Under the law, illegitimate children are accorded rights in relation to their biological father. One such right is the right to inherit from him. What is of prime importance in this instance, for an illegitimate child to exercise and enforce said right is the fact of recognition of the biological father that this child is indeed his own or proof of their filiation. (Article 887, Civil Code of the Philippines)
Thus, as an illegitimate child, you have the right to inherit from your father. To say that you will not be able to get anything from your father, simply because you are an illegitimate child is incorrect and misleading. In fact, the law itself reserves a certain portion of a decedent’s estate in favor of his/her compulsory heirs, among them are the illegitimate children. Under the law, illegitimate children are considered as compulsory heirs of a decedent, as such, they are entitled to a legitime. (Article 887, Civil Code of the Philippines)
“Legitime is that part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for certain heirs, who are, therefore, called compulsory heirs.†(Article 886, Civil Code of the Philippines)
The legitime of illegitimate children “ . . . shall consist of one-half of the legitime of each of the legitimate children or descendants.†(Article 895, Civil Code of the Philippines) It is clear that the share of a legitimate child is considerably more than that of an illegitimate child. Be that as it may, the illegitimate child still has a share in the property of his/her father.
Thus, when your father dies, you will inherit your father’s estate amounting to one-half of what his legitimate child will get. For example, if a legitimate child gets P100,000 then an illegitimate child gets P50,000.
However, it will be a whole different matter if your father disinherits you. When this happens, even your right to your legitime will be lost. There are, nevertheless, only specific grounds on which this act may be based and justified.
Under the law, disinheritance may only be validly effected through a will wherein the legal cause shall be specified. (Article 916, Civil Code of the Philippines) The specific causes or grounds for disinheritance are enumerated under the law. One such ground is “(w)hen a child or descendant has been found guilty of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or ascendants.†(Article 919, Civil Code of the Philippines)
In sum, if no valid disinheritance takes place, you have the right to inherit from your father. Illegitimacy does not deprive a child, son or daughter, the right to succeed his biological parents, be it the mother or the father.
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