Property vs.

Ownership

Property – All things which are, or may be, the object of appropriation. (Art. 414)

Ownership – It is the independent right of exclusive enjoyment and control of a thing for the
purpose of deriving therefrom all the advantages required by the reasonable needs of the
owner (or holder of the right) and the promotion of general welfare, but subject to the
restriction imposed by law and the rights of others.

Modes of Acquiring Ownership

1. Occupation

Requisites:

a. The property must be a corporeal personal property susceptible of appropriation.

b. The property is either res nullius (no owner) or res derelict (abandoned property)
c. There is seizure or apprehension with the intent to appropriate
d. There is an observance of requisites or conditions prescribed by law

2. Intellectual Creation
3. By operation of Law
4. Donation – an act of liberality whereby a person dispose gratuitously of a thing or right in
favor of another, who accepts it. (Art. 725)

Requisites:

a. Capacity of the donor to make donation

b. Donative intent (animus donandi)
c. Delivery (actual or constructive)
d. Acceptance by done
e. Necessary from prescribed by law

5. Succession (Testate and Intestate)

6. Tradition - It is a derivative mode of acquiring ownership and other real rights by virtue of
which, there being intention and capacity on the part of the grantor and grantee and the
pre-existence of said rights in the estate of the grantor, they are transmitted to the grantee
through a just title.

Requisites:

a. Pre-existence in the estate of the grantor of the right to be transmitted

b. Just cause or title for the transmission
c. Intention on the part of the grantor to grant and on the part of the grantees to
acquire
d. Capacity to transmit and to acquire
e. An act that gives it outward form, physically, symbolically, or legally

7. Prescription - By prescription, one acquires ownership and other real rights through the
lapse of time in the manner and under the conditions laid down by law. In the same way,
rights and conditions are lost by prescription.

Transfer taxes

Succession

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. [Art. 774, CC] Succession is one of the modes
of acquiring ownership and other real rights over property. [par 2, Art. 712, CC]

Kinds of Succession

(1) As to effectivity

(a) succession inter vivos (example: donation)

(b) succession mortis causa (this is succession in the specifi c sense meant in Art. 774)

(2) As to whether a will exists or not

(a) testamentary succession (there is a will)

(b) intestate or legal succession (there is NO will)

(c) mixed succession (part of the property has been disposed of in a will)

(3) As to the transferees of the property

(a) compulsory succession (refers to the legitime)

(b) voluntary succession (refers to the free disposal)

(4) As to the extent of rights and obligations involved

(a) universal succession (covering ALL juridical relations involving the deceased)

(b) particular succession (covering only certain items or properties)

(5) Special kind Contractual succession — that kind where a future husband and a future wife
give to each other future property, effective mortis causa, by means of a marriage settlement.

Elements of Succession

(a) mode of acquisition (or ownership)

(b) transfer of property, rights, and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance of a
person (called grantor or transferor, decedent, testator, or intestate)

(c) transmission thru death (not during life)

(d) transmission to another (called grantee, or transferee, heir, legatee, or devisee)

(e) by will or by operation of law (testamentary or legal succession)

Executors and Administrators (Rule 78 of Rules of Court)

Section 1. Who are incompetent to serve as executors or administrators. — No person in

competent to serve as executor or administrator who:

(a) Is a minor;

(b) Is not a resident of the Philippines; and

(c) Is in the opinion of the court unfit to execute the duties of the trust by reason of
drunkenness, improvidence, or want of understanding or integrity, or by reason of
conviction of an offense involving moral turpitude.

Section 2. Executor of executor not to administer estate. — The executor of an executor shall
not, as such, administer the estate of the first testator.

Section 3. Married women may serve. — A married woman may serve as executrix or
administratrix, and the marriage of a single woman shall not affect her authority so to serve
under a previous appointment.
 Section 4. Letters testamentary issued when will allowed. — When a will has been proved and
allowed, the court shall issue letters testamentary thereon to the person named as executor
therein, if he is competent, accepts the trust, and gives bond as required by these rules.

Section 5. Where some coexecutors disqualified others may act. — When all of the executors
named in a will can not act because of incompetency, refusal to accept the trust, or failure to
give bond, on the part of one or more of them, letters testamentary may issue to such of them
as are competent, accept and give bond, and they may perform the duties and discharge the
trust required by the will.

Section 6. When and to whom letters of administration granted. — If no executor is named in

the will, or the executor or executors are incompetent, refuse the trust, or fail to give bond, or a
person dies intestate, administration shall be granted:

(a) To the surviving husband or wife, as the case may be, or next of kin, or both, in the
discretion of the court, or to such person as such surviving husband or wife, or next of
kin, requests to have appointed, if competent and willing to serve;

(b) If such surviving husband or wife, as the case may be, or next of kin, or the person
selected by them, be incompetent or unwilling, or if the husband or widow, or next of
kin, neglects for thirty (30) days after the death of the person to apply for administration
or to request that administration be granted to some other person, it may be granted to
one or more of the principal creditors, if may be granted to one or more of the principal
creditors, if competent and willing to serve;

(c) If there is no such creditor competent and willing to serve, it may be granted to such
other person as the court may select.

Will

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, CC].

Codicil

A codicil is a supplement or addition to a will, made after the execution of a will and annexed to
be taken as a part thereof, by which any disposition made in the original will is explained, added
to, or altered. (Art. 825)

Probate of the Will

Probate is the act of proving before a competent court the due execution of a will by a person
possessed of testamentary capacity, as well as approval thereof by said court. Probate is one
thing; the validity of the testamentary provisions is another. The first decides the execution of
the document and the testamentary capacity of the testator; the second deals with descent and
distribution.

Art. 838. No will shall pass either real or personal property unless it is proved and allowed in
accordance with the Rules of Court. The testator himself may, during his lifetime, petition the
court having jurisdiction for the allowance of his will. In such case, the pertinent provisions of
the Rules of Court for the allowance of wills after the testator’s death shall govern. The Supreme
Court shall formulate such additional Rules of Court as may be necessary for the allowance of
wills on petition of the testator. Subject to the right of appeal, the allowance of the will, either
during the lifetime of the testator or after his death, shall be conclusive as to its due execution.

Capacity and intent to make a will

1. The testator must not be expressly prohibited by law to make a will [Art. 796, CC]
2. The testator must not be under 18 years of age [Art. 797, CC]
3. The testator must be of sound mind at the time of execution [Art. 798, CC]
 Test of soundness of mind: To be of sound mind, the testator must know:
a. The nature of the estate to be disposed of;
b. The proper objects of his bounty;
c. The character of the testamentary act [Art. 799, CC]

General rule: Soundness of mind is presumed [Art. 800, CC]

Exceptions:
a. When the testator, one month or less before the execution of the will, was publicly
known to be insane. [Art. 800, CC]
b. When the testator executed the will after being placed under guardianship or ordered
committed, in either case, for insanity under Rules 93 and 101 of the Rules of Court, and
before said order has been lifted.

Testamentary disposition

3 Kinds of Testamentary Disposition

a. Conditional [Art. 871, CC]

b. Dispositions with a term [Art. 885, CC]

c. Dispositions with a mode/modal dispositions [Art. 882, CC]

Forms of Wills

1. Notarial – an ordinary or attested will, which must comply with the requirements of the law
[Arts. 804-808, CC]

2. Holographic – a will entirely written, dated and signed by the hand of the testator [Art. 810,
CC]

Legitime

It is that part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law has
reserved it for his compulsory heirs. [Art. 886, CC]

Compulsory heirs

CLASSES OF COMPULSORY HEIRS [Art. 887, CC]

1. Primary: Legitimate Children and Legitimate Descendants with respect to their

Legitimate Parents and Ascendants

2. Secondary: Those who succeed only in the absence of the primary compulsory heirs:

a. Legitimate Parents and Legitimate Ascendants, with respect to their

Legitimate Children and Descendants. (They will inherit only in default of
legitimate children and their descendants)

b. Illegitimate Parents with respect to their Illegitimate Children. (They will

inherit only in default of the illegitimate and legitimate children and their
respective descendants). Note that other illegitimate ascendants are not
included.

3. Concurring: Those who succeed together with the primary or the secondary
compulsory heirs:

• Surviving Spouse

Legal or intestate succession

Intestacy – that which takes place by operation of law in default of compulsory and
testamentary succession. Not defined in the Civil Code. Legal succession is a mode of
 transmission mortis causa which takes place in the absence of the expressed will of the
decedent embodied in a testament [Tolentino].

Order of intestate succession