Five(5) Modes of

Acquiring Ownership
1. Occupation- when ownership is acquired
by occupation, the property seized is
without a known owner. Ex. Fishing ,
hunting.
2. Intellectual Creation- By intellectual
creation, the composer owns his musical
composition, author for his literary, legal,
historical, scientific or other work.
3. Donation- is an act of liberality whereby a
person disposes gratuitously of a thing or
right in favor of another, who accepts it.
4. Succession- is a mode of acquisition by
virtue of which the property, rights and
obligations to the extent of the value of the
inheritance , of a person are transmitted
through his death to another.
5. Prescription- by prescription, one acquires
ownership and other real rights through the
lapse of time in the manner and under the
conditions laid down by law. In the same way,
rights and actions are lost by prescriptions.
The first is referred to as “acquisitive”
prescriptions and the second as “extinctive “
prescriptions.
Basic Concept of Succession

Kinds of Succession
1. Testamentary or Testate-
is that which results from
the designation of an heir,
made in a will executed in
the form prescribed by law.
 2. Legal or Intestate- is that
effected by operation of law
since the decedent did not
execute a will.
3. Mixed – is that effected partly by
will and partly by operation of
law.
 Elements of Succession
1. Death of the decedent
Decedent – is the general term applied to
the person whose property is transmitted
through succession.
- refers to the person who died, whose
property are subject to succession.
2. Inheritance- includes all the
property , rights and
obligations of a person which
are not extinguished by his
death.
-
 The inheritance of a person
includes not only the property and
the transmissible rights and
obligations existing at the time of
his death, but also those which
have accrued thereto since the
opening of the succession.
Devise- is a testamentary
disposition of real estate .
Legacy- is a gift or
bequest by will of
personal property
 3. Successors
Heirs, devisees and legatees are all
successors.
Heirs- is a person called to the succession
either by will or by the operation of law.
If successors by will, they are called voluntary
heirs; if by operation of law, they are called
legal or intestate heirs.
Devisees- are persons who
received gifts or real
property.
Legatees- are persons who
received gifts of personal
property.
4. Acceptance- The acceptance of an
inheritance may be express or tacit.
An Express Acceptance - may be made in a
public or private document.
A Tacit Acceptance- is one resulting from
acts by which the intention to accept is
necessarily implied , or which one would have
no right to do except in the capacity of an
heir.
Executors and Administrators
An Executor- is a person
appointed by a testator to carry
out the direction and requests
in his will, and to dispose of
the property according to the
testamentary provision after his
death,
 An Administrator- is a
person appointed by the
court to administer the
assets and liabilities of a
decedent.
 Testamentary Succession
A person may make a legal
declaration before his death
regarding how he wants his
property transferred after his
death. This declaration is known
as a WILL or called Last will and
Testament.
 A Codicil - is an
instrument that amends
( changes, modifies, or
supplements ) the
provision of a will.
Probate of a Will- is a
court procedure by
which a will is proved
to be valid or invalid.
Capacity and Intent to Make a Will
Persons of either sex under eighteen
years of age , which is the age of
majority cannot make a will.
Although a child under the age of
majority may own property, he, as a
minor , does not have legal capacity to
make contracts , hence, he cannot
acquire and control property
independently.
 Forms of Wills
1. Holographic will- is a will entirely written
by the testator with his own hand and not
witnessed or attested.
Characteristics of a holographic will:
1. A will written, dated, and signed by the
hand of the testator himself. The testator ‘s
handwriting is deemed a sufficient assurance
of the will’s authenticity.
 Institution of an heir- is an act by
virtue of which a testator
designates in his will the person or
persons who are to succeed him in
his property and transmissible
rights and obligations.
 Legitime- is that part of the
testator’s property which he
cannot dispose of because the law
reserved it for certain heirs who
are, therefore, called Compulsory
heirs with respect to their
legitimes.
The following are compulsory heirs

1. Legitimate children and

descendants, with respect to their
legitimate parents and ascendants;
2. In default of the foregoing,
legitimate parents and ascendants,
with respect to their legitimate
children and descendants.
 3. The widow or widower;
4. Acknowledged natural
children, and natural children
by legal fiction;
5. Other illegitimate children
Legitime of the Compulsory Heirs
1. The Legitime of Legitimate children/
descendants consists of one-half of the
hereditary estate of the father and of the
mother.
 Shouldthere be only one legitimate
child/descendant, one-fourth of the
hereditary estate will go to the
surviving spouse.
 
If there are two or more
legitimate children/descendants,
one-half shall be divided equally
among the children while the
surviving spouse gets the same
share ad each legitimate child.
 2. The legitime of legitimate
parents/ascendants consists of one-half of the
hereditary estate of their children/descendants.
This case assumes that their child/descendants
has no legitimate children/descendants.
3. The legitime of legitimate parents/
ascendants consist of one-half of the hereditary
estate of the deceased spouse , and the testator
may freely dispose of the other half.
4. If the only survivor is the widow
or widower, she or he shall be
entitled to one-half of the
hereditary estate of the
deceased spouse, and the
testator may freely dispose of
the other half.
 5. If the Testator leaves illegitimate
children, the surviving spouse shall be
entitled to onr-third of the hereditary
estate of the deceased and the
illegitimate childre to another one-
third. The remaining one-third shall be
at the free disposal of the testator.