Text of the provision
Art. 858. Substitution of heirs may be:
(1) Simple or common;
(2) Brief or compendious;
(3) Reciprocal; or
(4) Fideicommissary.
(n)
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
Substitution may be (1) simple or common; (2) brief or compendious; (3) reciprocal; or (4) fideicommissary.
This article does not itself explain what each kind of substitution means — it only lists the four labels the Code recognizes, leaving the details of each to the articles that follow. In plain terms, a substitution of heirs is a testator’s way of naming a back-up: someone to take the inheritance if the heir originally named cannot or does not receive it. Simple, brief or compendious, reciprocal, and fideicommissary substitution are four different ways of arranging that back-up, each governed by its own rules, which is why the Code addresses them one article at a time.
Questions about this provision
- My father wants to name a backup heir in his will — what are the different types of substitution he can choose from under Philippine law?
- What does it mean when a will names a 'substitute' heir, and when does that substitute actually inherit?
Related provisions
- Article 857 — Substitution Defined.
- Article 859 — Simple Substitution.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.