Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate: Basic Discussion

When a person dies intestate (which means he left no will) the competent court shall appoint a qualified administrator for the estate. The same rule applies even if the person dies testate (which means that he left a will) if the will failed to name an executor in his will, or if the named executor is incompetent, or refuses the trust, or fails to furnish the bond required by the Rules of Court. One exception to this is the extrajudicial settlement of estate.

Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate in the Philippines

We have a previous discussion on wills and probate of wills (see Basic Concepts in Estate Proceedings; Basic Discussion on Last Will and Testament and Holographic Wills). A will must be presented in court, through probate proceedings, and this judicial process may take some time. A much faster way of disposing of properties left behind by the deceased person, known as the decedent, is through an extrajudicial settlement of estate.

An extrajudicial settlement of estate, however, presupposes that the decedent left no will. As previously noted, a person who has custody of a will is under obligation to produce it. The requirements for a valid extrajudicial settlement of estate are:

  • 1. The decedent left no will.
  • 2. The decedent left no debts, or if there were debts left, all had been paid.
  • 3. The heirs are all of age, or if they are minors, the latter are represented by their judicial guardian or legal representatives.
  • 4. The partition was made by means of a public instrument or affidavit duly filed with the Register of Deeds.

The affidavit must be executed by the heirs and must contain the necessary allegations to support a valid extrajudicial settlement of estate. The affidavit shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

P&L Law

50 thoughts on “Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate: Basic Discussion

  1. franz

    Our property was subdivided through extrajudicial settlement after my father died w/o a will.
    Property, 6/10 share to the mother & 1/10 share for each of the 4 children.
    My mother want to sell the property (house & lot) to me & payoff the shares to my siblings.
    what if one of my siblings doesn’t want to sell? what course of action can we do to proceed with the sale?
    I want to use the house as a collateral for a house improvement loan. if one refuses to sign the contract to sell & vacate the house, what are course of action / options for us?

    Reply
  2. paz

    when you publish an extra judicial settlement summary, how do you word it? the decedent left behind several properties, is it necessary to identify in the summary all the properties (specific details: location, size…)? thanks. paz

    Reply
  3. r0d

    bibili pa lang kami ng property dito sa Bacoor Cavite sa developer/ nagbigay cla ng xerox copy of said title ng lupa. as i know may conflict to sa GSIS nag pa check kami sa Gsis sabi nla check namin register deeds cavite. na check sa RD nsa developer pa rin title ng lupa. pina check namin sa Bacoor another name naka lagay dun nagbayad ng amelyar 6 yrs back. may lumang bahay pa po ito..
    pls advise me thanks sa advice,, nyu..

    Reply
  4. Nelba

    our father died 3 yrss ago and left 296Sq meter lot with house who are we now presently residing me and my 2 siblings with our families and also with my dad 2nd family 3children and their mom also with their husband and wife, my mom is presently working abroad they are married but separated when i was three yrs old and not legally separated, we tried to talked about our heirs and to declare our father’s death but the 2nd family refuses to sign and they disagree about the dividing of our shares, they want half of the total share belongs to them..We wanted to get our share. what is the best thing to do? thank yoou

    Reply
  5. Manuel

    Good day po atty..my problem is.. Namatay na po father namin 3 yrs ago.. 6 kaming magkakapatid at may isang minor anak Nya sa labas.. Di kami magkakasundo lahat..3 na US citizen.. Gusto yung 2 Filipino citizen gumawa na sila ng waiver of rights para mapunta na sa akin ang share nila.. Plwede ba yun kahit walang pirma mga kapatid naming US citizen na? Tnx po..

    Reply
  6. Thelma P

    My parents died consecutively last October and December 2015, Before my parents died, they issued two (2) Special Power of Attorneys (SPAs) and two (2) Last Will and Testaments naming my two (2) sisters as Administrators and Executors.

    The duly notarized SPA and Last Will and Testament issued to the first administrator was REVOKED in holographic writing by the principal allegedly due to the the former’s administration incompetence, and abuse of discretion when the first administrator mortgaged the sole property of the principal and the same property was subjected to a sangla-tira-benta schema by the same in 2010 to date. My parents were bedridden with my father suffering from a PTSD illness with Dementia since 72 years ago and with blind left eye and seriously blurred right eye. Were the first notarized SPA and Last Will and Testament issued to the First Administrator still valid upon the issuance of the Second same instruments?

    Reply
  7. George

    Good Day!

    Hingi lang po ako ng advice regarding sa naiwang property ng father ko. Meron po kasi syang naiwan na coconut land and isang residential lot. yung coco-land may title na po nakapangalan na sa father ko. yung residential lot nman po nakapangalan pa sa lolo namin at Tax Dec pa rin po pero may legal docs na po sya na hati ang father ko at ang kapatid nyang lalaki sa residential lot (65 sq.m. whole area) . Bale yung coco land po, equally divided po kaming apat n magkakapatid at ang mother po namin (surviving widow). Yung residential lot equally divided din po but dahil maliit lang po sya 32.5 sq.m. binili ko na po ang share ng mga kapatid ko at mother ko for 20,000.00 Philippine Peso. Bale 5,000.00 per head. Ano po ang dapat gawin para po magkaroon po ng legal document para mailipat po sa name namin yung property at same time yung residential lot ay malipat po wholly sa name ko.
    Atty. Please naman po, pano po dapat gawin. Maraming salamat po at God bless sa inyo.

    Reply
  8. Ruth d.

    Ang lolo ko ay namatay years ago pa po. May naiwan po siyang lupain na walang title deklarasyon lang po. Mayroon po siyang 8 anak. Ang dalawa po ay old maid. Pano po ang gagawin nilang hatian?

    Reply
  9. Rico

    Hi, my parents both died (father 1985, mother 2002) and left only one house and lot.
    Some of my siblings gave and signed a documents that waive their rights to the property.
    Do we have to include my siblings name in the preparation of the extrajudicial settlement of estate?
    Is there a law that states Ancestor’s house in order to be exempted from paying estate tax ? If yes, what form, section number I can find in the BIR ruling ?

    Reply
  10. Lyka

    Ako po si Lyka isa sa pitong anak ni Gerardo na nagiisang tagapagmana naman ni Joaquin. Patay na sila pareho, pero ang problema naming magkakapatid ay kung paano namin maittransfer ang titulo ng lupa na nabili ni lolo Joaquin sa pamilya ni Sample.

    May hawak kami na Deed of Sale, na nagsasabi na binenta ni Sample kay Joaquin ang Lupa. Pero ang hawak namin na Extra JUdicial Settlement ay kopya lang at hndi original. Ang pamilya sample ay pumirma sa Extra JUdicial Settlement na ito pero photocopy lamang ang hawak namin.

    Kaming lahat ay nasa Manila at wala kaming pera para asikasuhin ito at umuwe pa ng Dulag, Leyte. Doon ang lupa namin. Ang kilala nmin ay ang land surveyor (JOHN) na siya naming kinausap upang iprocess ang pagpapatitulo para mailipat muna sa nanay namin sa halagang hinihingi niya na Php30,000. Dahil sa kawalan ng panahon at kaalaman kaya iniaasa namin ito sa kanya.

    Noong isang buwan ay sinabihan kami ni John na puntahan sa Register of Deeds at kmuha ng original na kopya ng Extra Judicial Settlement dahil ito daw ay mahalaga para maproseso ang titulo. Pumunta ang nanay ko na nasa probinsya sa Tacloban Register of Deeds pero dahil daw sa bagyong Yolanda nawashed out ang documents at wala raw silang maibbigay na original copy.

    Pinuntahan namin sa main office ng Land Registration Authority dito sa Manila baka sakali meron sila kopya pero wala. Sinabi namin kay JOHN na walang original copy sa ahensyang iyon. Kya naman sabi ni JOHN sige gagawa siya ng paraan sa halagang 15,000. Magdagdag daw kami ng bayad at ggawa siya ng paraan. Hindi po naman malinaw kung ano iyon. Hindi po namin kayang magbgay ng ganong halaga matatagalan pa siguro.

    Ang tanging hiling ko sana ay kng ano ang dpat naming gawin na hndi kailangn ng ganong halaga. Sana matulungan niyo po ako. Maraming salamat po!

    Reply

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