Philippines.

The Philippines operates a mixed legal system — Spanish civil-law in private law, American common-law in commercial and procedural matters, and Sharia personal-status law for Muslim Filipinos under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (Presidential Decree 1083). The Civil Code (RA 386, 1949) preserves a strong legítima regime under Articles 886–914, with compulsory heirs entitled to fixed shares of the estate. The TRAIN Law (RA 10963, 2018) restructured estate tax to a flat 6% on the net estate above ₱5 million, replacing the prior progressive schedule.

Cross-border issues centre on the substantial Filipino diaspora — overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipino-Americans — and the recurring fact pattern of family wealth flowing through US, Canadian, or Middle Eastern remittance channels. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requires estate-tax filing within one year of death, and the Land Registration Authority requires probate before transferring real property. The constitutional restriction on foreign land ownership shapes succession planning for binational families.

The memoranda in this series address the recurring fact patterns in Philippine cross-border estate planning — including the 6% TRAIN estate tax, the legítima tension with foreign testamentary freedom, recognition of foreign wills before a Philippine notary, OFW remittance and inheritance issues, the constitutional foreign-land-ownership restriction, and the absence of estate-tax treaties with Canada and the United States.