My father died leaving a wife and three legitimate children — how much is each one entitled to as legitime?

Working the fractions in order

Start with the children, because their share is fixed independently of everyone else. The legitime of legitimate children and descendants consists of one-half of the hereditary estate of the father and of the mother. Three children divide that half equally, giving each one-sixth. Then the widow: if there are two or more legitimate children or descendants, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to a portion equal to the legitime of each of the legitimate children or descendants — so she also takes one-sixth. Reserved shares total four-sixths, and one-third of the estate remains free.

The widow's share moves with the number of children

This is the feature people find counter-intuitive, and it is worth stating plainly. The surviving spouse's legitime is not a fixed quarter in every case. With one child she takes a quarter of the estate; with two or more she takes whatever one child takes, which shrinks as the children multiply. Five children would give her one-tenth. Her share is pegged to a child's share by design, so that a large family is not squeezed out by the spouse, and the free portion grows rather than the children's.

Her sixth comes out of the free portion

The article closes by directing that the spouse's legitime be taken from the portion the testator could freely dispose of. That is why the free portion here is a third rather than a half. It also means the children's sixths are untouchable: a will cannot fund a bequest to anyone else by trimming them. If the free portion is exhausted by the widow's share and by legitimes of illegitimate children, there is simply nothing left for a voluntary gift, and any such disposition is reduced accordingly.

Fractions of what, exactly

All of this operates on the net hereditary estate, which is smaller than the family's property. If your parents were under absolute community or conjugal partnership, that regime is liquidated first and your mother's own half is not inheritance at all; she receives her sixth on top of it. Debts, taxes and administration expenses come off before the fractions are applied, and lifetime donations to a child are charged against that child's legitime. Value the estate properly before dividing anything.

What the Family Code changed about this

One part of the article above no longer states current law. The fractions it reserves to legitimate children and to the surviving spouse still stand, but the shares were worked out on the classification of children in use when the Civil Code took effect in 1950. The Family Code now fixes the legitime of each illegitimate child at one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child, and provides that apart from that modification the Civil Code's rules on successional rights remain in force. So read the article for the structure and the Family Code for an illegitimate child's share.

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.

• Elenita V. Macalinao, Kenneth V. Macalinao and Kristel V. Macalinao vs. Cerina, A.K.A. Cerena N. Macalinao and Cindy N. Ma, G.R. No. 250613, April 3, 2024 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Lucila David and the Heirs of Rene F. Aguas, namely: Princess Luren D. Aguas, G.R. No. 241036, January 26, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Guillerma S. Silva vs. Conchita S. Lo, G.R. No. 206667, June 23, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Daniel Rivera and Elpidio Rivera vs. Flora P. Villanueva, Ruperto Pacheco, Virgilio Pacheco, G.R. No. 197310, June 23, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 888 — Legitime of Legitimate Children
• Civil Code, Article 892 — Legitime Of Surviving Spouse
• Civil Code, Article 909 — Charging Donations To Shares