What is preterition in Philippine succession law?

Answer

Preterition is the total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line — whether living when the will was executed or born after the testator's death — from the inheritance (Civil Code Article 854). The heir must receive nothing at all: no legacy, no devise, and no advance on the legitime.

Its effect is drastic: preterition annuls the institution of heirs entirely and opens the whole estate to intestate succession, although valid legacies and devises are respected so far as they do not impair the legitime. Nuguid v. Nuguid (G.R. No. L-23445, 1966) remains the leading case. A merely defective disinheritance, by contrast, annuls the institution only up to the impaired legitime (Article 918).

Sources & further reading

• Civil Code Art. 854 — preterition
• Nuguid v. Nuguid (1966)
• Full report: institution of heirs & preterition