Succession

Under Art. 774 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines, Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his will or by operation of law

Decedent is the general term applied to the person whose property is transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will. If the he left a will, he is also called the testator (Art. 775).

The inheritance includes all the property, rights and obligations of a person which are not extinguished by his death (Art. 776). The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent (Art. 777).