Short answer. Article 1073 reduces your share of the estate by the amount you already received as a gift. Your co-heirs then receive an equivalent, as much as possible, in property of the same nature, class, and quality, so the gift is treated as an advance on your inheritance rather than an extra windfall.
What the law says
The donee's share of the estate shall be reduced by an amount equal to that already received by him; and his co-heirs shall receive an equivalent, as much as possible, in property of the same nature, class and quality.
Civil Code, Article 1073 — Reducing the Donee's Share. Read the full provision →
The gift is deducted from your share
Article 1073 states the mechanics of collation plainly: The donee's share of the estate shall be reduced by an amount equal to that already received by him. Once the value of what you received during your parent's lifetime is brought into account, it is subtracted from what you would otherwise receive out of the estate now. You do not simply keep the earlier gift on top of an undiminished share; the gift and your eventual inheritance are treated as parts of one overall entitlement, not as two separate, unrelated benefits.
Your co-heirs are made whole from similar property
The article does not just shrink your share; it also directs how the rest of the estate is distributed to offset that reduction. It provides that his co-heirs shall receive an equivalent, as much as possible, in property of the same nature, class and quality. In other words, the estate tries to give your co-heirs property comparable in kind to what you already received, rather than leaving them with a different, possibly less desirable, category of asset simply because you got your share earlier in a specific form.
Why the law equalizes this way
The underlying purpose of collation is fairness among compulsory heirs who are entitled to a legitime. Without this rule, an heir who received a substantial gift during the parent's life could effectively receive more than their siblings simply because the gift arrived early rather than through the estate settlement. Reducing the donee's later share by what was already given, and trying to compensate the other heirs with comparable property, keeps everyone's ultimate share proportionate to what the law intends, rather than rewarding early gifts with a double benefit.
What this means as the estate is being settled
If you received a significant gift from your parent while they were alive, expect that value to be accounted for when the estate is divided, reducing what you receive now by roughly that amount. This is not a penalty; it is how the law keeps your total share, gift plus inheritance combined, consistent with what you were always entitled to, while trying to give your co-heirs a fair, comparable share of the remaining estate.