Art. 906.
Any compulsory heir to whom the testator has left by any
title less than the legitime belonging to him may demand that the
same be fully satisfied.
• Article 906 talks about completion of legitime
• In this case, a compulsory heir has been given his
legitime by means of donation, condonation,
remission, devise, legacy as long as the giving of the
title is gratuitous
• RIGHT OF COMPLETION OF LEGITIME
 This rule applies only to transmissions by
gratuitous title.
• Cross-References, related articles
Art 855 – if the title by which the testator transmitted
property is intestate succession
Art. 855. The share of a child or descendant omitted
in a will must first be taken from the part of the estate not
disposed of by the will, if any; if that is not sufficient, so
much as may be necessary must be taken proportionally
from the shares of the other compulsory heirs.
In relation to Arts 909 and 910
• The principle underlying this rule on completion of
legitime is that anything that a compulsory heir receives by
gratuitous title from the predecessor is considered an advance on
legitime and is deducted therefrom
EXCEPTIONS
1. Art 1062 – if the predecessor gave the
compulsory heir a donation inter vivos and provided that it
was not to be charged against the legitime.
2. Art 1063 – testamentary dispositions made
by the predecessor to the compulsory heir, unless the
testator provides that it should be considered part of the
legitime.
Art. 907. Testamentary dispositions that impair or diminish the
legitime of the compulsory heirs shall be reduced on petition of the
same, insofar as they may be in officious or excessive.
• Article 907 talks about testamentary
disposition that impair or diminish the legitime of
compulsory heirs
• By analogy, this article applies to donation
inter vivos. Donations which impair (donation inter
vivos) the legitime shall be reduced on petition of the
compulsory heirs.
• When you apply inofficious donation , only the
compulsory heirs can assail that the donation shall
be reduced because it impairs their legitime.
 • The creditor cannot petition that donation inter vivos which • Donations are collated because it would be easy for the
are inofficious be reduced testator to circumvent the law on legitime by donating all his
properties during his lifetime so that nothing would be left
• Based on the same principle as art 904. If the
for his compulsory heirs at the time of his death.
testamentary dispositions exceed the disposable portion,
the compulsory heirs may demand their reduction to the • Donations which are inofficious cannot be assailed
extent that the legitimes have been impaired. To allow the by creditors except when the donation is in fraud of
testator to make testamentary dispositions that impair the the creditor.
legitime would in effect allow him to deprive the compulsory
• The value to be considered is the value of the
heirs of part of their legitime – an act which is prohibited by
property donated at the time it was donated, not the
Art904.
value upon the death of the testator.
• This article should be read together with Art 911
• Remember that donations to spouses are void. Since it is
void, it is still part of the estate and so, there is nothing to
collate because it was not deducted.
Art. 908. To determine the legitime, the value of the property left at
the death of the testator shall be considered, deducting all debts and
charges, which shall not include those imposed in the will.
• The NET HEREDITARY ESTATE
To the net value of the hereditary estate, shall be added the value of
 Articles 888-903 set forth the legitimes of the compulsory
all donations by the testator that are subject to collation, at the time
heirs, either inheriting alone or in various combinations.
he made them.
Those articles gave the legitimes in the form of fractions, or
proportions of the decedent‟s estate.

• In collation, you do not actually return the property
 This article makes possible the computation of the absolute
physically but only the value thereof is considered as
amounts of the legitimes by laying down the manner of
part of the estate.
computing the net value of the estate [the net hereditary
estate], on which the proportions are based.
• You add the donations made during the lifetime of the
testator. That is the process of COLLATION.

• If you do not arrive at the correct net hereditary

estate, all your computation of the legitimes would
be wrong

c)
MANNER OF COMPUTING THE
HEREDITARY ESTATE
• COLLATION
1. Inventory all the Existing Assets
a) This will involve appraisal/valuation of the existing
assets at the time of the decedent‟s death
b) These assets include only those properties that survive
the decedent, i.e., those which are not extinguished by
his death [in relation to articles 774 and 777].
c) The value determined by this inventory will constitute
the GROSS ASSETS.
2. Deduct Unpaid Debts and Charges
a) All unpaid obligations of the decedent should be
deducted from the gross assets.
b) Only those obligations with monetary value which are
not extinguished by death are considered. Thus, those
obligations which are purely personal are not taken into
account.
c) The difference between the gross assets and the
unpaid obligations will be the AVAILABLE ASSETS.
3. Add the Value of Donations Inter Vivos
a) To the available assets should be added all the inter
vivos donations made by the decedent.
b) The donations inter vivos shall be valued as of the time
they were respectively made. Any increase or decrease
in value from the time they were made to the time of
the decedent‟s death shall be for the account of the
donee, since the donation transfers ownership to the
donee.
The sum of the available assets and all the donations
inter vivos is the NET HEREDITARY ESTATE.
o Collation is the act by virtue of which
descendants or other forced heirs who
intervene in the division of the inheritance of
an ascendant bring into the common mass,
the property which they received from him,
that the division may be made according to law and
the will of the testator.
o Collation is only required of compulsory heirs
succeeding with other compulsory heirs and involves
property or rights received by donation or gratuitous
title during the lifetime of the decedent.
o The purpose is to attain equality among the
compulsory heirs in so far as possible for it is
presumed that the intention of the testator or
predecessor in interest in making a donation or
gratuitous transfer to a forced heir is to give him
something in advance on account of his share in the
estate, and that the predecessor’s will be to treat all
his heirs equally, in the absence of any expression to
the contrary.
o Collation does not impose any lien on the property
or the subject matter of collationable donation. What
is brought to collation is not the property donated
 itself, but rather the value of such property at the
time it was donated, the rationale being that the
donation is a real alienation which conveys
ownership upon its acceptance, hence any increase
in value or any deterioration or loss thereof is for the
account of the heir or donee.
Art. 909. Donations given to children shall be charged to their
legitime.
Donations made to strangers shall be charged to that part of the
estate of which the testator could have disposed by his last will.
Insofar as they may be inofficious or may exceed the disposable
portion, they shall be reduced according to the rules established by
this Code.
Donations to Children Charged Against Legitime
Regarding donations to children — these should first be imputed to
or charged against their legitime; and if the legitime is not sufficient
to cover the donations, the excess should be charged to the free
portion; and if still excessive, they should be reduced so as not to
impair the legitimes of the others.
• In succession, a stranger is one who is not a
compulsory heir of the testator
• Donations made to strangers during the lifetime of
the testator are charged to the free portion.
• Donations to strangers should be collated, otherwise,
the legitime of the compulsory heirs will be impaired
• If there is no free portion to speak of, the donation
becomes inofficious. As such, there has to be a
reduction or a return of the property donated.
Art. 910. Donations which an illegitimate child may have received
during the lifetime of his father or mother, shall be charged to his
legitime.
Should they exceed the portion that can be freely disposed of, they
shall be reduced in the manner prescribed by this Code.
Donations Inter Vivos to Compulsory Heirs
 Donations inter vivos to a compulsory heir shall be imputed
to his legitime, i.e., considered as an advance on his
legitime.
Coverage of Rule
- Applies to ALL compulsory heir.
- Note that these 2 articles omit [inadvertently] ascendants
who succeed as compulsory heirs. This rule applies to them
as well.
- For obvious reasons, this rule has no application to a
surviving spouse.
Exceptions
- This rule of imputation to the legitime will not apply if
the donor provided otherwise [in relation to Article
1062], in which case the donation will be imputed to
the disposable portion of the estate.
 - Donations Inter Vivos to Strangers Order of priority:
o A stranger is anyone who does not succeed as a
1. Legitime
compulsory heir.
- Donations inter vivos to strangers are necessarily 2. Donations
imputed to the DISPOSABLE PORTION.
3. Preferred legacy or devise; and

4. All other pro-rata

Art. 911. After the legitime has been determined in accordance with
the three preceding articles, the reduction shall be made as follows:
Method of Reduction
(1) Donations shall be respected as long as the legitime
can be covered, reducing or annulling, if necessary, the devises or There is an order of priorities to be observed in the reduction
legacies made in the will; of the testator’s gratuitous dispositions, thus –

(2) The reduction of the devises or legacies shall be pro
rata, without any distinction whatever.
If the testator has directed that a certain devise or legacy be paid in
preference to others, it shall not suffer any reduction until the latter
have been applied in full to the payment of the legitime.
(3) If the devise or legacy consists of a usufruct or life
annuity, whose value may be considered greater than that of the
disposable portion, the compulsory heirs may choose between
complying with the testamentary provision and delivering to the
devisee or legatee the part of the inheritance of which the testator
could freely dispose.
This provision implements the principle laid down in Articles 872, 886
and 904 - the inviolability of the legitime. Thus, if the legitimes are
impaired, the gratuitous dispositions of the testator [either inter
vivos or mortis causa] have to be set aside or reduced as may be
required to cover the legitimes.
A. First, reduce pro rata the non-preferred legacies and
devises [Art911 (2)], and the testamentary dispositions
[Art907]. Among these legacies, devises and testamentary
dispositions, there is no preference.
B. Second, reduce pro rata the preferred legacies and
devises [Art911, last par.]
C. Third, reduce the donations inter vivos according to
the inverse order of their dates [i.e., the oldest is the most
preferred] [Art773].
These reductions shall be to the extent required to complete
the legitimes, even if in the process the disposition is
reduced to nothing. However, an apparent conflict exists
between this article and Art950, regarding the order of
preference among legacies and devises, should reductions
be necessary.
DEVISES/LEGACIES OF USUFRUCT/ LIFE ANNUITIES/
PENSIONS UNDER PAR. 3
The following principles shall be borne in mind:
A. If, upon being capitalized according to actuarial
standards, the value of the grant exceeds the free portion
[i.e., it impairs the legitime], it has to be reduced, because
the legitime cannot be impaired.
B. The testator can impose no usufruct or any
other encumbrance on the part that passes as legitime.
C. Subject to the 2 rules stated, the compulsory
heirs may elect between:
i. Ceding to the devisee/legatee
the free portion [or the proportional part
thereof corresponding to the said
legacy/devise, in case there are other
dispositions], or
ii. Complying with the terms of
the usufruct or life annuity or pension.
Art. 912. If the devise subject to reduction should consist of real
property, which cannot be conveniently divided, it shall go to the
devisee if the reduction does not absorb one-half of its value; and in
a contrary case, to the compulsory heirs; but the former and the
latter shall reimburse each other in cash for what respectively
belongs to them.
The devisee who is entitled to a legitime may retain the entire
property, provided its value does not exceed that of the disposable
portion and of the share pertaining to him as legitime.
This rule covers cases where:
1) The devise has to be reduced, and
2) The thing given as a devise is indivisible
• In this case, the devise subject to reduction
cannot be conveniently divided
• According to Article 912, if the reduction does
not absorb ½ of its value, it shall go to the
devisee and the devisee will just pay the
compulsory heirs for such value
• If the reduction absorbs more than ½ of its
value, it shall go to the compulsory heirs and
the compulsory heirs will just pay the devisee
for such value
• If it is exactly ½ of its value , the real
property shall go to the devisee if you apply the
article literally, you would be defeating the intent of
the testator. The devisee will just pay the
 compulsory heirs for the value and the devisee in question] their respective shares in
money.
• In either case, there should be pecuniary
B. If no heir or devisee elects to acquire it, it shall be
reimbursement to the party who did not get
sold at public auction and the net proceeds accordingly
his physical portion of the thing devised.
divided between the parties concerned.

Art. 913. If the heirs or devisees do not choose to avail themselves

Nota bene – this rule of constructive partition is similar to
of the right granted by the preceding article, any heir or devisee who
that in co-ownership [Art498] and in partition of the
did not have such right may exercise it; should the latter not make
decedent’s estate [Art1086], except that, in these two latter
use of it, the property shall be sold at public auction at the instance
cases, the acquisition by one of the co-owners or co-heirs
of any one of the interested parties.
can be done only if all the co-owners or co- heirs agree to
such acquisition.

This article applies if neither party [the compulsory heir/s

and the devisee] elects to exercise his right under Art 912.

• If the legatee or devisee does not want to exercise
the right under Article 912, the other parties (heir or
devisee) may exercise the right on behalf of the
party who does not wish to exercise the right
• If none of the parties have the interest to exercise
the right or reimbursement or retention, the property may
just be then sold at a public auction at the instance
of any interested party such as a creditor of the
estate
Art. 914. The testator may devise and bequeath the free portion as
he may deem fit.
• After all the legitimes of the compulsory heirs have
been satisfied, including the surviving spouse and
the illegitimate children, the free disposal may be
given by the testator to anybody provided that there
is no prohibition by law.
• If he gives the free disposal to his concubine, that
is not allowed by reason of law, under the Civil Code,
such donations are VOID.

How the Thing Devised Should be Disposed Of:

The Free Disposal
A. Any other heir or devisee, who elects to do so, may
acquire the thing and pay the parties [the compulsory heir
 (a) The free portion (really the “free disposal”) may be the
object of a charge, a substitution, or a condition. The so called “free
portion” is not exactly free for if the surviving spouse and/or
illegitimate children are present, the “free portion” is
burdened by their legitimes. If anything is still left, this would
really be “free,” and the more proper term for this would be the
“free disposal.’’
(b) Evidently, the term “bequeath” applies in this Article to
movable property, as distinguished from “devise” which can only
have reference to immovable property.
(c) The free portion (really the “free disposal”) if the testator so
desires, can be given to the compulsory heirs in any proportion he
may deem fit.
TABLE OF STEPS TO DETERMINE LEGITIMES, INOFFICIOUS
DONATIONS, AND EXCESSIVE LEGACIES AND DEVISES
(1) From the Value of Property left, SUBTRACT debts and charges
(excluding legacies and devises).
[NOTE: If debts exceed property left, estate is INSOLVENT. Apply
BOOK IV, Title XIX, Civil Code, on PREFERENCE OF CREDITS
(Creditors of insolvent estate cannot ask that donations be reduced
just to satisfy the credits; however, they can ask for rescission of the
donations made in fraud of creditors). (Art. 772, par. 1; Art.
1381{3}).].
(2) ADD to No. (1) the VALUE of all the COLLA-TIONABLE
DONATIONS INTER VIVOS (Including remissions, etc.).
[NOTE: Donations to strangers are also to be ADDED to the value,
so as to determine the net hereditary estate. (TS, May 4, 1888; TS,
June 16, 1902).].
(3) From the NET HEREDITARY ESTATE, determine the actual
legitimes of the compulsory heirs surviving. (Consult table of
legitimes).
(4) CHARGE or IMPUTE Donations
[NOTE: a) a donation to a COMPULSORY HEIR is charged or imputed
to his legitime; any excess is imputed to the free disposal. (Arts.
909, 910).
b) a donation to a STRANGER is charged or imputed to the free
disposal; if excessive — reduce. See Art. 909, pars. 2 and 3.].
[NOTE: If a compulsory heir is EXEMPTED from collation — apply
(b) donation to stranger. (Art. 1062).].
(5) ADD donations (which are imputed to the free disposal) to
LEGACIES AND DEVISES.
[NOTE: If TOTAL exceeds free disposal — reduce, but donations
are preferred to legacies and devises.].
[NOTE: Since in this case the free disposal is exceeded, and the
legitime has been impaired, apply Art. 911 (not Art. 950) in reducing
the legacies and devises.].