Text of the provision
Art. 1037. The unworthy heir who is excluded from the succession has a right to demand indemnity or any expenses incurred in the preservation of the hereditary property, and to enforce such credits as he may have against the estate.
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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
The unworthy heir excluded from the succession has a right to demand indemnity for expenses incurred in preserving the hereditary property, and to enforce credits he may have against the estate.
Losing the inheritance for unworthiness does not erase whatever the excluded heir actually spent protecting the estate before his exclusion — repairs, taxes, or other preservation costs remain recoverable, and any separate debts the estate owes him remain collectible. The law treats these as ordinary claims against the estate, entirely apart from any right to inherit, so that the estate is not unjustly enriched at the unworthy heir's expense. In practice, this means the unworthy heir may still present himself to the estate as an ordinary creditor, even while barred from sharing in the inheritance itself.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 1036 — Acts Done Before the Order of Exclusion.
- Article 1038 — Restoring What Was Taken.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.