Short answer. As to pecuniary penalties, yes — but only where the death occurred before final judgment. Article 89 extinguishes them in that situation alone, so a death after the judgment became final does not wipe them out. Personal penalties end with death in either case.
What the law says
By the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment.
Revised Penal Code, Article 89 — How Criminal Liability Is Extinguished. Read the full provision →
One paragraph, two different rules
Article 89 lists the ways criminal liability is totally extinguished, and the first item splits in half: by the death of the convict, as to the personal penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability therefor is extinguished only when the death of the offender occurs before final judgment. Personal penalties — those borne in the person, such as imprisonment — end with death without qualification, for the obvious reason that no one is left to serve them. Pecuniary penalties are treated separately and conditionally, and the condition is a date.
The cut-off is finality, not the verdict
The word doing the work is final. A judgment that has been rendered but is still open to challenge has not yet become final, so a death while the case remains contestable falls on the extinguishing side of the line. Once the judgment has attained finality, the paragraph no longer applies and the pecuniary liability is not extinguished by a later death. This is why, in a case where the accused has died, the first thing anyone examines is the sequence of two dates: when the judgment became final, and when the death occurred.
What this provision does not decide
Article 89 is about criminal liability and the penalties the Code imposes. It is not a general rule that every money claim against the deceased disappears. A claim that rests on some source of obligation other than the offence itself is outside this paragraph altogether and is governed by the law applicable to that obligation, including the rules on claims against a deceased person's estate. Reading the article as a blanket discharge of everything the deceased owed is the commonest mistake made with it, by complainants and by families alike.
What the family or the complainant should assemble
Two documents settle the question the article actually answers: the death certificate, for the date, and the record showing when the judgment became final. Where the case was on appeal at the time of death, the appellate record will show that finality had not been reached. Beyond that, whether anything remains to be pursued against the estate depends on what the claim is founded on, which is a distinct enquiry — take the judgment, the death certificate and any demand already made to a lawyer together, rather than one at a time.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 89 — How Criminal Liability Is Extinguished
- Revised Penal Code, Article 100 — Criminal Liability Means Civil Liability