Featured Articles
The Estate Tax
The estate tax is a tax on the right of the decedent to transmit his/her estate to his/her lawful heirs and beneficiaries at the time of death and on certain transfers, which are made by law as equivalent to testamentary disposition. This is not a tax on the properties inherited, but a tax on the…
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Selling Inherited Property in the Philippines
If you inherited a real estate property in the Philippines, such as a land, and would like to sell it instead of keeping it, there are important things to know to ensure the sale goes smoothly and legally. First, the inherited property cannot be sold right away without settling the estate of the person (who…
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RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Philippine laws on marital status follow Filipinos wherever they may go. Thus, as a rule, a married Filipino remains married even if a divorce is obtained abroad because divorce is generally not recognized in the Philippines. Luckily there is a limited exception for recognition of a foreign divorce decree which would allow a divorced Filipino…
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Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate: When Your Loved One Passes Away
Nothing is more difficult than losing a loved one, but we must learn to live with this unavoidable fact of life and move on when it happens. One of the things we have to deal with in moving on is settling the estate of the deceased. The properties left behind by the deceased at the…
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The Estate Tax
The estate tax is a tax on the right of the decedent to transmit his/her estate to his/her lawful heirs and beneficiaries at the time of death and on certain transfers, which are made by law as equivalent to testamentary disposition. This is not a tax on the properties inherited, but a tax on the…
Read More
Selling Inherited Property in the Philippines
If you inherited a real estate property in the Philippines, such as a land, and would like to sell it instead of keeping it, there are important things to know to ensure the sale goes smoothly and legally. First, the inherited property cannot be sold right away without settling the estate of the person (who…
Read More
RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Philippine laws on marital status follow Filipinos wherever they may go. Thus, as a rule, a married Filipino remains married even if a divorce is obtained abroad because divorce is generally not recognized in the Philippines. Luckily there is a limited exception for recognition of a foreign divorce decree which would allow a divorced Filipino…
Read More
Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate: When Your Loved One Passes Away
Nothing is more difficult than losing a loved one, but we must learn to live with this unavoidable fact of life and move on when it happens. One of the things we have to deal with in moving on is settling the estate of the deceased. The properties left behind by the deceased at the…
Read More
SOLICITOR GENERAL CALIDA CREATES ANOTHER CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
While the country is still in a tailspin from the effects of COVID-19, Solicitor General Calida has singlehandedly managed to create another crisis to throw the Philippines into further instability. In addition to the potential constitutional or political crisis, Calida just added over 10,000 ABS-CBN employees to unemployment and poverty. Calida argues that ABS-CBN is…
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SOLICITOR GENERAL CALIDA’S QUO WARRANTO SHOULD BE DISMISSED
Spokesperson Sal Panelo proclaimed Pres. Duterte does not want ABS-CBN to shut down. But Panelo’s statement is suspect given SolGen Calida’s filing of quo warranto petition in SC. Calida also wants the high court to gag ABS-CBN from exercising free speech. The administration is speaking from the two sides of its mouth. Calida argues that…
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DUERTE CANCELS VFA
Pres. Duterte’s announcement to cancel VFA purportedly as a retaliation for the cancellation of Sen. Bato’s U.S. visa, is actually a direction consistent with Philippines’ recent pivot to China. But the scrapping of VFA is facing strong headwinds coming from the Senate, Department of Foreign Affairs and most importantly, from the Department of Defense. Reading…
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PRES. DUTERTE SHOULD FIRE FRANCISCO DUQUE III AS DOH SECRETARY AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, THE COUNTRY NEEDS HONEST AND TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION IN THIS CRISIS
Francisco Duque III should resign as Secretary of DOH because he is not acting as the country’s health official, instead he is acting more as a political hack. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he is a danger to the Philippines. During a deliberation in Congress on Jan. 30, on why travel ban should be imposed against…
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Children of Foreign Nationals Married to Filipinos Eligible for Permanent Residence in the Philippines
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima approved on January 8, 2015 Bureau of Immigration (BI) Memorandum Circular No. SBM-2015-001, permitting children of foreign nationals to acquire permanent residence in the Philippines based on the foreign parent’s marriage to a Filipino national. Pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Philippine Immigration Act (PIA), the spouse or child…
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Extrajudicial Settlement of Estates in the Philippines
When a person dies in the Philippines, property left behind (the “estate”) can only be legally transferred to the heirs through a process called “settlement of estate.” The settlement of estate can either be done through court process (judicial) or without court intervention (extrajudicial). A judicial settlement of estate is a complex, long and tedious,…
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DUTERTE’S MISHANDLING OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
DUTERTE’S MISHANDLING OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC The first confirmed coronavirus infection was confirmed on January 21 when a Chinese woman arrived in the Philippines from Wuhan, China, with cough and fever. Appearing before Congress, on January 29, Health Sec. Duque was asked why travel ban on China was not ordered. Duque testified that diplomatic relations…
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Property in the Philippines
Settlement of Estate of Deceased Edgardo M. Lopez and Renato Bautista Jr. of Filipino Law Group discuss issues related to the Settlement of Estate of Deceased. Settlement of Estate of Deceased – Filipino Law Group FLG (Filipino Law Group) – Settlement of Estate of Deceased
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