Short answer. Yes, if you accept the inheritance. Possession passes to the heir from the moment of death and without interruption, whether or not anyone has moved in, signed anything or gone to the registry. Renounce instead, and you are treated as never having possessed the property at all.
What the law says
The possession of hereditary property is deemed transmitted to the heir without interruption and from the moment of the death of the decedent, in case the inheritance is accepted. One who validly renounces an inheritance is deemed never to have possessed the same.
Civil Code, Article 533 — Possession of Hereditary Property. Read the full provision →
No gap between one possessor and the next
The two load-bearing words are without interruption. Possession of inherited property is deemed transmitted to the heir without interruption and from the moment of the death of the decedent. There is no period in which the land is unpossessed while the family arranges a funeral, argues over a will, or waits years to settle the estate. The law closes the gap by fiction, and it does so retroactively — once you accept, your possession is treated as having run from the day of death even if you accepted long afterwards.
Acceptance is the condition, and renunciation erases
Everything in the first sentence turns on the closing phrase, in case the inheritance is accepted. The second sentence supplies the mirror image: one who validly renounces is deemed never to have possessed the same. Not "stops possessing" — never possessed. This matters when an heir who intends to renounce has nonetheless been collecting rent or living on the land, because renunciation unwinds the legal characterisation of what he was doing there, and because a renunciation must be valid to have that effect.
What the continuity is actually for
Uninterrupted possession is what lets an heir stand on the deceased's position rather than starting from nothing. Periods of time that were running keep running. An action that depends on being the possessor is open to the heir immediately, without first taking physical control — which is the practical answer for the heir who finds a caretaker, a tenant or a relative already in the house. It also means the heir inherits the character of that possession, good faith or bad, rather than getting a fresh start on it.
What it does not do
This article settles when possession passed, not who among the heirs gets which parcel, and not what the registry says. Title still has to be transferred through a settlement of the estate, and until the estate is partitioned the heirs hold undivided. Nor does deemed possession evict anybody by itself. If you are the heir, the two dates worth fixing early are the date of death and the date of any act that could be read as acceptance or renunciation, because between them sits most of what can later be argued.
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.
- Queen Errika L. Saddi vs. Maricris Renomeron OCA No. IPI-10-3423-P August 22, 2017 Judge Ramon V. Efondo, Municipal Trial Court of Goa, Camarines Sur vs. Eden D. Favorito, Clerk of Court II, Municipal Trial Court, Goa, Camarines Sur, G.R. No. 211004, August 23, 2017 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Jose C. Lee, et al. vs. Regional Trial Court of Quezon City Branch 85, etc., et al, G.R. No. 146006, February 23, 2004 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 533 — Possession of Hereditary Property
- Civil Code, Article 777 — Succession Opens at the Moment of Death