Short answer. Yes. Article 1080 of the Civil Code allows a person to make a binding partition of their estate in a will or by act during their lifetime. That partition is valid and must be respected — as long as it does not impair the legitime of any compulsory heir.
What the law says
Should a person make partition of his estate by an act inter vivos, or by will, such partition shall be respected, insofar as it does not prejudice the legitime of the compulsory heirs.
Civil Code, Article 1080 — Partition by the Decedent Himself. Read the full provision →
The testator's right to partition their own estate
Article 1080 gives every person the right to decide in advance how their estate is divided. This can be done in two ways: by a deed or act during the person's lifetime (called an act inter vivos), or through a will. When the testator makes this decision — designating which heir gets which property — that division is legally binding and must be respected. The heirs do not need to renegotiate the partition; they inherit what the decedent assigned to each of them.
The single condition: legitimes must not be impaired
The testator's partition is valid insofar as it does not prejudice the legitime of the compulsory heirs. Compulsory heirs — legitimate children, surviving spouse, and others entitled to a forced share — have a minimum portion of the estate that the law reserves for them regardless of what the will says. If the testator's partition leaves any compulsory heir with less than their legal minimum, the partition can be challenged to the extent necessary to restore that minimum. The partition is not automatically void — it is only void to the extent it impairs the legitime.
Does this mean you skip probate?
A valid partition in the will does not eliminate the need to probate the will. The will must still be presented to the court for probate to verify its formal validity — proper execution, testamentary capacity, freedom from undue influence. Once the will is admitted to probate, the partition your parent made takes effect. The probate proceeding authenticates the will; it does not re-do the partition. Heirs who believe the partition impairs their legitime may raise that issue during the settlement of the estate, but the partition itself stands unless and until successfully challenged.
What happens if one heir received too little
If the will's partition gives one compulsory heir less than their legitime, the solution is not to throw out the entire partition. Instead, the shortfall is made up — either from assets the will did not specifically allocate, or proportionally from the shares of other heirs who received more than their free portion. Article 1080's instruction to respect the partition unless it prejudices the legitime means the partition survives as much as possible, with adjustments only to the extent needed to protect the forced heirs. Identifying and resolving these shortfalls is one of the practical tasks in estate settlement.
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.
- Ricarido Golez, in his own behalf and his children Crispino Golez, et al., G.R. No. 191376, January 8, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Araceli Mayuga vs. Antonio Atienza, G.R. No. 208197, January 10, 2018 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Lordito Arrogante, et al. vs. Beethoven Deliarte etc, G.R. No. 152132, July 24, 2007 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- J.L.T. Agro, Inc. vs. Antonio Balansag, et al, G.R. No. 141882, March 11, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →