Dear PAO,
My aunt (tita) recently passed away. She was single and had no children. All our lives, we knew her as the daughter of my grandfather from his second wife. My mother is from the first wife, so we thought they were stepsisters. But last week, during the wake, a woman appeared claiming to be my aunt’s biological mother. We do not know her. No one in the family recognizes her. Now, this woman is claiming all the properties my tita left behind.
The woman showed us an adoption decree from the 1970s showing that she is the biological mother of my tita. We are still grieving, and now we have to deal with this. Please give us advice on what to do. We need to know our rights as the family who actually knew and cared for her.
-Maria Alejandra Luna
Dear Ms. Luna,
Article V, Section 42 of Republic Act (RA) 11642, otherwise known as the “Domestic Administrative Adoption and Alternative Child Care Act,” states:
“Section 42. Parental Authority. – Upon issuances of the Order of Adoption, adoption shall cease as alternative care and become parental care. Adoptive parents shall now have full parental authority over the child. Except in cases where the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter, all legal ties between the biological parents and the adoptee shall be severed and the same shall then be vested on the adopters.
“In case spouses jointly adopt or one spouse adopts the legitimate child of the other, joint parental authority shall be exercised by the spouses.”
Additionally, in terms of rights of succession, Article V Section 43 of the same law is clear that the adoptee (the child adopted) and the adopter share reciprocal rights in legal and intestate succession:
“Section 43. Succession. – In testate and intestate succession, the adopters and the adoptee shall have reciprocal rights of succession without distinction from legitimate filiations. However, if the adoptees and their biological parents have left a will, the law on testamentary succession shall govern.”
Based on the foregoing, the moment that your tita was legally adopted, all legal ties to the supposed biological mother have been severed or cut off. That means that the said biological mother can no longer claim any right to the estate of your tita. In the case of In Re: Petition for Adoption of Michelle Lim, Monina P. Lim; In Re Petition for Adoption of Michael Jude P. Lim, Monina Lim, GR 168992-93, May 21, 2009, penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the Supreme Court held:
“Adoption has, thus, the following effects: (1) sever all legal ties between the biological parent(s) and the adoptee, except when the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter; … and (3) give adopter and adoptee reciprocal rights and obligations arising from the relationship of parent and child, including but not limited to: (ii) the right of the adopter and adoptee to be legal and compulsory heirs of each other. Therefore, even if emancipation terminates parental authority, the adoptee is still considered a legitimate child of the adopter with all the rights of a legitimate child such as: … (3) to be entitled to the legitime and other successional rights. Conversely, the adoptive parents shall, with respect to the adopted child, enjoy all the benefits to which biological parents are entitled such as support and successional rights.”
Therefore, unless your tita has left a will specifically naming her supposed biological mother as an heir, the latter cannot claim from your tita’s estate as any and all legal ties have been severed upon your tita’s adoption.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
