Short answer. Generally, no. Article 1056 makes acceptance of an inheritance irrevocable once made, and it cannot be challenged except when it resulted from a cause that vitiates consent, such as fraud or mistake, or when a will that was unknown at the time later turns up.
What the law says
The acceptance or repudiation of an inheritance, once made, is irrevocable, and cannot be impugned, except when it was made through any of the causes that vitiate consent, or when an unknown will appears.
Civil Code, Article 1056 — Acceptance Is Irrevocable. Read the full provision →
Acceptance is meant to be final
Article 1056 states the rule without much room for interpretation: The acceptance or repudiation of an inheritance, once made, is irrevocable, and cannot be impugned, except when it was made through any of the causes that vitiate consent, or when an unknown will appears. Once you have accepted an inheritance, whether by an express act or by conduct the law treats as acceptance, you cannot simply reconsider and repudiate it afterward because you changed your mind, discovered the estate carried more debt than expected, or found a better use for your share elsewhere.
The exception for defective consent
The article allows the acceptance to be challenged if it was made through any of the causes that vitiate consent, meaning your decision to accept was not genuinely free and informed to begin with. This covers situations such as being deceived into accepting, being mistaken about a fact essential to the decision, or being pressured through intimidation or undue influence. If your acceptance was the product of one of those defects rather than your own considered choice, it may be possible to have it set aside.
The exception for an unknown will
The second exception covers a different scenario entirely: when an unknown will appears. If you accepted an inheritance believing the estate would pass under intestate succession, or under a will you knew about, and a different will that nobody knew existed later surfaces, your original acceptance may no longer reflect an informed decision about what you were actually accepting. The appearance of that previously unknown will can open the door to revisiting your acceptance.
Why the law favors finality here
Treating acceptance as generally irrevocable protects the stability of a settled estate. Other heirs, creditors, and buyers may have already relied on your acceptance in dealing with the property, distributing shares, or settling debts, and letting an heir freely reverse course afterward would unravel arrangements built on that reliance. The two narrow exceptions exist because they involve situations where the original acceptance was not a genuine, fully informed decision in the first place, not because the law is generally open to heirs backing out later.
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.
- Republic of the Philippines vs. David Rey Guzman, etc., et al, G.R. No. 132964, February 18, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →