Civil Code, Article 963 — How Proximity Is Measured

What this article means

Proximity of relationship is determined by the number of generations; each generation forms a degree.

Under this measure, each step up or down the family tree — from parent to child, or child to parent — counts as one degree. A parent and child are thus relatives in the first degree, a grandparent and grandchild in the second degree, and so on. This generation-counting method is what Article 962 relies on when it says the relative “nearest in degree” excludes more distant ones: the fewer the generations separating two people, the closer the degree, and the stronger the claim to inherit ahead of more distant relatives.

Questions about this provision

• For inheritance purposes, how does Philippine law count how closely two relatives are related, and what are the 'descending' and 'ascending' lines?

Related provisions

• Article 962 — The Nearest Relative Excludes the More Distant.
• Article 964 — Lines of Relationship.

Cases interpreting this article

• Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.