Property may be disposed of after estate settled, transferred

Property may be disposed of after estate settled, transferred "My uncles are willing to give me a real estate property as a gift. They got that from their deceased parents. Can they donate the property to me even if the title is not yet under their names? What taxes do we need to pay? Ms. De LeonDear Ms. De Leon, While the real estate property left by your uncles’ deceased parents may be transferred to them by virtue of succession, they may not sell, donate or in any way dispose of that unless and until their parents’ estate have been settled and the property transferred under their names.Based on your letter, your uncles are in agreement to give the property as gift, they should proceed with extrajudicial settlement of their parents’ estate, if their parents left no will and no debts and all of them are of legal age, or should there be minor heirs, the latter are represented by their judicial or duly authorized legal representatives. Your uncles must execute a public instrument stating their desire to settle the estate among themselves file the same before the Office of the Register of Deeds of the place where the property is situated. Thereafter, they must secure the publication of such settlement in a generally circulated newspaper, once a week for three consecutive weeks (Section 1, Rule 74, Rules of Court). Should the Register of Deeds find the settlement of estate in order, a transfer certificate title will be issued under the names of your uncles, granting them the ownership. However, an annotation of the two-year lien on the real property will be made. The lien is for the protection of creditors, if any, and heirs who may have been denied of their inheritance. Your uncles will have to pay estate tax, the amount depends on the net estate value (Section 84, National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines). The payment thereof shall be made at the time of filing of the estate tax return before an authorized agent bank, or Revenue District Officer, Collection Officer, or duly authorized Treasurer of the city or municipality in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of death, or if they had no place of residence, with the Office of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (Section 91, in relation to Section 90 (D), id).Once complete transfer of ownership has been made under the names of your uncles, they may proceed to the donation in your favor. They may execute a Deed of Donation, specifically indicating therein the property to be donated. You must also signify your written acceptance to such donation. Your uncles are required to pay the appropriate donor’s tax, the rate of which depends on the value of the property donated (Section 99, id). Thereafter, you may proceed to the Register of Deeds of the place where the property is located for the registration of the aforementioned donation and transfer of the title of said property under your name. We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.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." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/