Civil Code, Article 988 — Illegitimate Children Take All

What this article means

In the absence of legitimate descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate children succeed to the entire estate.

How this article reads today. The share stated above was worked out on the classification of children used when this Code took effect in 1950. Article 176 of the Family Code now provides that the legitime of each illegitimate child is one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child, and that “except for this modification, all other provisions in the Civil Code governing successional rights shall remain in force.” Read this article subject to that rule. The Family Code also recognises a single class of illegitimate child, so the Civil Code’s older sub-classifications no longer apply.

Questions about this provision

• My father left no legitimate children and no living ascendants — do his illegitimate children take the entire estate?

Related provisions

• Article 984 — Death of an Adopted Child.
• Article 989 — Own Right and Representation.

Cases citing this article

• Antonietta Garcia Vda. De Chua vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 116835, March 5, 1998 — 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.