My father tried to disinherit me in his will but cited a reason that isn't actually one of the legal grounds — what happens to my share?

Disinheritance is a strictly formal act

It is not a matter of a parent's wishes being clear enough. Article 915 allows a compulsory heir to be deprived of his legitime only for causes expressly stated by law, and Article 916 adds that Disinheritance can be effected only through a will wherein the legal cause therefor shall be specified. Three requirements sit in those two sentences: it must be done in a will, the cause must be stated, and the stated cause must be one the Code recognises. The causes are listed by relationship — Article 919 for children and descendants, Article 920 for parents, Article 921 for a spouse — and nothing outside those lists will do.

What a defective disinheritance actually does

Article 918 is precise about the consequence. Disinheritance for a cause which is not one of those set forth in this Code, shall annul the institution of heirs insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited; but the devises and legacies and other testamentary dispositions shall be valid to such extent as will not impair the legitime. Notice that the will is not destroyed. It is cut back exactly as far as necessary to restore what you were entitled to, so the legacies your father made to others generally survive, reduced only if the estate cannot satisfy them and the legitime at once.

Who has to prove what

This is the provision most people are surprised by. Article 917: The burden of proving the truth of the cause for disinheritance shall rest upon the other heirs of the testator, if the disinherited heir should deny it. A denial is enough to put the other side to proof — you do not have to establish a negative about your own conduct. Article 918 makes the same allocation from the other end, treating a cause the truth of which, if contradicted, is not proved as no better than no cause at all. Where the ground cited was never a legal ground in the first place, the question of truth does not even arise.

Two further provisions worth knowing

Article 922 provides that a subsequent reconciliation between the offender and the offended person deprives the latter of the right to disinherit and renders ineffectual any disinheritance already made — so a genuine reconciliation after the will was signed is itself an answer, apart from any defect in the cause. And Article 923 preserves the line: the children of a person disinherited take his place and keep the rights of compulsory heirs as to the legitime. What your restored share actually amounts to depends on which compulsory heirs survived and on the marital property regime being liquidated before the estate is computed.

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.

• Ana Maria C. Manguerra vs. Ma. Patricia Concepcion E. Manguerra-Aberasturi, et al, G.R. No. 253426, November 29, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 918 — Defective Disinheritance
• Civil Code, Article 915 — Disinheritance Defined
• Civil Code, Article 916 — Disinheritance Must Be in a Will
• Civil Code, Article 917 — Who Must Prove the Cause
• Civil Code, Article 922 — Reconciliation Wipes Out Disinheritance
• Civil Code, Article 923 — The Disinherited Heir's Children Take His Place