Article 287 of Section 2. Other Illegitimate Children of The Civil Code of the Philippines

Section 2. Other Illegitimate Children

Article 287. Illegitimate children other than natural in accordance to article 269 and other than natural children by legal fiction are entitled to support and such successional rights as are granted in this code.

Discussion:

A child was considered to be illegitimate at common law if the parents were not married to each other at the time of the child's birth even though the parents were married later.

In social and sometimes legal terms, the child so born was called a "Bastard". In polite society, terms such as “Natural Child” were preferred.

Illegitimate children are generally classified into two groups;

1. Natural,whether actual or by fiction, were those born outside of lawful wedlock of parents who, at that time of conception of the child were not qualified by the impediment to many each other.
2. Spurious, whether incestuous, adulterous or illicit.

There was a common-law presumption that a child born of a married woman was legitimate. This presumption was contradicted, however, upon proof that her husband either was physically incapable of impregnating her or was absent at the time of birth of the child. In addition, a child born of a marriage for which an Annulment was granted was considered illegitimate, since an annulled marriage is void retroactively from its beginning. Furthermore, if a man married a second time while still legally married to his first wife, a child born of the bigamous marriage was illegitimate.

             Natural descent gives rise to rights of succession only to the extent that the illegitimate child has been recognised or whose descent has been proved otherwise than simply by an affiliation order. 

            The illegitimate child is assimilated in all respects to the legitimate child for the purposes of inheritance and succession except in the case where the illegitimate child is born during, but outside, the marriage of his parent, and at the death of such parent there are a surviving spouse and/or legitimate children born of such marriage.

          The Civil Code does not make a distinction between the rights of legitimate and illegitimate children except where the principle of equality would go against the institution of marriage and against the rights of the surviving spouse or of legitimate children born of such marriage.  The exceptions to equality give rise to the following disabilities:

v  In an intestate succession when there are legitimate children, the share of the illegitimate child is reduced by half. 

v  The surviving spouse and the legitimate children enjoy a choice as to particular items of the succession subject to a cash adjustment if necessary. 

v  A parent can exclude his illegitimate child altogether from personal participation in the distribution of the items of his succession by expressly making, before his death and by anticipation, a sufficient settlement of property upon him. However this settlement is treated as an advancement of the future succession if on the death of the parent there is neither a surviving spouse nor issue of the marriage or both renounce their rights in the succession. 

v  An illegitimate child is to be taken into account in the calculation of the disposal but his share of the reserve shall be reduced by half if there are other legitimate children born of that marriage.

 It should be stressed that if illegitimate children are in existence before or after the marriage of their parent to another person, their rights in the succession are equal to those of any legitimate children born of that marriage.

The law codified the responsibility of both parents to provide support and care for a child, regardless of the parents' marital status, and gave illegitimate as well as adopted persons the same rights to inherit their parents' property as anyone else.

If they were declared legitimate, then they cannot be discriminated against and they will be equal with other legitimate children and be entitled to all the rights in the property of their parents, both self-acquired and ancestral.