Short answer. No. Accepting or repudiating an inheritance is on the Civil Code's list of acts that need a special power of attorney. A general authority to manage your affairs is not enough — the power must say specifically that your representative may accept or renounce what you stand to inherit.
What the law says
Special powers of attorney are necessary in the following cases:
Civil Code, Article 1878 — Acts Requiring a Special Power of Attorney. Read the full provision →
What the law says
To accept or repudiate an inheritance
Civil Code, Article 1878 — Acts Requiring a Special Power of Attorney. Read the full provision →
Both directions are covered by the same clause
The clause pairs the two opposite acts deliberately: to accept or repudiate an inheritance. Accepting looks harmless and repudiating looks drastic, but the Code treats them alike, because each one closes off the other permanently. An agent who accepts on your behalf commits you to whatever comes with the estate; an agent who repudiates gives away a share you may never recover. Neither decision belongs to someone holding nothing more than a general authority to look after your affairs.
Why a general power will not do
A general power of attorney is understood as covering acts of administration — keeping your affairs running as they are. Deciding whether to take on an inheritance is not administration. It changes the composition of your estate, which is why it sits on this list alongside transferring ownership of an immovable and making gifts. The list closes with any other act of strict dominion, and that phrase explains the whole enumeration: these are acts of ownership, not of management.
What the instrument should say
The requirement is that the authority be special, meaning it identifies the act. A power that recites a general ability to represent you “in all matters” does not become special by being long. It has to name the act — that the agent may accept, or may repudiate, the inheritance in question. If you are abroad and cannot attend to a settlement yourself, this is the specific power that has to be in the document you send home, and its absence is a common reason a settlement stalls.
The rest of the list is worth reading too
Settling an estate rarely involves only one of these acts. The same article separately requires a special power to compromise, to create or convey real rights over immovable property, to enter into a contract transferring ownership of an immovable, and to make payments that are not ordinary acts of administration. An agent sent to represent you in a family settlement may need several of these, and each has to be granted in its own terms rather than inferred from the others.
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.
- Reman Recio vs. Heirs of Spouses Aguego and Maria Altamirano, namely Alejandro, et al., all surnamed Altamirano, et al, G.R. No. 182349, July 24, 2013 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Alvin Patrimonio vs. Napoleon Gutierrez and Octavio Marasigan III, G.R. No. 187769, June 4, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Fil-Estate Properties, Inc. vs. Paulino Reyes, et al, G.R. No. 152797, September 18, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Cezar Yatco Real Estate Services, Inc., GRD Property Resources, Inc. Gamaliel Pascual, Jr., Ma. Lourdes Limjap Pascual and Aurora Pijuan vs. Bel-air Village Association, Inc. Represented…, G.R. No. 211780, November 21, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →