Dear PAO,
My father, who recently died, was an American citizen who had been living in the Philippines for the past 15 years. When he died, he named both me and my mother, in his will, as the sole heirs to his properties in the Philippines. The problem is, my dad had a wife and three children in the US, and we were his second family—as it were, my mom was his mistress and I, their illegitimate daughter. While preparing for the process of having his will probated, I came across an article which mentions that mistresses are prohibited from inheriting from a person who is legally married to another, even if he or she is expressly named in the will. Does that mean that my mother’s share in the inheritance based on my father’s last will and testament will be voided?
Arya
Dear Arya,
Indeed, our laws proscribe donations between parties in an illicit relationship for being contrary to law, morals, and public policy. Particularly, Article 739 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines declares as void the following donations: (1) those made between persons who were guilty of adultery or concubinage at the time of the donation; (2) those made between persons found guilty of the same criminal offense, in consideration thereof; (3) Those made to a public officer or his wife, descendants and ascendants, by reason of his office.
The foregoing prohibition is not limited to donation but also applies to testamentary disposition. (Article 1028, New Civil Code) This means that our laws, likewise, bar paramours from being instituted as heirs in their married partner’s will.
It bears noting, however, that the intrinsic validity of a will — those pertaining to the institution of heirs, order of succession, successional rights, and most importantly, the validity of the testamentary disposition — is governed by the decedent’s national law. This is following Article 16 of the same Code which provides:
“Article 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country wherein said property may be found.”
In your case, assuming that your father was still an American citizen at the time of his death, it shall be the state law of your father’s US domicile which shall govern the intrinsic validity of the provisions of his will. This means that your mother, as your father’s paramour, may not necessarily be disqualified from inheriting from the latter, as the subject prohibition on donation and testamentary disposition only applies to Filipino citizens, including those living abroad. (Article 15, Id.).
To put it simply, if the national law of your father allows or does not otherwise expressly proscribe either intestate or testamentary succession between parties in an illicit relationship, then your mother’s share in the inheritance based on your father’s last will and testament shall be recognized as valid and binding.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
