Short answer. The difference is how they are called and what they receive. Article 782 says an heir is a person called to the succession by the provision of a will or by operation of law, while devisees and legatees are given gifts of real and personal property, respectively, by virtue of a will. A devisee gets real property; a legatee, personal.
What the law says
An heir is a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law
Civil Code, Article 782 — Heir, Devisee and Legatee. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Devisees and legatees are persons to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given by virtue of a will
Civil Code, Article 782 — Heir, Devisee and Legatee. Read the full provision →
The heir: called by will or by law
Start with the heir. Article 782 says: An heir is a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law. Two things stand out. First, an heir can be created two ways, by a will naming them, or by the law itself when there is no will, or the will does not cover everything. Second, an heir is called to the succession generally, meaning to the whole estate or a fractional part of it, rather than to a specific, named object. So an heir steps into a share of what the deceased left, whether that share comes from the testator's instructions or from the default rules of intestate succession.
Devisee and legatee: the kind of property differs
Now the other two. The article continues: Devisees and legatees are persons to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given by virtue of a will. The word respectively carries the distinction. A devisee is given real property, land and things attached to it. A legatee is given personal property, money, movables, and other non-land assets. Both receive a specific gift, not a share of the whole estate. And both exist only by virtue of a will: unlike an heir, a devisee or legatee cannot arise from operation of law. If there is no will making the particular gift, there is no devisee or legatee to speak of.
Share of the estate versus a particular gift
The deeper contrast is between succeeding to a portion and receiving a determinate thing. An heir takes an undivided share, a fraction of everything, whatever it turns out to consist of, and so shares in the general fortunes of the estate. A devisee or legatee takes a particular item singled out in the will. This is why the same person's status can matter: being given one-third of an estate points toward being an heir, while being given a named house or a specific car points toward a devise or a legacy. The gift's character, a share versus a specific object, is what places you in one category or the other.
Why the labels have real consequences
These are not just names. Because an heir can be called by operation of law, a compulsory or intestate heir may inherit even without a will, whereas a devisee or legatee depends entirely on the will's survival and validity; revoke or invalidate the will and the particular gift falls with it. The categories can also differ in how they are affected when an estate is short: specific gifts to devisees and legatees may be reduced or set aside to pay debts or to protect the compulsory heirs' guaranteed shares. So identifying whether you are an heir, a devisee, or a legatee affects what you get, on what condition, and how secure it is against the estate's obligations.
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.
- The People of the Philippines vs. Elpidio Mercado y Hernando and Aurelio acebron y Adora, G.R. No. 116239, November 29, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →