Short answer. The value the lot had when it was donated to you, not what it is worth today. The Civil Code brings only that figure into the computation of the estate. The increase since the donation is yours, and had the property lost value instead, that loss would also have been yours to bear.
What the law says
The same things donated are not to be brought to collation and partition, but only their value at the time of the donation, even though their just value may not then have been assessed.
Civil Code, Article 1071 — Value at the Time of Donation. Read the full provision →
The value that counts is the value when it was given
Article 1071 of the Civil Code fixes the figure at the moment of the gift: The same things donated are not to be brought to collation and partition, but only their value at the time of the donation, even though their just value may not then have been assessed. So a lot donated to you two decades ago enters the reckoning at its worth then, however much the neighbourhood has changed since. The closing words matter in practice. It does not defeat the rule that nobody appraised the land at the time — the value it then had can still be established later by evidence.
The land itself is not handed back
Collation is an accounting exercise, not a return of property. The article says the things donated are not brought to collation and partition — only their value is. You keep the title. What happens is that the figure is added notionally to the estate so the shares of the compulsory heirs can be worked out on the whole, and the amount is then charged against your own share. If what you received is worth less than your share, you take the balance from the estate; if it exceeds the portion the law permits, the excess may have to be reduced in favour of the other heirs.
The gains and the losses are both yours
The second sentence makes the risk allocation explicit: Their subsequent increase or deterioration and even their total loss or destruction, be it accidental or culpable, shall be for the benefit or account and risk of the donee. That cuts both ways, and it is meant to. A donee who improved the land, or who happened to hold it through a boom, keeps the upside without being charged more. A donee whose lot was ruined by flooding, or lost entirely, still carries the original figure into the computation and cannot ask his co-heirs to absorb the loss.
What this rule does not decide
Collation is about how much each compulsory heir ultimately receives; it does not by itself invalidate the donation or unsettle your ownership. Whether a particular gift is collated at all depends on other rules — on who received it, on whether the donor exempted it, and on the limits the law places on donations that impair the legitimes of compulsory heirs. Nor does it govern the tax consequences of the transfer or of the estate. Because these disputes usually surface years later and turn on old deeds, tax declarations and receipts, gather the donation documents early and have the computation reviewed before a partition is signed.
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.
- Teresita N. De Leon, Zenaida C. Nicolas and the Heirs of Antonio Nicolas vs. Hon. Court of Appeals, Hon. Pablo P. Inventor and Ramon Nicolas, G.R. No. 128781, August 6, 2002 — read the decision on LawPhil →