Selling inherited property

Yes, a foreigner may own property in the Philippines. The law speaks to the acquisition of property, not the ownership of it. "Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed .."

 

You don't need to own it as long as you can find some sucker to buy it.

 

Maybe you are overreacting a bit. Similar to what I did about a week ago.

I was pointing out the semantics of the law. It addresses the acquiring of the land via transfer or conveyance not the ownership of the land. An example is if the foreigner purchased the land under the 1935 constitution which was in effect until 1973 and maybe a bit longer if martial law under Marcos is included. The foreigner is allowed to continue owning the land. The land may not be sold to another foreigner.

https://kittelsoncarpo.com/property-ownership/

On another note, the above attorney reference states something about the foreign spouse having time to sell the property after the death of the Filipino spouse. "In the event of the death of the Filipino spouse, the foreign spouse is allowed a reasonable amount of time to dispose of the property and collect the proceeds or the property will pass to any Filipino heirs and/or relatives." Give these people a call and see what they say.

 

Great info for the forum, but there's only so far that you can argue this until the answer becomes "get a lawyer."

All we can do is generate enough info to answer the question of "should I even bother." Even then, you should get a lawyer if you are dealing some something of substantial value.

 

Even though our house and land officially had me listed as a "Filipina" (LOL) and I was legally on the deeds, etc...I would have inherited it after the death of my husband in 2014. I was able to sell the house and land without any difficulties after I returned to the U.S. I had given power of attorney authority to a Filipina friend there in Dumaguete and used attorney, Michael Miguel, to make sure everything went well. You can contact him if you find yourself needing a real estate attorney.

 

The Supreme Court has ruled that if a foreigner sells land to a Filipino, any past irregularities are cancelled out, because the spirit of the Constitution has now been observed.

 

The two cases below were the basis of an appeal which we won in 2018.
Not quoted here because the parties are still living in the area