Can I claim

Question

My mum got married to a man. This man was married before, and his ex-wife had passed on. He then met my mum, whom he married. I, on the other hand, was not his son as mum had me before she met him. They married and both Mum and I moved in with him. He supported me in every way possible as he had no children of his own. His property was still under his ex-wife and him. He passed away, and my mum has recently passed away. There was a will, but I was the witness.

Recososa Law Firm · Accepted Answer

Hello:

Thank you for sharing your situation. Assuming this matter involves the Philippine jurisdiction, let me clarify how the law generally works. Under the Civil Code of the Philippines, succession is governed by strict rules. Since your stepfather had no biological or adopted children, his heirs would be determined either by a.) his will if it was validly executed or b.) by intestate succession if no valid will exists.

A key concern here is that you mentioned you signed as a witness to the will. Under Article 823 of the Civil Code, a witness to a will cannot inherit under that same will. This means that even if your stepfather left something for you, being a witness disqualifies you from receiving it. However, this does not entirely close the door. If there are other legal grounds such as a.) being treated as a compulsory heir through legal adoption (if he had adopted you), or b.) if your mother had rights over conjugal properties during their marriage, then your rights may come in indirectly.

Since your stepfather’s property was originally under him and his first wife, the share of the deceased first wife should have already passed to her heirs. Your stepfather’s share, on the other hand, should follow either the will or intestate rules. If the will cannot be enforced due to technicalities, intestate succession applies. In intestacy, if your stepfather had no descendants, parents, or siblings, then the surviving spouse would have inherited. Given that your mother also passed away, her heirs, which includes you as her child, may inherit her transmissible share.

What you can do now is a.) check the validity of the will to see if it complies with the formal requirements, b.) determine who the rightful heirs of both your stepfather and your mother are, and c.) pursue estate proceedings in court to settle the matter.

We at Recososa Law Firm handle estate settlement cases like this. We have offices in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. We can schedule an initial consultation via Google Meet, Zoom, or a face-to-face meeting at our office to map out the inheritance path and your possible remedies. You may send us an email at recososalawfirm@gmail.com and kindly indicate that you are a client from LawZana, or call/text us directly at +639175046510.

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Can I claim

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