If one heir in the same degree refuses the inheritance, where does his share go?

His share goes to the others of his degree

Article 968 answers this with the rule of accretion in intestate succession. It provides: If there are several relatives of the same degree, and one or some of them are unwilling or incapacitated to succeed, his portion shall accrue to the others of the same degree, save the right of representation when it should take place. So when one heir among several of equal degree — say, one of several children — refuses the inheritance, his share does not simply vanish or pass to strangers. It accrues to the other heirs of the same degree, increasing what each of them receives. The refusing heir's portion is absorbed by his co-heirs standing on the same rung.

Unwilling or incapacitated — both are covered

The article treats two situations the same way. An heir may be unwilling — he repudiates or declines the inheritance by his own choice — or incapacitated to succeed, meaning legally disqualified from inheriting. In either case, the effect on his portion is identical: it accrues to the others of the same degree. This matters because people often assume a refusal works differently from a disqualification. Under Article 968 they converge. What the law cares about is that the heir does not take his share; where his portion then goes does not depend on whether he stepped aside voluntarily or was barred by law.

The exception: the right of representation

The accretion is not absolute. The article preserves it only save the right of representation when it should take place. Representation is where the descendants of an heir step into his place and inherit what he would have received. Where that right applies, the share does not accrue to the co-heirs of the same degree; instead it passes down to those who represent the heir. Importantly, representation operates in cases like incapacity, but a person who repudiates the inheritance cannot be represented — so a voluntary refusal generally leads to accretion among the same-degree heirs, while a disqualified heir's line may take by representation.

The setting and its limits

This rule governs succession by intestacy — where the estate passes according to the law's order of heirs rather than a will's specific gifts. It operates within a single degree: the portion accrues to those of the same degree as the heir who drops out, not to more distant relatives, so long as there are co-heirs of that degree to receive it. The provision does not decide who inherits in the first place or override a valid will's dispositions. It answers a narrower question — once the qualified heirs of a degree are fixed, what becomes of the share of one who will not or cannot take it.

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.

• Heirs of Serapio Mabborang; Lauriano Mabborang, et al. vs. Hermogenes Mabborang and Benjamin Mabborang, G.R. No. 182805, April 22, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 968 — Repudiation by One of Several Relatives