Text of the provision
Art. 897. When the widow or widower survives with legitimate children or descendants, and acknowledged natural children, or natural children by legal fiction, such surviving spouse shall be entitled to a portion equal to the legitime of each of the legitimate children which must be taken from that part of the estate which the testator can freely dispose of.
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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
As originally enacted, where the surviving spouse concurred with legitimate children and acknowledged natural children (or natural children by legal fiction), the spouse took a portion equal to the legitime of each legitimate child, taken from the free portion.
How this article reads today. The sub-classes this article turns on no longer exist under Articles 163 and 165 of the Family Code, and the legitime of every illegitimate child is now fixed by Article 176 of the Family Code at one-half of a legitimate child’s.
Questions about this provision
Related provisions
- Article 896 — Illegitimate Children With Ascendants.
- Article 898 — Spouse With Other Illegitimate Children.
Cases citing this article
- Guillerma S. Silva vs. Conchita S. Lo, G.R. No. 206667, June 23, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.