Short answer. Yes. Even an heir excluded from the succession for unworthiness is not stripped of everything. Article 1037 gives him the right to demand indemnity for expenses he incurred in preserving the estate's property, and to enforce any credits he holds against the estate. Exclusion bars him from inheriting, not from being repaid what he legitimately spent.
What the law says
The unworthy heir who is excluded from the succession has a right to demand indemnity or any expenses incurred in the preservation of the hereditary property, and to enforce such credits as he may have against the estate.
Civil Code, Article 1037 — The Unworthy Heir's Right to Expenses. Read the full provision →
Unworthiness excludes, but does not confiscate
An heir can be shut out of an inheritance for unworthiness, for conduct the law treats as incompatible with inheriting from the deceased. That exclusion is real: he takes nothing as an heir. But it is not a wholesale forfeiture of every peso connected to the estate. Article 1037 preserves certain money claims the excluded heir may have, drawing a line between the inheritance he loses and the reimbursements or debts that are his by a separate right. Losing the status of heir does not erase those independent claims.
Reimbursement for preservation expenses
The clearest of these is the cost of caring for the estate. The article gives the unworthy heir a right to demand indemnity or any expenses incurred in the preservation of the hereditary property. If, before or during the controversy, he spent money keeping estate assets safe, maintained, or from deteriorating, that outlay benefited whoever ultimately inherits. It would be unjust to let the true heirs keep property preserved at his expense while paying him nothing, so the law lets him recover those preservation costs even though he cannot share in the estate itself.
Enforcing credits against the estate
The provision also lets the excluded heir enforce such credits as he may have against the estate. If the deceased owed him money, or he otherwise holds a valid claim against the estate, being declared unworthy to inherit does not wipe out that debt. He may pursue it like any other creditor. His disqualification concerns his capacity to receive an inheritance, not the separate obligations the estate owes him in his own right as a lender or claimant.
Why the law draws this line
The distinction reflects a sense of proportion. Unworthiness is a penalty aimed at a particular wrong, and it works by denying the inheritance. It is not meant to enrich the other heirs at the excluded person's expense by letting them pocket his preservation spending or escape debts the estate genuinely owes him. For someone in that position, the practical step is to keep clear records of what he spent preserving estate property and of any credits he holds, since those, unlike the inheritance, survive the finding of unworthiness.