Short answer. A minor's parents or guardian may accept an inheritance left to the child. But they cannot reject it on the child's behalf on their own authority — repudiating an inheritance left to a ward requires prior judicial authorization, since giving it up is treated as the more consequential act.
What the law says
Any inheritance left to minors or incapacitated persons may be accepted by their parents or guardians. Parents or guardians may repudiate the inheritance left to their wards only by judicial authorization.
Civil Code, Article 1044 — Who May Accept or Repudiate. Read the full provision →
The general rule needs free disposal of property
Article 1044 starts from the premise that any person having the free disposal of his property may accept or repudiate an inheritance. A minor does not have that free disposal, which is exactly why the article carves out a separate rule for inheritances left to minors and incapacitated persons rather than leaving them to act on their own. The same separate rule applies to incapacitated persons generally, not only to children.
Acceptance can be handled by parents or guardians
Where the heir is a minor, the article allows their parents or guardians to accept the inheritance on the child's behalf. This is the more routine of the two acts, since accepting an inheritance generally benefits the minor by bringing property or rights into their estate, so the law does not surround it with extra safeguards. No separate court approval is required simply to accept on the minor's behalf.
Repudiation needs a court's authorization
Rejecting an inheritance is treated very differently. Article 1044 allows parents or guardians to repudiate the inheritance left to their ward only by judicial authorization. Giving up an inheritance can permanently cost the minor something of value, so the law will not let a parent or guardian make that call unilaterally — a court must authorize it first, and without that authorization the repudiation has no legal effect.
Why the two acts are not treated the same
The asymmetry in Article 1044 reflects a basic protective instinct in how the law treats minors' property: an act that adds to what belongs to the child does not need outside oversight, but an act that gives away what could have belonged to them does. If a parent or guardian wants to repudiate on a minor's behalf without securing that authorization first, the repudiation does not have the legal footing this article requires.
A separate rule for inheritances left to the poor
Article 1044 also addresses a different situation entirely: an inheritance left to the poor rather than to a named individual. The right to accept that kind of inheritance belongs to whoever the testator designated to determine the beneficiaries and distribute the property, or, if the testator named no one, to the persons identified under Article 1030. This has nothing to do with a minor heir specifically, but it shows the article covering more than one kind of situation where the ordinary rule of personal acceptance cannot apply.
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.
- Michael C. Guy vs. Hon. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 163707, September 15, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1044 — Who May Accept or Repudiate
- Civil Code, Article 1030 — Dispositions in Favour of the Poor