Short answer. The legitime is the part of an estate the law reserves for certain heirs, which the testator is not free to give away. It can be taken from an heir only by a valid disinheritance — made in a will, for a cause the law itself lists, and specified in that will.
What the law says
Legitime is that part of the testator's property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for certain heirs who are, therefore, called compulsory heirs.
Civil Code, Article 886 — Legitime Defined. Read the full provision →
A reserved portion, not a gift from the testator
Article 886 defines it: Legitime is that part of the testator's property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for certain heirs who are, therefore, called compulsory heirs. The reservation comes from the law, not from the will, which is why an heir entitled to a legitime does not have to be named in the will to be entitled to it. How large the legitime is depends on which compulsory heirs actually survive — children, parents, a spouse, and in some situations others — so no single fraction answers the question in the abstract.
The testator cannot even attach conditions to it
Article 904 goes further than a simple prohibition on giving it away. The testator cannot deprive his compulsory heirs of their legitime except in cases expressly specified by law, and neither can he impose upon it any burden, encumbrance, condition or substitution of any kind. That second sentence defeats a very common instruction: leaving a child his share on condition that he behave in a certain way, keep the property undivided, or share it with a sibling. The condition attaches to nothing — the legitime has to arrive clean.
Disinheritance is the only route, and it is narrow
Article 915 allows a compulsory heir to be deprived of his legitime by disinheritance, but only for causes expressly stated by law. Article 916 requires that it be effected through a will in which the legal cause is specified. Article 917 places the burden of proving the truth of that cause on the other heirs if the disinherited heir denies it. And Article 918 supplies the penalty for getting it wrong: a disinheritance without a stated cause, or for a cause not set out in the Code, or one that is contradicted and not proved, annuls the institution of heirs insofar as it prejudices the person disinherited.
Being left out is not the same as being disinherited
Families often assume that simply omitting a child from the will achieves the same result. It does not, and the consequence is worse than failure. Under Article 854, the preterition or omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line — whether alive when the will was made or born after the testator's death — annuls the institution of heir altogether, though devises and legacies survive so far as they are not inofficious. If you are drafting, name every compulsory heir explicitly. If you have been left out, the first document to obtain is the will itself.
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.
- Henry H. Teng vs. Lawrence C. Ting, Edmund Ting and Anthony Ting, G.R. No. 184237, September 21, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Hilarion, Jr. and Enrico Orendain, represented by Fe Orendain vs. Trusteeship of the Estate of Doña Margarita Rodriquez, G.R. No. 168660, June 30, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Ruby Shelter Builders & Reality Devt. Corporation vs. Hon. Pablo C. Formaran III, et al, G.R. No. 175914, February 10, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Valente Raymundo vs. Teofista Isagon Vda de Suarez, et al, G.R. No. 149017, November 28, 2008 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 886 — Legitime Defined
- Civil Code, Article 904 — The Legitime Cannot Be Taken Away
- Civil Code, Article 915 — Disinheritance Defined
- Civil Code, Article 916 — Disinheritance Must Be in a Will
- Civil Code, Article 854 — Preterition