FREE LEGAL ADVICE IN DEAR PAO COLUMN

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Dear PAO,

How does a former Filipina living abroad go about removing her name from the land title that her deceased husband left behind, so that the document only shows her children’s names on it? The children are green card holders, adjusting status to become US citizens. Thank you. Dear Chona,

For this discussion, we will assume that the property covered by the land title is your husband’s exclusive property, and it is not part of your conjugal or absolute community property. We will also assume that your husband died intestate, meaning he died without a will.

According to Article 777 of our Civil Code, “[ t] he rights to succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent.” Therefore, assuming that either you did not divide your husband’s properties or this is the only property left by your husband during his death, the mo- ment your husband died, you and your children became co- owners of the property.

Philippine law states that a foreigner cannot own Philippine land. However, former Filipinos can still own Philippine land if they either already owned it when they were still Filipinos or when they inherited the property. Article XII, Sec. 7 of the 1987 Constitution states: “Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corpo- rations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.” In your case, you are a former Filipino. There is actually no issue for you in owning a Philippine property since you are a former Filipino and you inherited the said property.

Upon your husband’s death, you became a co- owner of an inchoate portion of the property. According to our Civil Code, the spouse gets as much as one ( 1) legitimate child gets from the estate. This means that if the estate of your husband is about three ( 3) hectares and, for example, you have two ( 2) children, each child will get one ( 1) hectare, and you will get one ( 1) hectare as well.

In your letter, you stated that you wish to have your name removed from the land title of the property. It is safe to assume then that you have successfully transferred the title of the property to you and your children’s name. The only way to remove your name from the land title is to either donate or sell your share of the property to your children. Since they are your children, it will be best to just donate them. According to our Civil Code, donation of real property should be done in writing and in a public instrument. According to Art. 749 of the Civil Code:

“In order that the donation of an immovable may be valid, it must be made in a public document, specifying therein the property donated and the value of the charges which the donee must satisfy. xxx”

Your children must also accept the donation in writing. Once the Deed of Donation is executed, acceptance has been made, and the proper donor’s taxes are paid, the Deed of Donation may be registered in the Register of Deeds and a new title reflecting the names of the donees on the land title will be made.

Again, we find it necessary to mention that this opinion is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary when the facts are changed or elaborated.

We hope that we were able to enlighten you on the matter.