- Petitioner
- De Jesus
- Respondent
- Estate of Dizon
- Citation
- G.R. No. 142877
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Decided
- October 2, 2001
Whether children born in lawful wedlock can claim to be illegitimate children of another person to assert inheritance rights in a partition action
Summary
Two children born during their parents' marriage sought to claim inheritance from Juan G. Dizon's estate based on his notarized acknowledgment of them as his illegitimate children. The Supreme Court denied their petition, ruling that children born in wedlock are presumptively legitimate under the Family Code, and this presumption becomes conclusive absent proof of physical impossibility of spousal access. The Court held that petitioners cannot impugn their own legitimate status to claim illegitimate filiation to another person for inheritance purposes. Only the husband or his heirs can contest a child's legitimacy in a direct action specifically brought for that purpose. The case establishes that legitimacy cannot be attacked collaterally through partition proceedings, and that written acknowledgment by an alleged father cannot override the legal presumption of legitimacy for children born in wedlock. This decision reinforces the Family Code's strong protection of legitimate filiation and the procedural requirements for challenging such status.