Illegitimate child’s inheritance is half the share of a legitimate child

Illegitimate child’s inheritance is half the share of a legitimate child "My brother who is a military man died on October 29, 2011. Being in the military service, he joined whatever savings and loans association their agency offered. My sister-in-law sought my presence in every dealing she had every time she had to go to these savings and loan associations to collect whatever money is there in return for my brother’s being a member. Now my predicament is this, having known all the monetary claims my sister-in-law got in hand, does my nephew who is an acknowledged illegitimate child of my brother have a share in this claims? My nephew is only 9 years old.Rona Dear Rona,An illegitimate child has a right to inherit from his biological parents. In the case of your brother’s illegitimate child, his inheritance shall consist of half the share of a legitimate child (Article 176 of the Family Code of the Philippines as amended by Republic Act (R. A.) No. 9255). However, you were not able to mention in your letter whether your deceased brother and his wife had a child. Such being the case, we will presume that there was none. We will likewise presume that your deceased brother had no surviving ascendants and that he did not leave a will. It follows then that the successors to the estate of your deceased brother are his wife and his illegitimate child.Under the law on Intestate Succession, if the widow survives the decedent together with the illegitimate child of the latter, they will succeed his estate equally. This is what Article 998 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines provides, to wit: “Art. 998. If a widow or widower survives with illegitimate children, such widow or widower shall be entitled to one-half of the inheritance, and the illegitimate children or their descendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate, to the other half.”Thus, it is clear that your nephew is entitled to half of the estate of your deceased brother. Your nephew is not only entitled to half of the proceeds of the investments your deceased brother ventured into but also to the other properties that he owned before he died. Again, we find it necessary to mention that this opinion is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary when the facts are changed or elaborated.We hope that we were able to enlighten you on the matter.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/