Short answer. Yes. Under Civil Code Article 760, a donation made when a person had no children can be revoked if the donor later adopts a minor child. The adoption is one of three specific events the law recognizes as grounds to revoke or reduce a prior donation.
What the law says
If the donor subsequently adopt a minor child.
Civil Code, Article 760 — Donation Revoked by the Birth of a Child. Read the full provision →
When a donation can be revoked by a later child
Article 760 protects a donor who, at the time of giving, had no children to consider. The law recognizes that a person in that situation may have been far more generous than they would have been had a child already existed. So the Code grants a right to revoke or reduce the donation if, after making it, the donor acquires a child — whether a biological child born legitimately or outside marriage, a child believed dead who turns out to be alive, or a minor who is subsequently adopted. All three events are treated on equal footing.
How adoption fits in
The statute is explicit: If the donor subsequently adopt a minor child, the earlier donation falls within the scope of revocation. This is not a stretch or an implied extension — the law says so directly. The reasoning is the same as for a biological child: after adoption, the donor has family obligations that did not exist at the time the gift was made. The donee who received property from someone who had no heir to protect now holds it subject to challenge.
What 'revoked or reduced' means in practice
Article 760 gives the donor — or, in appropriate circumstances, heirs acting in the donor's name — the right to seek either full revocation or a proportional reduction of the donation. The outcome depends on facts like the value of the donated property relative to what the donor retains, and whether the donation impairs what the adopted child is entitled to receive. This is not automatic; the party seeking revocation must act and, if the donee resists, pursue the matter before a court.
The condition: no children at the time of the donation
One detail matters here: the donor must have had no children at the time the donation was made. Article 760 covers a person who was childless — with no legitimate, legitimated, or illegitimate children and no descendants at all — when the donation was executed. If your uncle already had a child from another relationship when he donated the property, the ground for revocation under this article would not apply, even though he later adopted. The starting point must be a genuinely childless donor.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Heirs of Cesario Velasquez, et al. vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 126996, February 15, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →