Permit to cut coconut trees

What if one planted coconut trees on their own land, then later decided to cut them down. Would one need a permit?

 

My Attorney who deals in Land matters has insisted that once we (my Wife) gain the Title in hand, she will draw up a Will between my Wife and I to protect both our interests in the event we either separate or one of us passes away.

As explained to me; if my Wife passes away before myself, then I will inherit the Land, but only until such time as I either transfer it into our Daughter's name, or sell it to recover my outlay. I will not own the Land even via Inheritance, it only buys me a set amount of time to transfer or dispose of the land to another Filipino as I am a Foreigner and cannot legally own the Land.

If our Daughter passes also and I am the only surviving person, then I will Inherit the Property, but I must dispose of the land to another Filipino and have a certain period of time to do so otherwise I will lose it. That is how I interpreted what was relayed to myself and my Wife via our Attorney.

 

Very interesting Brian - I read about Inheritance a while ago and it seemed to say that a deceased's Estate is divided as 0.5 to children, 0.25 to spouse and 0.25 can be decided via a Will.

If this is correct, then how does that match what you were told about having the whole Estate based on a Will - or would the land be treated separately from other parts of an Estate?

 

Speaking from experience, this is true. My case was interesting....I was married to a Filipino man, and when our deeds were drawn up, I was listed as a Filipina, possibly because of my first name (Marie). Even though I would have inherited the land when he died, I was technically listed as a Filipina and as long as nobody ever questioned it, I could have kept it forever. I did sell it and move back to the States, so it was moot, anyway.

 

This is where the Law is screwed up IMHO. I read around 5 years ago, a law or something that stated once a Foreign Woman married a Filipino Man, she instantly attains Filipina status by Law. However; if a Man married a Filipina, then he is shyte out of luck in that department, he remains a foreigner regardless of his marriage ststus or how many years he has resided here. I may have read it wrong, it may have been advice given incorrectly, but that was how it was worded when I read it at the time, and I thought that was unfair, but then we Men are evil creatures also going by the many stories I have read, and especially Foreign Men here in the Philippines, which I also (in part) disagree with, but can see why such Laws do exist as not all have good intentions...

I was very surprised by this Law regards having to have a Permit to cut Trees. I have asked the Family and Neighbours around here, and all have stated that when Trees have been cut, the Tree Cutters have supplied that Permit necessary to fall Coconut Trees, so that might be something some wish to consider when it is necessary to cut down Trees on their property.

I know we need to remove half a dozen or so Coconut Trees to make way for Right of Way as well as make room for a Boundary Fence/Wall but I am concerned regards having to replace Trees. I do not want to plant more Coconut Trees and would rather plant other varieties of Fruit Trees. With this Law; do you need to replace again with Coconut Trees alike, or are you allowed to plant other varieties of Fruiting Trees? I have planted out Avocado, Mango, Jack Fruit, Mulberry etc so am hoping that will account for those that I plan to cut down or will I need to plant more after the Coconut Trees have been felled?

 

Basically she will write up a Will so that it goes to either partner should one pass away, or to our Daughter in the case we both pass away. She is yet to fully explain to me yet the full details. Initially I told her if things went south then I would simply pick myself up, dust myself off and move on with my life. My Attorney said a BIG NO! NO! She told us that we BOTH need to be protected should the worst case scenario happen. Once we are ready to proceed with the Title (within the year hopefully) then I will learn more.

I was surprised that the Attorney was so adamant that we draw up a Will to protect us both, and not only our Daughter (from any relative with other ideas if she is younger than 18 years of age.) It still boils down to the fact that I will never own the Property despite the Inheritance Laws passing it on to myself (should my Wife pass before I or our Daughter) to which she said she would also draw up a contract involving the Daughter, should she have ideas of evicting me at a later stage should I live that long and her future Husband (or Boyfriend) gets any ideas. Complicated at best! But I have a lot of faith in our Attorney to do the right thing after the help she has been in sorting out the mess we found ourselves in initially. I will let you know how we go when we cross that bridge mate.

 

Brian ask your attorney about getting a USUFRUCTORY Right to the property. It is a right that your wife can grant to you and will allow you to live on the property after her death. No one can legally force you to move out or sell your share of the property.
My wife gives me ausufructory right to our home in case any of the heirs get pushy to have their share.
Ask your lawyer.

 

Ok, all men here .... time to dress up in women's clothes and call ourselves 'Lizel' (for example).