Short answer. Yes. Article 919 of the Civil Code names this as an explicit ground: a child who uses fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence to cause the testator to make a will or to change one already made may be disinherited. The conduct must have actually caused you to change the will, not merely attempted to.
What the law says
When a child or descendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one already made
Civil Code, Article 919 — Grounds to Disinherit Children and Descendants. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Article 919, item 4 provides: "When a child or descendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one already made." The statute covers four methods — fraud, violence, intimidation, and undue influence — and two outcomes: making a new will or changing an existing one. Your situation falls squarely in the second category. The law recognizes that a will made or changed under these conditions does not reflect the testator's genuine wishes, and that the child who caused it forfeits their right to inherit.
The conduct must have caused the change
The statute requires that the child's conduct actually caused the testamentary act. Pressure that you resisted, or attempts that did not result in any change to the will, do not satisfy this ground — though they may support other grounds such as maltreatment. What matters is that you changed the will because of the threats or pressure, and that the change benefited the child who applied it. If the change was in your genuine interest after reflection, and the pressure was just background noise, the causal link becomes harder to establish.
The affected will and the disinheritance
Here is a practical complexity: if your child forced you to change the will, the change they caused may itself be the problem. You may want to revoke the forced change and restore your earlier testamentary intentions, and then disinherit the child in that same or a subsequent will. The disinheritance must appear in a valid will that specifically names the cause — Article 916 requires the legal ground to be stated in the will itself. A vague exclusion is not sufficient; the will must identify the coercion as the basis.
Documenting what happened
Disinheritances can be challenged. If the child or their heirs later dispute the validity of the disinheritance, evidence of the coercion will matter. Written records, witness accounts, and contemporaneous documentation of the threats or pressure strengthen the position. The cleaner and more specific the record of what occurred and when, the better positioned any executor or heir will be when the will is eventually probated. This is not about prosecuting your child — it is about ensuring your genuine wishes are carried out.
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.
- Rosario Mata Castro and Joanne Benedicta Charissima M. Castro, a.k.a. "Maria Scorro M. Castro" and "Jayrose M. Castro" vs. Jose Maria Jed Lemuel Gregorio and Ana Maria Regina Gregorio, G.R. No. 188801, October 15, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Isabelita S. Lahom vs. Jose Melvin Sibulo, G.R. No. 143989, July 14, 2003 — read the decision on LawPhil →