Short answer. Those in the next degree inherit in their own right. Article 969 says that when the nearest relative repudiates, or all the nearest relatives of the same degree repudiate, the heirs of the following degree inherit — but in their own right, not by representation. They cannot represent the ones who gave up the inheritance.
What the law says
If the inheritance should be repudiated by the nearest relative, should there be one only, or by all the nearest relatives called by law to succeed, should there be several, those of the following degree shall inherit in their own right
Civil Code, Article 969 — Repudiation by All in a Degree. Read the full provision →
What the law says
in their own right and cannot represent the person or persons repudiating the inheritance
Civil Code, Article 969 — Repudiation by All in a Degree. Read the full provision →
The next degree steps up
Article 969 answers what happens when everyone at the front of the line says no. It provides that if the inheritance should be repudiated by the nearest relative, should there be one only, or by all the nearest relatives called by law to succeed, should there be several, those of the following degree shall inherit in their own right. So the estate does not go unclaimed. When the whole of the nearest degree of relatives repudiates, the law simply moves down to the next degree, and those relatives inherit. The chain of intestate succession continues past the people who declined it.
In their own right, not by representation
The crucial phrase is that the next degree inherits in their own right and cannot represent the person or persons repudiating the inheritance. Representation is the mechanism by which, say, grandchildren step into the place of a parent who died before the decedent and take the share that parent would have received. Article 969 shuts that mechanism off in cases of repudiation. Those who inherit after a repudiation do not take the repudiator's share as his substitutes; they inherit as the persons now nearest in degree, on their own account. The distinction changes both who qualifies and how the estate is divided.
Why the difference matters in the split
Because there is no representation, the estate is divided among the next degree according to their own standing, not according to the shares the repudiators would have had. This can produce a different distribution than if the repudiators had simply died and been represented. It also means a person cannot repudiate in order to pass a larger share down to his own children by representation — the children do not step into his shoes. If they inherit at all, it is because they are themselves now within the degree the law calls, and they share as equals in that degree.
Repudiation is a deliberate, formal act
This rule assumes a genuine repudiation — a clear renouncement of the inheritance, not mere inaction. Repudiation and acceptance are choices the law surrounds with their own requirements, and a repudiation, once validly made, is treated as if the person never became an heir at all. That is why the next degree can be called. Anyone deciding whether to repudiate should understand that it does not quietly benefit their descendants through representation; it removes them from the succession and hands the opportunity to whoever the law finds next in line.