LECTURE ON

SETTLEMENT OF ESTATES
By: ATTY. JAIME G. BALMAS, CPA, REB
National Treasurer, PAREB
President, 2014, Manila Board of Realtors, Inc.

What is an Estate?
An Estate comprised of the real and personal properties of a
decedent.

When is the settlement of an

estate required?
The settlement of an estate is required when the
person died has left properties, real or personal.

How is an estate settled?

An Estate may be settled judicially or extrajudicially:
Extrajudicial means outside of court. The heirs do not have to
go to court to partition the properties left by the deceased.

What are the common requirements for an

extrajudicial settlement?
The common requirements are:

1. The decedent died intestate, i.e., without a valid will;

2. The estate has no outstanding debts at the time of the
extrajudicial settlement;
3. The heir/s are all of age, or the minor heirs are represented by
their judicial guardians or legal representatives;
4. The extrajudicial settlement is made in a public instrument,
stipulation or affidavit duly filed with the Register of Deeds;

5. The fact of such extrajudicial settlement must be published in a

newspaper of general circulation once a week for three (3)
consecutive weeks; and
6. The parties to the extrajudicial settlement shall file a bond with
the Register of Deeds in an amount equivalent to the value of the
personal property involved. This bond should be filed
simultaneously
with
the
extrajudicial
settlement
instrument(document). Such bond will answer for the payment of
any just claim at any time within two (2) years after the settlement
and distribution of an estate.

Who may execute an extrajudicial

settlement?
1. THE SOLE HEIR. The one and only heir may adjudicate the entire
estate to himself by means of an affidavit (called an Affidavit of
Self-Adjudication) to be filed in the Register of Deeds of the place
where the decedent resided.
2. THE HEIRS ARE TWO (2) OR MORE. The heirs may agree to divide
among themselves the estate by means of a notarized instrument
filed in the Register of Deeds.

The steps to follow are:

a. Prepare a Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate and

Adjudication of Estate to be signed by all of the heirs, which must
contain the following information: (a) That the decedent left no will;
(b) That the decedent left no debt; (c) Each heirs relationship to the
decedent (e.g. spouse, son, daughter, father, mother etc.); (d) That
they are the decedents only surviving heirs; (e) An enumeration
and a brief description of the decedents properties, both real and
personal, which the heirs will be dividing among themselves.

Heirs for purposes of the discussion on extrajudicial settlement,

may refer to the following: 1) if the deceased was single without
children surviving parents; 2) if the deceased was single with
children legitimate and illegitimate children only; 3) if the
deceased was single with illegitimate children and surviving parents
surviving parents and illegitimate children only; 4) if the deceased
was married with children - legal spouse and illegitimate and
legitimate children only; and 5) if the deceased was married with
illegitimate children legitimate spouse, surviving parents and
illegitimate children.

b. Have the Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication of

Estate notarized before a Notary Public after all the heirs have
signed it.
c. Secure a bond from a reputable bonding company acceptable to
the Register of Deeds. The amount of the bond is equivalent to the
value of the personal property included in the extrajudicial
settlement.

d. Register the notarized Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and

Adjudication of Estate with the Register of Deeds. The bond is
simultaneously filed with the Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and
Adjudication of Estate.
e. Publish the Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement and Adjudication
of Estate in a newspaper of general circulation once a week for
three (3) consecutive weeks.

When do you resort to judicial settlement

of estate?
There are times when resort to court is unavoidable, particularly
when the deceased left a will or debts and/or the heirs are in
dispute.

What are the common requirements for

judicial settlement?
1. By means of a petition filed in court.

2. Where filed?
a. If the decedent was a resident of the Philippines at the time of
his death, the petition must be filed before the Regional Trial Court
in the place where he resided at the time of his death.

b. If the decedent was a resident of a foreign country at the time of

his death, the petition must be filed in any Regional Trial Court in
the province where he had estate.
3. Publication. Notice of the filing of the petition for settlement of
estate and the proceedings thereof are required to be published in
a newspaper of general circulation once a week for three
consecutive weeks.

When is there a judicial settlement?

1. SUMMARY SETTLEMENT OF ESTATES OF SMALL VALUE. An estate
of small value is worth Ten Thousand Pesos or less, regardless of
whether or not the decedent left a will.
The steps to follow are:
a. File a petition in court alleging that the estate is of small value.
b. Publish a notice of the settlement proceedings in a newspaper of
general circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.
c. After completion of publication, the court may set the case for
hearing and proceed summarily to settle the estate.

2. PROBATE OF WILL. If the decedent left a will, such must be

probated, i.e., allowed or disallowed. The steps to follow are:
a. File a petition in court praying for the probate of the will and
settlement of estate of the decedent.
b. The court will set a time and place for the probate and shall
cause notice of such to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

c. On the hearing date, the court will proceed with the probate of
the will and distribute the estate to the heirs/legatees accordingly.
3. DECEDENT LEFT NO WILL. If the decedent left no will, the steps
are the same as the above, except that the petition will pray for the
settlement of the estate of the decedent.

What are the steps to follow when settling

the estate of a deceased person in
preparation to sell the property to an
interested buyer?

STEP 1: Fill out BIR Form 1904 (Application for Registration). All
parties that transact with the BIR should have a valid Tax
Identification Number (TIN). Normally, Form 1904 is used to verify
the TIN of the seller as well as the buyer. But in payment of estate
taxes, the estate of the deceased will have to have a separate TIN
from the seller-heirs.

In filling out Form 1904, here is what to do: (a) on the Taxpayer
Type, mark with an X the box indicating One-Time Taxpayer; (b)
on Classification, mark with an X the box indicating Nonindividual; and (c) on Sex, mark with an X the appropriate box
indicating gender of the deceased.
Next, write ESTATE OF [THE DECEASED PERSONS NAME] in the
space provided for the Taxpayers Name. On the Civil Status, mark
with an X the appropriate box indicating civil status of the
deceased. On the Date of Birth, write the date of death of the
decedent as it appears in the Certificate of Death. Write the Local
Address of the decedent in the space provided for. Take note that
the Local Address of the decedent should be the one indicated in
the death certificate.

If the person dies abroad and has no residence in the Philippines fill
out the Foreign Address by writing the address indicated in the
death certificate. In such a case, the filing of the Estate Tax Return
should be made at the BIR Revenue District Office (RDO) No. 39
(South Quezon City).

Finally, put an X on the box indicating Transfer of Properties by

Succession (Death); and on Tax Types mark an X the box
indicating Estate Tax. Remember to indicate the name of the
Taxpayer/Authorized Agent and sign the same. It is important to
attach a photocopy of the certified copy of the Certificate of Death
to Form 1904.

STEP 2: Prepare the mandatory documentary requirements to be

submitted to the BIR for the settlement of estate of a deceased
individual. You can get a copy of the list of documentary
requirements HERE. Go to page 3 and 4 of the document to find the list.
STEP 3: Prepare BIR Form 1801 (Estate Tax Return). Fill up the name and
the TIN of the Estate on the spaces provided in Form 1801. The ONETT
Officer of the Day will assist you in filling out the rest of the form based
on the computation he/she has made based on the review of the
documents presented. However, if the estate of the deceased is more
than P3 million then it would be wise to consult a certified public account
to determine the initial computation of the taxable estate.

STEP 4: Pay the estate tax as computed. You can pay the estate tax
with an Authorized Agent Bank (AAB) of the RDO having jurisdiction
over the place of residence of the decedent at the time of his/her
death.
Cash is best to settle the estate tax. But if the tax due is a large
amount and security would be a problem for the one paying it then
the same can be paid by means of a Managers or Cashiers Check.
If payment is made through a Managers or Cashiers Check, the
following should be written as payee: [BANK, BRANCH] FAO
BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE IFO [TAXPAYERS NAME] [TIN OF
TAXPAYER]. However, if you will pay the estate tax using a AAB that
is a government financial institution like Landbank of the
Philippines, then the payee may simply be BUREAU OF INTERNAL
REVENUE.

STEP 5: Submit all documentary requirements and proof of

payment to the RDO having jurisdiction over the place of residence
of the decedent.Upon submission of the requirements and proof of
payment, the ONETT One-Time Transaction will issue a Claim
Stub with a reference number. When you follow up if a Certificate
Authorizing Registration (CAR) has already been issued then you
only need to give the reference number.
Please note that the processing of estate taxes requires a minimum
of 60 days by the BIR. Depending on the review of the documents,
the BIR has the right to require the heirs for additional requirements
especially in connection to any deductions claimed by the estate.

There is a P1 million standard deduction for all estates. If one of the

properties being settled is the family home then a barangay
certificate should be presented to certify that the decedent is a
bona fide resident of the barangay where the family home is
located, if the deduction of P1 million for the family home will be
claimed.The family home should be in the name of the decedent in
order for the deduction to be claimed.

STEP 6. Wait for the release of the Certificate Authorizing

Registration.Upon the release of the CAR, the property can now be
sold to a buyer. The CAR, along with the transferring document
Extra-judicial Settlement of Estate, Affidavit of Self-Adjudication,
etc. and the Tax Clearance Certificate should be part of the
documents to be presented when paying the capital gains and
documentary stamp taxes covering the sale of the property.
Some buyers, however, would want to have the title and tax
declarations of the real property in the name of the heir or heirs
before they finalize the purchase of the property. In such a case, the
RESP should process the payment of transfer tax to the LGU
concerned and the registration fees with the Registry of Deeds
having jurisdiction over the location of the real property.

The same process mentioned above will govern if the transferring

document is an Extra-judicial Settlement of Estate with Sale. A final
note should be made to alert RESPs and the concerned readers. If
the Extra-judicial Settlement of Estate contains a waiver of some
sort for and in favor of a particular heir or heirs, the BIR shall assess
the Heirs additional taxes in the form of a donors tax. The BIR
considers such waiver as a donation on the part of the waiving
heir/s to the recipient heir/s. This has been ruling of the BIR when
Commissioner Henares took the helm of the bureau in 2010.

-END-