Short answer. It means the representative is called to the inheritance by law, not by the person they represent, and does not succeed that person — they succeed the one the represented person would have succeeded. Article 971 makes representation a right created by law rather than one inherited from the represented person's own entitlement.
What the law says
The representative is called to the succession by the law and not by the person represented. The representative does not succeed the person represented but the one whom the person represented would have succeeded.
Civil Code, Article 971 — The Representative Succeeds the Decedent. Read the full provision →
The law calls the representative, not the person represented
Article 971 states plainly that the representative is called to the succession by the law and not by the person represented. Someone inheriting by representation is not standing in on the authority of the person they represent, as though that person had somehow passed a claim along. The representative's right comes directly from the law itself. This distinguishes representation from an inheritance the represented person would simply have handed down.
Who is actually being succeeded
The second sentence of Article 971 is the part most often misunderstood: the representative does not succeed the person represented but the one whom the person represented would have succeeded. In other words, the representative does not inherit from the person they represent — that person may have died before the succession even opened. The representative instead steps into the succession of whoever the represented person would have inherited from, had that person been able to.
Why the distinction actually matters
Because the representative succeeds the same person the represented individual would have succeeded, the inheritance the representative receives is measured against that original succession, not against the represented person's own estate or entitlements. Someone inheriting by representation is, in effect, taking the place the represented person would have occupied in that succession — not receiving something the represented person owned or was owed in their own right.
What this article does not decide
Article 971 explains the mechanics of representation once it applies — that it is a right created by law, and that it directs the representative into the succession the represented person would have entered. It does not itself say who is eligible to represent whom, or in what line of relatives representation is available. Anyone trying to work out whether a specific person can inherit by representation in a given family situation needs to look beyond this article's definition to the rules that actually establish who qualifies.
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.
- Amadea Angela K. Aquino vs. Rodolfo C. Aquino and Abdulah C. Aquino/Rodolfo C. Aquino, G.R. No. 208912 / G.R. No. 209018, December 7, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Andy Ang vs. Severino Pacunio, et al, G.R. No. 208928, July 8, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Alejandra Arado, et al. vs. Anacleto Alcoran and Elenette Sunjaco, G.R. No. 163362, July 8, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →