Short answer. Yes. Under Article 741 of the Civil Code, minors and others who cannot enter into contracts can be donees. They can receive donations. What they cannot do is accept personally — acceptance must be done through their parents or legal representatives on their behalf.
What the law says
Minors and others who cannot enter into a contract may become donees but acceptance shall be done through their parents or legal representatives.
Civil Code, Article 741 — Minors As Donees. Read the full provision →
Receiving a donation and entering a contract are different things
The Civil Code draws a sensible distinction here. Entering into a contract requires full legal capacity — the ability to bind yourself to obligations. But being a donee — receiving a gift — is fundamentally different: you are gaining, not obligating yourself. Article 741 reflects this by allowing minors and incapacitated persons to be donees even though they lack contractual capacity. The law does not deprive a child of the ability to receive gifts simply because the child cannot sign a contract.
Parents or legal representatives must accept
The requirement of acceptance is not waived for minors — it is redirected. Where the donee is a minor or otherwise incapable, their parents or legal representatives must perform the act of acceptance on their behalf. For a child with two living parents, either parent may typically act. If the child has no parents and a guardian has been appointed, the guardian steps in as the legal representative. The acceptance must be communicated to the donor while both the donor and the representative are alive, as the general rules on donations require.
What happens when no parent or representative accepts
If no parent or legal representative accepts on the minor's behalf, the donation is not completed. A donation requires both an offer and an acceptance — the minor's inability to accept personally means the donation is suspended until a proper representative acts. This can arise where a donor makes a gift to a child whose parents are absent or unaware of the donation. In practice, the donor should coordinate with the child's parents or guardian to ensure the formalities are completed. An unaccepted donation has no legal effect.
Once accepted, the donation belongs to the minor
When the parent or legal representative accepts, the donation is completed and the donated property belongs to the minor. The representative accepts for the minor, not for themselves. The donated property must be managed for the minor's benefit — a parent who receives a donated item on a child's behalf and keeps it for personal use is misappropriating the child's property. If the donation is substantial — real estate or a significant sum — the representative may need court supervision to manage it properly until the minor reaches legal age.
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.
- Ida C. Labagala vs. Nicolasa T. Santiago, et al, G.R. No. 132305, December 4, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →