Text of the provision

Art. 1020. The heirs to whom the inheritance accrues shall succeed to all the rights and obligations which the heir who renounced or could not receive it would have had.

(984)

Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.

What this article means

Heirs to whom the inheritance accrues succeed to all the rights and obligations the renouncing or incapacitated heir would have had.

Accretion is not a pure windfall: heirs who receive the enlarged share also step into whatever obligations were attached to it, such as charges, conditions, or debts chargeable against that portion of the estate, exactly as the original heir who renounced or was incapacitated would have carried them. An heir cannot accept the added property while disclaiming the burdens that came with it — the accruing share is received as a package of both rights and corresponding obligations, consistent with the general principle that one who benefits from a succession also answers for its charges.

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Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Republic Act No. 386), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.