Short answer. Yes, generally. Article 934 provides that any other charge, perpetual or temporary, burdening the bequeathed thing passes with it to the legatee or devisee. This is different from a pledge or mortgage securing a recoverable debt, which the estate is instead obliged to pay unless the will shows a contrary intention.
What the law says
If the testator should bequeath or devise something pledged or mortgaged to secure a recoverable debt before the execution of the will, the estate is obliged to pay the debt, unless the contrary intention appears.
Civil Code, Article 934 — Pledged or Mortgaged Property. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The same rule applies when the thing is pledged or mortgaged after the execution of the will.
Civil Code, Article 934 — Pledged or Mortgaged Property. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Any other charge, perpetual or temporary, with which the thing bequeathed is burdened, passes with it to the legatee or devisee.
Civil Code, Article 934 — Pledged or Mortgaged Property. Read the full provision →
The mortgage rule: the estate pays the debt
Article 934 treats a mortgage or pledge differently from other burdens on inherited property. Where the testator bequeaths or devises something pledged or mortgaged to secure a recoverable debt, the rule is that the estate is obliged to pay the debt, rather than leaving you, as the legatee or devisee, to pay it off yourself. So for a mortgage specifically, the default expectation is that the debt gets settled out of the estate before or as part of the property passing to you.
Why the mortgage rule applies whenever the security was created
That obligation on the estate applies regardless of when the pledge or mortgage was created. The article specifies that the same rule applies when the thing is pledged or mortgaged after the execution of the will, so it does not matter whether the security existed before the will was made or was created afterward — the estate's duty to pay the secured debt is the same either way, unless the will itself shows a different intention.
The separate rule for other charges
For everything other than a pledge or mortgage, though, the article states a different rule entirely: any other charge, perpetual or temporary, with which the thing bequeathed is burdened, passes with it to the legatee or devisee. This directly answers your question — other liens or charges on the property, unlike a mortgage, are not something the estate is made to clear away for you. Instead, they travel with the property itself into your hands as legatee or devisee.
The 'contrary intention' escape valve — and where it doesn't apply
The 'unless the contrary intention appears' qualifier is tied specifically to the mortgage-and-pledge rule, meaning the will can override the default expectation that the estate pays a secured debt. The article's text does not extend that same escape valve to the separate rule on other charges — those are simply described as passing with the property, without the article attaching a contrary-intention exception to that particular sentence.
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.
- Raquel Estipona (Lelandlord E. Sto. Domingo) and Sps. Alberto Co and Lulu Co, G.R. No. 207407, September 29, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →