Hereditary Succession

Here's something I just found out. Let's see how well you understand hereditary succession.

+ Mr. Black is an American who is married to Mrs. Black, a Filipino. They do not have any children.

+ The spouses bought a lot in Nuvali in 2015.

+ In 2020, Mrs. Black sadly passed away due to COVID.

+ Today, Mr. Black wants to sell the lot but was informed that the lot would have to go through an extra-judicial settlement.

+ Other facts: Mrs. Black's mother is still alive, while her father is deceased.

+ She has three siblings.

Questions: Will Mr. Black, a foreigner, own 100% of the lot? Or who will own the lot?

Option 1: Yes, he will inherit 100% of the lot.

Option 2: No, he cannot own the lot since he's a foreigner.

Option 3: He will own only a part of the lot.

Let’s go through the options one by one:

Option 2: Mr. Black can’t own the lot since he’s a foreigner.

While foreigners aren’t legally allowed to own land in the Philippines, inheriting one is one exception to the law. Note though that the inheritance should be in the absence of a will (intestate inheritance); you can’t designate a foreigner as an heir in a will.

Source: Article XIII, 1987 Constitution

During their marriage, did Mr. Black own 50% of the lot while Mrs. Black was still alive?

Answer: No. Mrs. Black owned 100% of the property. Titles specify ownership with terms like “A married to B” (as opposed to “Spouses A and B”), meaning only A owns the property.

Now for Option 1: Mr. Black, a foreigner, will inherit 100% of the lot.

This was my initial answer. However, the good people of @conveyance_realty corrected me (I use them for complex RE issues), stating that Mr. Black will inherit only 50% of his wife's estate. The remaining 50% will ascend (go up the family tree) to Mrs. Black's parents.

Source: Civil Code Art. 995. “In the absence of legitimate descendants and ascendants...the surviving spouse shall inherit the entire estate...”

Source: Civil Code of the PH Art. 997: “When the widow survives with legitimate parents or ascendants, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to one-half of the estate and the legitimate parents or ascendants to the other half.

So the correct answer is Option 3: Mr. Black will only inherit part of the lot. Mr. Black-50% and Father of Mrs. Black the remaining 50%.

Question: Since Mrs. Black’s mom is no longer alive, aren’t Mrs. Black’s siblings entitled to 25%–the mom’s share (and the father the remaining 25%)?

No. Since the father of Mrs. Black is still alive at the time of Mrs. Black’s death (and the mother deceased), the father will receive the full 50%.

Now, to complicate matters even more, the father of Mrs. Black APPARENTLY passed away in 2022.

In this case, the estate of the father will have to go through a new round of estate settlement. This is the only time the siblings of Mrs. Black will inherit the lot.