoption of a child.
MODIFICATIONS
REVOCATION AND REDUCTION OF DONATION:
The emergence of the circumstances enumerated in Art. 760, NCC does not
automatically revoke or reduce the donation. The revocation or reduction is
authorized only if the amount or value of the property donated exceeds the
disposable free portion.
MODIFICATIONS
3. PRESCRIPTION
It is a means of acquiring ownership and other real rights or losing rights or

actions to enforce such rights through the lapse of time. Prescription applies
to ownership and other real rights as well as to rights and actions of any kind
whatsoever. (De Leon, 2006).
MODIFICATIONS
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXTINCTIVE PRESCRIPTION AND LACHES:
EXTINCTIVE PRESCRIPTION LACHES

When a party delays itself in time as provided for by law, When a party was negligent or has failed to assert a right
thus he may either acquire or lose possession or rights within a reasonable time, thus giving rise to presumption
over a thing. that he abandoned it.
MODIFICATIONS
III. LAND, TITLES, AND DEEDS
1. TORRENS SYSTEM
In this system, title by registration takes the place of "title by deeds" of the
system under the "general” law. A sale of land is effected by a registered
transfer, upon which a certificate of title is issued.
The certificate is guaranteed by statute, and, with certain exceptions,

constitutes indefeasible title to the land mentioned therein. (Agcaoili, 2011)
The system generally means those systems of registration of transactions

with interest in land whose declared object, under governmental authority,
to establish and certify to the ownership of an absolute and indefeasible title
to realty, and simplify the transfer.
MODIFICATIONS
IV. LAND, TITLES, AND DEEDS
1. TORRENS SYSTEM
Registration is not a mode of acquiring ownership but is merely a procedure

to establish evidence of title over realty. It does not give the holder any better
title than what he actually has. (Solid State Multi-Products Corp. v. DBP,
G.R. No. 83383, 06 May 1991)
MODIFICATIONS
IV. LAND, TITLES, AND DEEDS
1. TORRENS SYSTEM
Every conveyance, mortgage, lease, lien, attachment, order, judgment,

instrument or entry affecting registered land shall, if registered, filed or
entered in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province or city where
the land to which it relates lies, be constructive notice to all persons from the
time of such registering, filing or entering. (Sec. 52, P.D. 1529)
MODIFICATIONS
Judicial and Quasi-judicial bodies covering land registration under Torrens

System:
1) Courts
2) DENR
3) DOJ – through LRA and its RDs
4) Department of Land Reform
5) Department of Agriculture
MODIFICATIONS
2. REGALIAN DOCTRINE
GR:
All lands of whatever classification and other natural resources not otherwise
appearing to be clearly within private ownership are presumed to belong to
the State which is the source of any asserted right to ownership of land.
(Republic v. Sin, G.R. No. 157485, 26 Mar. 2014)
XPN:
The Regalian Doctrine does not negate native title to lands held in private
ownership since time immemorial.
When as far back as testimony or memory goes, the land has been held by
individuals under a claim of private ownership, it will be presumed to have
been held in the same way before the Spanish conquest, and never to have
been public land. (Cariño v. Insular Government, 212 U.S. 449, 23 Feb. 1909)
MODIFICATIONS
3. NATIONALITY RESTRICTIONS ON LAND OWNERSHIP
GR:
Only Filipino citizens and corporations or partnerships with at least 60% of
the shares owned by Filipinos are entitled to own or acquire land in the
Philippines subject to the following exceptions: acquired before the 1935
Philippine Constitution.
XPNs:
Those acquired before the 1935 Philippine Constitution.
MODIFICATIONS
4. ORIGINAL REGISTRATION (PD 1529)
Kinds:
1) Judicial/Voluntary/Ordinary – filing with the proper court
2) Administrative/Involuntary/Cadastral – compulsory registration
initiated by the government
MODIFICATIONS
WHO MAY APPLY:
1. Those who or through their predecessors-in-interest have been in open,

continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and occupation of
alienable and disposable lands of the public domain under a bona fide
claim of ownership since June 12, 1945 or earlier.
2. Those who have acquired ownership over private lands by prescription

under the law.
3. Those who have acquired ownership of private lands or abandoned river

beds by rights of accession or accretion under the existing laws.
4. Those who have acquired ownership of land by any other manner
provided for by law
5. Where the land is owned in common, all the co-owners shall file the
application/registration jointly.
MODIFICATIONS
DECREE OF REGISTRATION:
• It is issued by the LRA after the finality of judgment and contains a

technical description of the land.
• It is subject only to an appeal. It is conclusive evidence of the

ownership of the land referred to therein and becomes indefeasible
and incontrovertible after one year from the issuance of the decree.
MODIFICATIONS
REVIEW OF DECREE OF REGISTRATION:
Remedies to Question the Validity of Judgement in a Registration Case:

1) Motion for New Trial or Reconsideration (R37)
2) Appeal to the CA or SC (Sec 33, PD 1529)
3) Relief of Judgment (R38)
4) Annulment of Judgment (R37)
5) Claim under Assurance Fund (Sec 95, PD 1529)
6) Review of Decree of Registration (Sec 32, PD 1529)
7) Reversion (Sec 101, CA 141)
8) Action for Reconveyance
9) Cancellation of title
10) Quieting of title
11) Criminal Prosecution under the RPC
MODIFICATIONS
INNOCENT PURCHASER FOR VALUE:
An innocent purchaser for value (IPV) is one who buys the property of
another without notice that some other person has a right to or interest in it,
and who pays a full and fair price at the time of the purchase or before
receiving any notice of another person’s claim.
While good faith is presumed, bad faith must be established by competent

proof by the party alleging the same. Sans such proof, the purchasers of
property are deemed to be purchasers in good faith, and their interest in the
subject property must not be disturbed. (Agcaoili, 2018)
MODIFICATIONS
5. AN ACT IMPROVING THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS FOR

IMPERFECT TITLES (RA 11573)
Please read:
Republic v. Pasig Rizal Co., Inc.
GR No. 213207, February 15, 2022
MODIFICATIONS
6. CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
• It is the transcript of the decree of registration made by the Register of

Deeds in the registry. It accumulates in one document a precise and
correct statement of the exact status of the fee simple title which an
owner possesses.
• Registration is the operative act which gives validity to the transfer or

creates a lien upon the land. A certificate of title serves as evidence of
an indefeasible and incontrovertible title to the property in favor of
the person whose name appears therein. (Sps. Vilbar v. Opinion, G.R.
No. 176043, 15 Jan. 2014).
MODIFICATIONS
6. CERTIFICATE OF TITLE
• It is A certificate of title is different from a title.
Title constitutes a just cause of exclusive possession or the

foundation of ownership of property. A certificate of title is merely
evidence of ownership; and not the title to the land itself. (Castillo v.
Escutin, G.R. No. 171056, 13 Mar. 2009)
Types:
1) Original Certificate of Title (OCT)
2) Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT)
MODIFICATIONS
7. SUBSEQUENT REGISTRATION
It is where incidental matters after original registration may be brought

before the land registration court by way of a motion or petition filed by the
registered owner or a party in interest.
MODIFICATIONS
VOLUNTARY DEALINGS:
1. Mortgages and Leases
GR:
The mortgagor should be the absolute owner of the property to be
mortgaged; otherwise, the mortgage is considered null and void.
XPN:
The doctrine of mortgagee in good faith. All persons dealing with
property covered by a Torrens Certificate of Title, as buyers or
mortgagees, are not required to go beyond what appears on the face of
the title. This is the same rule that underlies the principle of innocent
purchasers for value.
MODIFICATIONS
VOLUNTARY DEALINGS:
2. Sale
3. Pacto de Retro Sale
4. Extra-judicial Settlement
5. Free Patent/Homestead
6. Trusts
MODIFICATIONS
VOLUNTARY DEALINGS:
Effects of Registration of voluntary dealings:

1) It creates a lien that attaches to the property in favor of the
mortgagee.
2) It constitutes constructive notice of his interest in the property to the
whole world.
MODIFICATIONS
INVOLUNTARY DEALINGS:
Involuntary dealings, unlike voluntary dealings, require registration.
It is the act of registration that creates a constructive notice to the whole

world of such instrument or court writ or process and is the operative act
that conveys ownership or affects the land insofar as third persons are
concerned. (Saberon v. Ventanilla, Jr. G.R. No. 192669, 21 Apr. 2014)
MODIFICATIONS
1. Attachment
2. Mandamus
3. Sale on Execution of Judgment
4. Adverse Claims
5. Notice of lis pendens
6. Expropriation
7. Forfeiture
8. Foreclosure Sale
MODIFICATIONS
Adverse Claims – a notice to third persons that any transaction regarding

the disputed land is subject to the outcome of the dispute.
The purpose of annotating the adverse claim on the title of the disputed land
is to apprise third persons that there is a controversy over the ownership of
the land and to preserve and protect the right of the adverse claimant during
the pendency of the controversy.
How? – By filing a sworn statement with the Register of Deeds of the

province where the property is located, setting forth the basis of the claimed
right together with other data pertinent thereto. The duty of the Register of
Deeds to record the same on the title is ministerial.
MODIFICATIONS
Notice of Lis Pendens– literally means a “pending suit”.
The doctrine of lis pendens refers to the jurisdiction, power, or control that a
court acquires over property involved in a suit, pending the continuance of
the action, and until final judgment.
It merely creates a contingency and not a lien. It does not produce any right
or interest which may be exercised over the property of another.
MODIFICATIONS
8. NON-REGISTRABLE PROPERTIES
These are properties of public dominion which, under existing legislation,

are not the subject of private ownership and are reserved for public
purposes.
All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other
mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber,
wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State.
(Sec. 2, Art. XII, 1987 Constitution)
MODIFICATIONS
6. NON-REGISTRABLE PROPERTIES
1. Property of public domain or those intended for public use, public

services, or development of national wealth.
2. Forest or timber lands
3. Watersheds
4. Mangrove swamps
5. Mineral lands
6. National parks and plazas
7. Military reservations
8. Reclaimed lands
9. Submerged areas
10. Riverbanks
11. Lakes, lagoons, etc.
12. Protected areas
13. Resources with ancestral domains
14. Other similar character
MODIFICATIONS
9. DEALINGS WITH UNREGISTERED LANDS
No deed, conveyance, mortgage, lease, or other voluntary instrument affecting

land not registered under the Torrens system shall be valid, except as between
the parties thereto, unless such instrument shall have been recorded in the
manner herein prescribed in the office of the Register of Deeds for the province
or city where the land lies (Sec. 113, P.D. 1529)
MODIFICATIONS
10. ASSURANCE FUND
Act 496 provides for an Assurance Fund to pay for the loss or damage
sustained by any person who, without negligence on his part, is wrongfully
deprived of any land or interest therein on account Of the bringing of the
same under the Act or registration of any other persons as owner of the land.
(Agcaoili, 2015)
MODIFICATIONS
10. ASSURANCE FUND
The Assurance Fund is a long-standing feature of our property registration

system which is intended to relieve innocent persons from the harshness of
the doctrine that a certificate is conclusive evidence of an indefeasible title to
land. (Sps. Esperanza v. Register of Deed, G.R. No. 224678, 03 July 2018)
MODIFICATIONS
10. ASSURANCE FUND
Condition for Compensation – the plaintiff cannot recover as compensation

more than the fair market value of the land at the time he suffered the loss,
damage, or deprivation thereof. (Sec. 97, P.D. 1529)
Prescriptive Period – the action must be brought within 6 years from the
time the right to bring the action first occurred. (Sec. 102, P.D. 1529)
MODIFICATIONS
11. RECONSTITUTION OF TITLES
It is the restoration of the instrument which is supposed to have been lost or

destroyed in its original form and condition, under the custody of the
Register of Deeds.
The process involves diligent circumspect evaluation of the authenticity and

relevance of all the evidence presented for fear of the chilling consequences
of mistakenly issuing a reconstituted title when in fact the original is not
truly lost or destroyed. (Dela Paz v. Republic, G.R. No. 195726, 20 Nov. 2017)
MODIFICATIONS
Jurisdictional Requirements in Petition for Reconstitution of Titles:

1) A notice thereof.
2) Notice published twice in successive issues of the Official Gazette.
3) Notice posted on the main entrance of the provincial building and of
the municipal building of the city or municipality where the land is
situated.
4) Notice sent by registered mail to every person named in the notice.
MODIFICATIONS
Kinds of Reconstitution of Titles:

1) Judicial
2) Administrative
MODIFICATIONS
V. WILLS AND SUCCESSION
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 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.
Requisites of Succession:
1) Death of decedent
2) Acceptance of the inheritance by the successor
3) Transmissible estate
4) Existence and capacity of successor, either designated by decedent or
by law
MODIFICATIONS
The heirs succeed not only to the rights of the deceased but also to his
obligations subject to the following rules:
GR:
Rights and obligations of the decedent arising from contracts are binding
upon the heirs.
XPNs:
When the rights and obligations arising are not transmissible:
1) By their nature
2) By stipulation
3) By provision of law
MODIFICATIONS
Article 777. The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the
death of the decedent.
• Succession occurs at the very moment of death.

• The moment of death is the determining point when the heirs acquire a
definite right to the inheritance, whether such right is pure or conditional.
• The possession of the hereditary property is therefore deemed transmitted
to the heir without interruption and from the moment of death of the
decedent.
MODIFICATIONS
It is immaterial whether a short or long period of time elapses between the

death of the predecessor and the entry in the possession of the properties of
the inheritance, because the right is always deemed to retroact to the moment
of death.
The law in force at the time of the decedent’s death will determine who the
heirs should be.
MODIFICATIONS
”Presumptive Death”
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. (Art. 390, NCC)
The following shall be presumed dead for all purposes, including the division of
the estate among the heirs:
a) 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;
b) A person in the armed forces who has taken partin war, and has been
missing for four years;
c) A person who has been in danger of death under other circumstances and his
existence has not been known for four years. (Art. 391, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Kinds of Succession:
1) Testamentary
2) Intestate/Legal
3) Mixed
Kinds of Heirs:
4) Voluntary/Testamentary Heirs
5) Compulsory Heirs
6) Intestate/Legal Heirs
MODIFICATIONS
2. TESTAMENTARY SUCCESSION
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 his estate, to take
effect after his death. (Art. 783, NCC)
A will has been defined as “a personal, solemn, revocable and free act by
which a capacitated person disposes of his property and rights and declares
or complies with duties to take effect after his death.”
MODIFICATIONS
CHARACTERISTICS OF A WILL:
1. Purely personal act

2. Free from vices of consent
3. Solemn and formal
4. Revocable or ambulatory
5. Mortis causa
6. Statutory right
7. Unilateral act
8. Individual only
9. Dispositive act of property
MODIFICATIONS
NON-DELEGABILITY OF A TESTAMENTARY POWER:
Article 784. The making of a will is a strictly personal act; it cannot be left

in whole or in part to the discretion of a third person or accomplished through
the instrumentality of an agent or attorney.
• The exercise of the disposing power is an act that cannot be delegated.

• But the mere mechanical act of drafting the will may be done by a
third person (such as a lawyer) as it does not constitute a delegation
of the will or disposition.
MODIFICATIONS
GR:
The following cannot be left to the discretion of a third person:
1) The duration or efficacy of designation of heirs, legatees, or devisees.
2) The determination of the portions which the heirs, legatees or
devisees are to receive when referred to by name.
3) The determination as to whether or not a disposition is to be
operative. (Arts. 785 and 787, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
XPNS:
The following may be entrusted to a third person:
1) The distribution of specific property or sums of money that the
testator may leave in general to specified classes or causes.
2) The designation of the persons, institutions or establishments to
which such property or sums are to be given or applied. (Art. 786,
NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
APPLICABLE LAW AS TO THE FORM AND SUBSTANCE OF A WILL:

AS TO TIME AS TO PLACE
EXTRINSIC VALIDITY
(FORMS AND SOLEMNITIES REQUIRED BY LAW)
For Filipinos and Aliens – the law in force at Can be executed in accordance with the
the time of the making of the will. formalities of the testator’s national law,
domicile, residence, the place where the will
For Aliens – the will is being probated in the was executed, or the Philippine laws.
Philippines.
INTRINSIC VALIDITY
(LEGALITY OF THE PROVISIONS IN THE WILL)
The law in force at the time of the decedent’s The testator’s national law governs the intrinsic
death. validity regardless of the place of execution of
the will.
MODIFICATIONS
APPLICABLE LAW AS TO THE FORM AND SUBSTANCE OF A WILL:

PLACE OF EXECUTION APPLICABLE LAW
FILIPINO TESTATOR
Philippines NCC
Foreign Country/Abroad • Law of the place where executed

• NCC
ALIEN TESTATOR
Philippines • NCC
• Testator’s national law
Foreign Country/Abroad • Testator’s national law

• Law of the place of residence
• NCC
MODIFICATIONS
TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY:
Testamentary capacity refers to the ability as well as the power to make a

will and is considered an extrinsic/formal requirement for the validity of a
will.
Requisites of Testamentary Capacity: (796, 797,798, NCC)

1) All persons not expressly prohibited by law
2) At least 18 years old
3) Of sound mind
MODIFICATIONS
GR:
The law presumes that every person is of sound mind, in the absence of
proof to the contrary. (Art. 800(1), NCC)
XPNs: Not presumed, if the testator was:

1) Publicly known to be insane, one month or less, before making his
will; (Art. 800(2), NCC)
2) Under guardianship at the time of the making of the will. (Torres v.
Lopez, G.R. No. L-25966, 01 Nov. 1926)
MODIFICATIONS
“Married Woman”
A married woman may make a will without the consent of her husband, and
without the authority of the court. (Art. 802, NCC)
A married woman may dispose by will all her separate property as well as
her share of the conjugal partnership or absolute community property. (Art.
803, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
1. Must be in writing.
2. Must be executed in a language or dialect known to the testator.
3. Subscribed at the end thereof by the testator himself or by the testator’s
name written by some other person in his presence and by his express
direction.
4. Attested and subscribed by 3 or more credible witnesses in the presence of
the testator and of one another
5. The testator himself or the person directed by him to write his name must
also sign each and every page, except the last, on the left margin in the
presence of the witnesses.
6. All the pages must be numbered correlatively in letters on the upper part
of each page.
7. Must contain an attestation clause.
8. Must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the
witnesses.
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
“Testator is deaf or mute”

1) If the testator is able to read, he must personally read the will; or
2) If the testator is unable to read, he must designate two persons to
read it and communicate to him, in some practicable manner, the
contents thereof. (Art. 807, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
“Testator is blind”
• The will shall be read to him twice, once by one of the subscribing
witnesses, and another time by the notary public before whom the
will is acknowledged. (Art. 808, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
“Substantial Compliance”
• A will is not rendered invalid by reason of defects or imperfections in
the form of attestation or in the language used therein.
• In the absence of bad faith, forgery, fraud, or undue and improper

pressure and influence, defects and imperfections in the form of
attestation or in the language used therein shall not render the will
invalid if it is proved that the will was in fact executed and attested in
substantial compliance with all the requirements of Art. 805.(Art. 809,
NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
“Substantial Compliance”
• When the number of pages was provided in the acknowledgment
portion instead of the attestation clause, "[t]he spirit behind the law
was served though the letter was not. Although there should be strict
compliance with the substantial requirements of the law in order to
insure the authenticity of the will, the formal imperfections should be
brushed aside when they do not affect its purpose and which, when
taken into account, may only defeat the testator's will. (In the matter
of the petition for the probate of the will of Consuelo Santiago Garcia:
Catalino Tanchanco and Ronaldo Tanchanco v. Natividad Garcia
Santos, G.R. No. 204793, 08 June 2020)
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
Witnesses to a Notarial Will:

1) Must be of sound mind
2) Must be at least 18 years old
3) Must be able to read and write
4) Must not be blind, deaf, or dumb
5) Must not have been convicted by final judgment of falsification of a
document, perjury, or false testimony
6) Must be domiciled in the Philippines
MODIFICATIONS
NOTARIAL WILL:
The presence of the qualifications of witnesses is determined at the time of

the attestation of the will.
If the witnesses attesting the execution of a will are competent at the time of
attesting, their becoming subsequently incompetent shall not prevent the
allowance of the will.
MODIFICATIONS
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL:
Article 810. A person may execute a holographic will which must be entirely
written, dated, and signed by the hand of the testator himself. It is subject to
no other form, and may be made in or out of the Philippines, and need not be
witnessed.
A holographic will is one entirely written, dated, and signed by the hand of
the testator himself. It is subject to no other form, may be made in or out of
the Philippines, and need not be witnessed.
MODIFICATIONS
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL:
1. Entirely handwritten by the testator

2. Dated by the testator
3. Signed by the testator
MODIFICATIONS
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL:
By its very nature, a holographic will can only be proven authentic by

establishing that the handwriting in which it is written belongs to the testator
himself and this can only be done through an examination of the will.
A holographic will that was lost or could not be found can be proved by
means of a photostatic copy (photocopy).
MODIFICATIONS
HOLOGRAPHIC WILL:
In case of insertion, cancellation, erasure or alteration in a holographic will,

the testator must authenticate the same by his full signature. (Art. 814, NCC)
Full signature refers to the testator’s habitual, usual and customary

signature.
GR:
If not authenticated with the testator’s full signature, it is considered as
not made, but the will is not invalidated. It does not affect the validity of
the will itself. The will is not thereby invalidated as a whole, but at most
only as regards the particular words erased, corrected, or inserted.
XPN:
Unless the portion involved is an essential part of the will, such as the
date.
MODIFICATIONS
MODES OF REVOCATION OF WILLS AND TESTAMENTARY

DISPOSITIONS:
A will may be revoked by the testator at any time before his death. Any waiver or
restriction of this right is void. (Art. 828, NCC)
Modes of Revoking a Will:

1) By implication of law
2) By some will, codicil, or other writing executed as provided in case
of wills
3) By physical destruction through burning, cancellation, or obliteration
MODIFICATIONS

DISPOSITIONS:
Effect on the Recognition of a Non-Marital Child:
Article 834. The recognition of an illegitimate child does not lose its legal
effect, even though the will wherein it was made should be revoked.
MODIFICATIONS

DISPOSITIONS:
Theory of Dependent Relative Revocation:
• Where the testator’s act of destruction is connected with the making

of another will, so as fairly to raise the inference that the testator
meant the revocation of the old to depend upon the efficacy of the
new disposition, the revocation will be conditional and dependent
upon the efficacy of the new disposition and if for any reason, the
new will intended to be made as a substitute is inoperative, the
revocation fails and the original will remains in full force.
MODIFICATIONS

DISPOSITIONS:
Revocation Based on a False Cause:
Article 833. A revocation of a will based on a false cause or an illegal cause is

null and void.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Compulsory Heirs
• Those called by law to succeed to a portion of the testator’s estate
which is known as the LEGITIME.
• They succeed by force of law to some portion of the inheritance, in an
amount predetermined by law, of which they cannot be deprived by
the testator, except by a valid disinheritance.
1. Legitimate children and descendants, with respect to their legitimate

parents and ascendants;
2. In default of the foregoing, legitimate parent and ascendants, with
respect to their legitimate children and descendants;
3. The widow or widower;
4. Acknowledged natural children, and natural children by legal fiction;
5. Other illegitimate children referred to in Article 287.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Institution of Heirs
• An act by virtue of which a testator designates in his will the person/s
who are to succeed him in his property and transmissible rights and
obligations. (Art. 840, NCC)
• Institution of Heirs cannot be allowed to affect the legitimes of the
Compulsory Heirs.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Requisites of a Valid Institution of an Heir:

1) The will must be extrinsically valid.
2) The institution must be intrinsically valid.
3) The institution must be effective.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Limitations on the Institution of Heirs:
Rule on Preterition – the omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory

heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will
or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but
the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.
If the omitted compulsory heirs should die before the testator, the institution
shall be effectual, without prejudice to the right of representation.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Institution Based on a False Cause:
Article 850. The statement of a false cause for the institution of an heir shall
be considered as not written, unless it appears from the will that the testator
would not have made such institution if he had known the falsity of such cause.
GR:
The institution of heir is valid. The false cause shall be considered simply
as not written.
XPN:
If from the will itself, it appears that the testator would not have made
the institution if he had known the falsity of the cause, the institution
shall be void.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Institution Based on a False Cause:
The rule is, if the revocation is based on a false or illegal cause, it is null and
void (Art. 833, NCC) while the institution of heir based on a false cause as a
general rule does not affect the validity or efficacy of the institution. (Art.
850, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Substitution of Heirs
Article 857. Substitution is the appointment of another heir so that he may enter

into the inheritance in default of the heir originally instituted.
Causes:
1) Predecease
2) Incapacity
3) Repudiation
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Substitution of Heirs
Article 857. Substitution is the appointment of another heir so that he may enter

into the inheritance in default of the heir originally instituted.
Classifications:
1) Simple/Common Substitution
2) Brief/Compendious Substitution
3) Reciprocal Substitution
4) Fideicommissary Substitution
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
“Fideicommissary Substitution”
It is a substitution by virtue of which the fiduciary or first heir instituted is

entrusted with the obligation to preserve and to transmit to a second heir the
whole or part of the inheritance. It shall be valid provided such substitution
does not go beyond one degree from the heir originally instituted, and
provided further, that the fiduciary or first heir and the second heir are living
at the time of the death of the testator. (Art. 863, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
“Fideicommissary Substitution”
1) Fiduciary or first heir is the one who preserves and transmits the
inheritance to the fideicommissary.
2) Fideicommissary or second heir is the one who eventually receives

the inheritance.
MODIFICATIONS
HEIRS:
Elements of Fideicommissary Substitution:

1) There must be a first heir or fiduciary who takes the property upon
the testator’s death.
2) An absolute obligation is imposed upon the fiduciary to preserve
and to transmit to a second heir the property at a given time.
3) There is a second heir who takes the property subsequently from the
fiduciary and must be one degree from the first heir.
4) The first and second heir must both be living and qualified at the
time of the death of the testator.
MODIFICATIONS
LEGITIME:
Legitime is that part of the testator's property which he cannot dispose of

because the law has reserved it for certain heirs who are, therefore, called
compulsory heirs. (Art. 886, NCC)
Mandatory on the part of the testator to reserve that part of the estate to the
legitime.
MODIFICATIONS
LEGITIME:
Collation
Collation is the process whereby the value of all donations inter vivos made
by the decedent is added to his available assets in order to arrive at the value
of the net hereditary estate. (Balane, 2010)
To collate is to bring back or return to the hereditary mass, in fact, or fiction,

property which came from the estate of the decedent, during his lifetime, but
which the law considers as an advance from the inheritance. Collation is
applicable to both donations to compulsory heirs and donations to strangers.
MODIFICATIONS
LEGITIME:
Properties not subject to collation:

1) Expenses for support
2) Education (elementary & secondary only)
3) Medical attendance (even extraordinary illness)
4) Apprenticeship
5) Ordinary equipment
6) Customary gifts
MODIFICATIONS
LEGITIME:
See: Computation/Table of Legitime

MODIFICATIONS
PRETERITION:
It is the omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct
line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the
death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but the devises and
legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.
If the omitted compulsory heirs should die before the testator, the institution
shall be effectual, without prejudice to the right of representation. (Art. 854,
NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
PRETERITION:
Requisites of Preterition:
1) There is a total omission in the inheritance.
2) The person omitted is a compulsory heir in the direct line.
3) The omitted compulsory heir must survive the testator, or in case the
compulsory heir predeceased the testator, there is a right of
representation.
4) Nothing must have been received by the heir by gratuitous title.
MODIFICATIONS
PRETERITION:
When is there total omission?

1. When the compulsory heir receives NOTHING under the will, whether
as an heir, legatee, or devisee.
2. When the compulsory heir has received NOTHING by way of donation
inter vivos or propter nuptias.
3. When the compulsory heir receives NOTHING by way of intestate
succession (not mentioned in the will nor a recipient of a donation and
all the estate has been disposed of)
MODIFICATIONS
PRETERITION:
Effects of Preterition:
1) Preterition annuls the institution of heirs;
2) Devices and legacies are valid insofar as they
3) are not inofficious;
4) If the omitted compulsory heir dies before the testator, the institution
shall be effectual, without prejudice to the right of representation.
MODIFICATIONS
CONDITIONAL DISPOSITIONS:
Condition is a future or uncertain event or a past event unknown to the

parties, upon which the performance of an obligation depends.
Conditions, terms, and modes are not presumed, they must be clearly
expressed in the will. The condition must fairly appear from the language of
the will. Otherwise, it shall be considered pure.
MODIFICATIONS
Conditions on the Prohibition to Marry
GR:
An absolute condition not to contract a first or subsequent marriage is not a
valid condition and shall be considered as not written. (Art. 874, NCC).
However, the validity of the disposition itself shall not be affected.
XPN:
If such condition was imposed on the widow or widower by the deceased
spouse or by the latter’s ascendants or descendants, in which case, the
condition is valid. (Art. 874, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Conditions on the Prohibition to Marry
GR:
An absolute condition not to contract a first or subsequent marriage is not a
valid condition and shall be considered as not written. (Art. 874, NCC).
However, the validity of the disposition itself shall not be affected.
XPN:
If such condition was imposed on the widow or widower by the deceased
spouse or by the latter’s ascendants or descendants, in which case, the
condition is valid. (Art. 874, NCC). If the prohibition is relative with respect
to persons, time or place, such conditions is valid and must be complied with
unless the testator renders it impossible for the heir to marry at all.
MODIFICATIONS
Disposition Captatoria
Any disposition made upon the condition that the heir shall make some
provision in his will in favor of the testator or of any other person shall be
void. (Art. 875, NCC)
Here, both the condition and the disposition are void but the validity of the
other provisions, including the will itself, shall not be affected.
It is incompatible with good faith and with the nature of testaments; it is

immoral and contrary to the freedom to make wills.
MODIFICATIONS
Modal Institutions:
A mode is an obligation imposed upon the heir to do or to give something
Modal institution – statement of:

1. Object of the institution,
2. Application of the property left by the testator,
3. Charge imposed by him.
MODIFICATIONS
Modal Institution:
A “mode” imposes an obligation upon the heir, devisee or legatee, but it
does not affect the efficacy of his rights to the succession. The mode obligates
but does not suspend.
MODIFICATIONS
VOID TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITIONS:
Article 870. The dispositions of the testator declaring all or part of the estate
inalienable for more than twenty years are void.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
Article 915. A compulsory heir may, in consequence of disinheritance, be deprived

of his legitime, for causes expressly stated by law.
Article 916. Disinheritance can be effected only through a will wherein the legal
cause therefor shall be specified.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
Grounds for Disinheritance:

1) Common Causes for disinheritance of children or descendants,
parents or ascendants, and spouse –
a) When the heir has been found guilty of an attempt against
the life of the testator, his/her descendants or ascendants,
and spouse, in case of children or parents;
b) When the heir by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue
influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one
already made;
c) When the heir has accused the testator of a crime for which
the law prescribes imprisonment of six years or more, if the
accusation has been found groundless;
d) the spouse of the testator.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
d) Refusal without justifiable cause to support the testator who

disinherits such heir;
e) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed, by the child or
the descendant;
f) When a child or descendant leads a dishonorable or
disgraceful life;
g) Conviction of a crime which carries with it the penalty of
civil interdiction; or
h) When a child or descendant has been convicted of adultery
or concubinage with the spouse of the testator.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
2. Peculiar Causes for the disinheritance of children or descendants –

a) Conviction of a crime which carries with it a penalty of civil
interdiction;
b) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed by the children
or descendant;
c) When the children or descendant has been convicted of
adultery or concubinage with the spouse of the testator; or
d) When the children or descendant leads a dishonorable or
disgraceful life.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
2. Peculiar Causes for the disinheritance of parents or ascendants –

a) When the parent or ascendant has been convicted of adultery or
concubinage with the spouse of the testator;
b) When the parents have abandoned their children or induced their
daughters to live a corrupt or immoral life, or attempted against their
virtue;
c) Loss of parental authority for causes specified in the Code;
d) Attempt by one of the parents against the life of the other, unless there has
been reconciliation between them;
e) When the parent or ascendant has accused the testator of a crime for which
the law prescribes imprisonment for 6 years or more;
f) When the parent or ascendant by fraud, violence, intimidation or undue
influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one already made;
or
g) The refusal to support the children or descendants without justifiable
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
Effects of Reconciliation:
Reconciliation exists when two persons who are at odds decide to set aside
their differences and to resume their relations. They need not go back to their
old relation. In order to be effective, the testator must pardon the
disinherited heir. The pardon whether express or tacit, must refer specifically
to the heir disinherited and to the acts he has committed, and must be
accepted by such heir. In disinheritance, reconciliation need not be in
writing.
MODIFICATIONS
DISINHERITANCE:
Effects of Reconciliation:
1. If it occurs before disinheritance is made, the right to disinherit is

extinguished;
2. If it occurs after the disinheritance is made, the disinheritance is set
aside. (Balane, 2010)
MODIFICATIONS
LEGACIES AND DEVISES:
Valid Legacy or Devise
All things and rights which are within the commerce of man may be bequeathed or
devised. (Art. 924, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Property Not Owned by the Testator
1. When he thought that he owned the property.

GR:
The legacy or device of a thing belonging to another person is void, if the
testator erroneously believed thatthe thing pertained to him. (Art. 930,
NCC). Nemo dat quod non habet = You cannot give what you don’t have.
XPN:
i. If subsequent to the making of the disposition, the thing is acquired by
the testator onerously or gratuitously, such disposition is validated.
(Balane, 2010)
ii. If the thing bequeathed, though not belonging to the testator when he
made the will, afterwards becomes his, by whatever title, the
disposition shall take effect. (Art. 930, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Property Not Owned by the Testator
2. When he knows that he does not own it, but still acquired it.
If the thing given as devise or legacy is not owned by the testator at the time
he made the will but he orders his estate to acquire it, it is a valid legacy or
devise. (Art. 931, NCC)
GR:
If the thing already belonged to the legatee/devisee at the time of the
execution of the will, the legacy/devise is void. It is not validated by an
alienation by the legatee/devisee subsequent to the making of the will.
XPN: Unless the acquirer is the testator himself.

MODIFICATIONS
Ineffective Legacies/Devises
ART. 932. The legacy or devise of a thing which at the time of the execution of
the will already belonged to the legatee or devisee shall be ineffective, even
though another person may have some interest therein.
If the testator expressly orders that the thing be freed from such interest or
encumbrance, the legacy or devise shall be valid to that extent.
ART. 933. If the thing bequeathed belonged to the legatee or devisee at the time
of the execution of the will, the legacy or devise shall be without effect, even
though it may have subsequently alienated by him.
If the legatee or devisee acquires it gratuitously after such time, he can claim
nothing by virtue of the legacy or devise; but if it has been acquired by onerous
title he can demand reimbursement from the heir or the estate.
MODIFICATIONS
3. INTESTATE SUCCESSION
That which is effected by operation of law in default of a valid will.
It is legal because it takes place by operation of law; it is intestate because it

takes place in the absence or in default of a last will of the decedent. (Jurado,
2009)
MODIFICATIONS
RELATIONSHIP:
1. Legitimate children
a) Exclude parents, collaterals and State;
b) Concur with surviving spouse and illegitimate children;
c) Excluded by no one.
2. Illegitimate children
a) Exclude illegitimate parents, collaterals and State;
b) Concur with surviving spouse, legitimate children, and
legitimate parents;
MODIFICATIONS
RELATIONSHIP:
3. Legitimate parents
a) Exclude collaterals and the State;
b) Concur with illegitimate children and surviving spouse;
c) Excluded by legitimate children.
4. Illegitimate parents
a) Exclude collaterals and State;
b) Concur with surviving spouse;
c) Excluded by legitimate children and illegitimate children.
MODIFICATIONS
RELATIONSHIP:
5. Surviving spouse
a) Excludes collaterals other than brothers, sister, nephews and
nieces, and State;
b) Concurs with legitimate children, illegitimate children,
legitimate parents, illegitimate parents, brothers, sisters,
nephews, and nieces;
6. Brothers and Sisters, nephews and nieces

a) Exclude all other collaterals and the State;
b) Concur with surviving spouse;
c) Excluded by legitimate children, illegitimate children, legitimate
parents and illegitimate parents.
MODIFICATIONS
CAUSES OF INTESTACY:
1. There is no will, the will is void, or the will is revoked;

2. The will does not institute an heir to, or dispose of all the property of the
testator (partial intestacy);
3. The suspensive condition attached to the inheritance does not happen or
is not fulfilled;
4. The heir predeceased the testator or repudiates the inheritance, and no
substitution and no right of accretion take place; or
5. The heir instituted is incapacitated to succeed. (Art. 960, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
ORDER OF INTESTATE SUCCESSION:
1. Succession takes place in the direct descending line; (Art. 978, NCC)
2. Then in the direct ascending line; (Art. 985, NCC) and
3. Finally, in the collateral line. (Art. 1003, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
RULE OF PROXIMITY:
The closer relatives exclude the farther relatives.
The closer you are to the deceased, then your right to inherit is stronger.
MODIFICATIONS
RULE OF EQUALITY:
GR:
Intestate heirs who are equal in degree inherit in equal shares.
XPNs:
1. In the ascending line, the rule of division by line is ½ to the maternal line
and ½ to the paternal line, and within each line, the division is per capita.
2. In the collateral line, the full-‐blood brothers/sisters will get double that
of the half-blood.
3. The division in representation, where division is per stirpes – the

representative divide only the share pertaining to the person
represented.
MODIFICATIONS
DETERMINATION OF HEIRS:
Prior determination of heirship in separate special proceeding NOT required

before filing ordinary civil action to enforce ownership rights acquired by
virtue of succession.
Please read:
Treyes v. Larlar
G.R. No. 232579, September 8, 2020
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL BARRIER (IRON CURTAIN RULE):
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. (Art. 992,
NCC)
Recent Jurisprudence:
A child whose parents did not marry each other can inherit from their
grandparent by their right of representation, regardless of the grandparent's
marital status at the birth of the child's parent.
Please read:
Aquino v. Aquino
G.R. Nos. 208912 and 209018, December 7, 2021
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF ADOPTED CHILDREN:
Once a child has been legally adopted, he is considered a legitimate child of

the adopting parent(s) for ALL intents and purposes.
As such, the adoptee (adopted child) is entitled to all the rights and
obligations provided by law to legitimate children.
In other words, an adoptee succeeds to the property of the adopting parent(s)

in the same manner as a legitimate child.
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF ADOPTED CHILDREN:
The adoptee is now under the parental authority of his adopting parent(s),
and all legal ties between the biological parent(s) and the adoptee is severed.
The adoptee cannot inherit by way of legal and intestate succession from his
biological parents.
They adoptee may only receive inheritance from his biological parents when

he was instituted as one of their heirs.
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF MARITAL AND NON-MARITAL

CHILDREN:
The Court abandoned the presumption that “nonmarital children are

products of illicit relationships or that they are automatically placed in a
hostile environment perpetrated by the marital family.”
“Both marital and nonmarital children, whether born from a marital or

nonmarital child, are blood relatives of their parents and other ascendants.”
Thus, a nonmarital child’s right of representation should be governed by
Article 982 of the Civil Code, which does not differentiate based on the birth
status of grandchildren and other direct descendants.
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF MARITAL AND NON-MARITAL

CHILDREN:
The SC En Banc “reinterpreted Article 992 of the Civil Code, which prohibits
nonmarital children from inheriting from their siblings who are marital
children, as well as relatives of [their] father or mother.”
New Rule:
A child whose parents did not marry each other can inherit from their
grandparent by their right of representation, regardless of the grandparent's
marital status at the birth of the child's parent.
Please read:
Aquino v. Aquino
G.R. Nos. 208912 and 209018, December 7, 2021
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE:
The surviving spouse is entitled to one-fourth of the estate if there is just one
legitimate child.
The spouse is entitled to the same amount as each legitimate child if there are
multiple. The spouse's inheritance is taken from the estate’s disposable free
portion.
MODIFICATIONS
SUCCESSIONAL RIGHTS OF THE COLLATERAL RELATIVES:
Brothers or sisters are NOT compulsory heirs. Thus, without a Will, they

may not inherit. However, if there is an instance that brothers or sisters were
instituted as heirs in a Will, still, they cannot receive the whole or all of their
inheritance if it would reduce the lawful share of the compulsory heirs.
When brothers or sisters may inherit even in the absence of a Will?

This happens only when there is no compulsory heir. Such that you are not
survived by any of your children, parents or spouse.
But, if you are survived by your child, parent, or spouse, you may institute
any, some, or all of your brothers or sisters on the condition that the lawful
share of your compulsory heirs were not reduced or diminished.
MODIFICATIONS
4. PROVISIONS COMMON TO TESTATE AND INTESTATE

SUCCESSION
CAPACITY TO SUCCEED:
Persons not incapacitated by law may succeed by will or ab intestato. The

provisions relating to incapacity by will are equally applicable to intestate
succession. (Art. 1024, NCC)
In order to be capacitated to inherit, the heir, devisee or legatee must be

living at the moment the succession opens, except in case of representation,
when it is proper.
A child already conceived at the time of the death of the decedent is capable
of succeeding provided it be born later under the conditions prescribed in
Art. 41 of the NCC. (Art. 1025, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Incapacity by Reason of Unworthiness

1) Parents who have abandoned their children or induced their
daughters to lead a corrupt or immoral life, or attempted against
their virtues;
2) Persons convicted of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or
her spouse, descendants or ascendants;
3) Persons who accused the testator of a crime for which the law
prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the accusation has
been found to be groundless;
4) Heir of full age who, having knowledge of the violent death of the
testator, should fail to report it to an officer of the law within a
month unless the authorities have already taken action;
MODIFICATIONS
Incapacity by Reason of Unworthiness

5) Persons convicted of adultery or concubinage with the spouse of the
testator;
6) Persons who by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence
should cause the testator to make a will or to change one already
made;
7) Persons who by the same means Prevent another from making a will,
or from revoking one already made, or who supplants, conceal, or
alter the latter's will; and
8) Persons who falsify or forge a supposed will of the decedent. (Art.
1032, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Effect of Condonation
Article 1033. The cause of unworthiness shall be without effect if the testator

had knowledge thereof at the time he made the will, or if, having known of them
subsequently, he should condone them in writing.
MODIFICATIONS
Incapacity by Reason of Morality

1) Persons guilty of adultery or concubinage with the testator at the
time of the making of the will;
2) Persons guilty of the same criminal offense, in consideration thereof;
3) A public officer or his wife, descendants and ascendants, by reason
of his Office. (Art. 1028 in relation to Art. 739 of NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Incapacity by Reason of Possible Undue Influence

1) The Priest who heard the confession of the testator during his last
illness, or the minister of the gospel who extended spiritual aid to
him during the same period;
2) The Relatives of such priest or minister of the gospel within the

fourth degree, the church, order, chapter, community, organization,
or institution to which such priest or minister may belong;
3) A Guardian with respect to testamentary dispositions given by a

ward in his favor before the final accounts of the guardianship have
been approved, even if the testator should die after the approval
thereof; nevertheless, any provision made by the ward in favor of the
guardian when the latter is his ascendants, descendant, brother,
sister, or spouse, shall be valid;
MODIFICATIONS
Incapacity by Reason of Possible Undue Influence

4) Any attesting Witness to the execution of a will, the spouse, parents,
or children, or anyone claiming under such witness, spouse, parents,
or children;
5) Any Physician, surgeon, nurse, health officer or druggist who took

care of the testator during his last illness;
6) Individuals, associations and corporations not permitted by law to

inherit. (Art. 1027, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION IN TESTACY AND INTESTACY:
Article 970. Representation is a right created by fiction of law, by virtue of

which the representative is raised to the place and the degree of the person
represented, and acquires the rights which the latter would have if he were
living or if he could have inherited.
Article 973. In order that representation may take place, it is necessary that
the representative himself be capable of succeeding the decedent.
Article 974. Whenever there is succession by representation, the division of the

estate shall be made per stirpes, in such manner that the representative or
representatives shall not inherit more than what the person they represent would
inherit, if he were living or could inherit.
MODIFICATIONS
Article 975. When children of one or more brothers or sisters of the deceased

survive, they shall inherit from the latter by representation, if they survive
with their uncles or aunts. But if they alone survive, they shall inherit in
equal portions.
Article 976. A person may represent him whose inheritance he has renounced.
Article 977. Heirs who repudiate their share may not be represented.

MODIFICATIONS
Right of Representation arises because of:

1) Predecease
2) Incapacity or unworthiness
3) Disinheritance.
MODIFICATIONS
When Right of Representation NOT available:

1) As to compulsory heirs: In case of repudiation, the one who
repudiates his inheritance cannot be represented. (Art. 977, NCC).
Their own heirs inherit in their own right.
2) As to voluntary heirs: Voluntary heirs, legatees, and devisees who

either predecease the testator, or renounce the inheritance, cannot be
represented by their own heirs, with respect to their supposed
inheritance.
3) The right of representation does not apply to adopted children. The

right of representation cannot be invoked by adopted children
because they cannot represent their adopting parents to the
inheritance of the latter’s parents. The legal relationship created by
adoption is strictly between the adopter and the adopted.
MODIFICATIONS
RIGHT OF ACCRETION IN TESTACY AND INTESTACY:
Accretion is a right by virtue of which, when two or more persons are called to
the same inheritance, devise or legacy, the part assigned to the one who
renounces or cannot receive his share, or who died before the testator, is added
or incorporated to that of his co-heir, co-devisees, or co-legatees.(Art. 1015,
NCC)
Requisites of Accretion (Art. 1016, NCC):
For the right of accretion may take place in a testamentary succession, it shall
be necessary:
1) That two or more persons be called to the same inheritance, or to the
same portion thereof, pro indiviso; and
2) That one of the persons thus called die before the testator, or
renounce the inheritance, or be incapacitated to receive it.
MODIFICATIONS
RIGHT OF ACCRETION IN TESTACY AND INTESTACY:
In testamentary succession, the causes of accretion are:

1) Predecease
2) Incapacity
3) Renunciation
4) Non-fulfillment of the suspensive condition imposed upon instituted
heir
5) Ineffective testamentary disposition
Accretion takes place only if there is NO REPRESENTATION. In

renunciation, there is always accretion.
MODIFICATIONS
ACCEPTANCE AND REPUDIATION OF INHERITANCE:
The acceptance or repudiation of the inheritance is a purely voluntary and free

act. (Art. 1041, NCC)
Forms Repudiation:
1) By means of a public instrument
2) By means of an authentic instrument
3) By means of a petition presented to the court having jurisdiction over
the testamentary or intestate proceedings (Art. 1051, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Inheritance is deemed accepted when:

1) The heir sells, donates, or assigns his rights to a stranger, to his co-
heirs, or to any of them.
2) The heir renounces it, even though gratuitously, for the benefit of
one or more heirs.
3) Renunciation is in favor of all heirs indiscriminately for a
consideration (Art. 1050, NCC).
4) Other tacit acts of acceptance:
i. Heir demands partition of the inheritance;
ii. Heir alienates some objects of the inheritance;
iii. Acts of preservation or administration if, through such acts,
the title or capacity o the heir has been assumed;
iv. Failure to signify acceptance or repudiation within 30 days
after an order of distribution by the probate court. (Art.
1057, NCC)
MODIFICATIONS
Effect of Repudiation:
Article 1055. If a person, who is called to the same inheritance as an heir by

will and ab intestato, repudiates the inheritance in his capacity as a
testamentary heir, he is understood to have repudiated it in both capacities.
Should he repudiate it as an intestate heir, without knowledge of his being a

testamentary heir, he may still accept it in the latter capacity.
MODIFICATIONS
The repudiation of inheritance can be made only when the heir is certain of
the death of a person from whom he is to inherit, and of his right to the
inheritance. This is because prior to the death of said person, the heir has
no right to the inheritance.
Also, within thirty (30) days after the court has issued an order for the
distribution of the estate in accordance with the Rules of the Court, the heirs,
shall signify to the same court whether they ACCEPT or REPUDIATE the
inheritance. If there was no repudiation within that time, all heirs are
deemed to have accepted the inheritance.

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CIVIL LAW

Atty. Joeffrey G. Pagdanganan, REB, LL.M

1. Persons and Family Relations (1-161)

2. Property, Ownership, and Its Modifications (163-231, 612-738, 772-828)

3. Obligations and Contracts (235-352)

4. Special Contracts (358-425, 428-443, 492-514, 742-753, 518-557, 558-608)

II. Bundle of Rights

III. Different Modes of Acquiring Ownership

IV. Land, Titles, and Deeds

V. Wills and Succession

III. Natural Obligations

IV. Credit Transactions

VII. Torts and Damages

1. IMMOVABLE PROPERTY (Article 415, NCC)

IMMOVABLE BY NATURE AND BY INCORPORATION:

Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that it

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

Machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the

• Equipment and living quarters of crew permanently attached

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fishponds or breeding places of similar

• Animal houses, pigeon houses, etc.

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land. (Art. 415(7), NCC)

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

IMMOVABLE BY INCORPORATION AND BY DESTINATION:

2. MOVABLE PROPERTY (Article 416, 417, 418, NCC)

II. BUNDLE OF RIGHTS

Ownership may be exercised over things or rights. (Art. 427, NCC)

• Accession is NOT a mode of acquiring ownership.

Good Faith vs. Bad Faith

Rights of a Builder (B)/Planter (P) /Sower (S) in GOOD FAITH:

Article 459. Whenever the current of a river, creek or torrent segregates from an

• The process of the removal of a considerable quantity of soil to the

3. ACTIONS TO RECOVER OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION

• It is an action whereby the plaintiff alleges ownership over a parcel of

• It is an action for recovery of the right to possess and is a plenary

• It is a summary action to recover physical or material possession only

Forcible Entry vs. Unlawful Detainer

FORCIBLE ENTRY UNLAWFUL DETAINER

• Cloud on a title exists when:

“There is no prescription when in an action for reconveyance, the claimant is

• It is the right of common dominion that two or more persons have in an

RIGHT TO PROPERTY OWNED IN COMMON – each co-owner is granted

FULL OWNERSHIP OVER HIS IDEAL SHARE –

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR EXPENSES:

• Redemption of the whole property by a co-owner does not vest in him

Effects of Partition of Co-ownership:

Remedies in case co-owners cannot agree on the Partition:

A partition can be effected through:

POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF A HOLDER:

• Lessees or those merely permitted to occupy

POSSESSION IN THE CONCEPT OF AN OWNER:

• The possessor can eventually become the owner through acquisitive

RELEVANCE OF GOOD FAITH AND BAD FAITH:

Useful Expenses – has the right of reimbursement, Useful Expenses – no right.

Not liable in case of loss/deterioration. Except, Always liable.