Waiver of Rights (Philippines) — Sample and Free Generator

In short

What it is: A notarised instrument giving up a right you hold, usually over property or an inheritance.
Three different documents: A general repudiation, a renunciation in favour of a named person, and a transfer for a price are not the same transaction and are not taxed the same way. Decide which one you are doing before drafting.
Valid when: The right is yours, the waiver is voluntary and knowing, and it is not contrary to law, morals, public order or public policy.
The article that decides it: Civil Code art. 1050 — renouncing in favour of a named co-heir, or for a price, counts as accepting the inheritance and then transferring it.
Notarised?: Yes. A repudiation of an inheritance must be in a public or authentic instrument or by petition to the court (art. 1051), and anything affecting registered land must be a public instrument.

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Sample B — renunciation in favour of a named co-heir

Read the decision guide below before using this. Naming the person who is to receive your share is NOT a simple waiver: under article 1050 of the Civil Code it counts as accepting the inheritance and then transferring it, and it is taxed on that footing. Use Sample A instead if you simply want out. Replace everything in [brackets].

WAIVER OF RIGHTS

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

That I, [CARLOS D. REYES], of legal age, Filipino, married, and a resident of [14 Sampaguita Street, Barangay Malanday, Marikina City], hereinafter referred to as the WAIVOR,

— and —

[MARIA REYES-CRUZ], of legal age, Filipino, married, and a resident of [22 Ilang-Ilang Street, Barangay Concepcion, Marikina City], hereinafter referred to as the WAIVEE,

WITNESSETH: That —

WHEREAS, [PEDRO S. REYES] died intestate on [12 March 2026] in [Marikina City], leaving as his compulsory heirs the WAIVOR and the WAIVEE, both of whom are his legitimate children;

WHEREAS, among the properties left by the deceased is a parcel of land situated in [Barangay Malanday, Marikina City], containing an area of [ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) SQUARE METERS], covered by [Transfer Certificate of Title No. 22334] of the Registry of Deeds for [Marikina City];

WHEREAS, the WAIVOR desires to waive, renounce and quitclaim all of their rights, interests and participation in the said property in favour of the WAIVEE, so that the same may be consolidated in the name of the WAIVEE;

NOW THEREFORE, for and in consideration of [the sum of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P100,000.00), receipt of which is hereby acknowledged] / [the natural love and affection which the WAIVOR bears for the WAIVEE], the WAIVOR does hereby freely, voluntarily and absolutely WAIVE, RENOUNCE, RELINQUISH and QUITCLAIM, in favour of the WAIVEE, their heirs, successors and assigns, all of the WAIVOR's rights, interests, shares and participation in the above-described property.

1. The WAIVOR declares that they are of legal age, of sound mind, and fully understand the nature and consequences of this waiver, and that the same is executed freely and voluntarily and without any force, intimidation or undue influence from any person.

2. The WAIVOR warrants that the rights hereby waived belong to them, that the same have not been previously sold, assigned, transferred or encumbered to any other person, and that they have full authority to execute this waiver.

3. The WAIVOR shall have no further claim, right, interest or participation whatsoever in the above-described property from and after the execution of this instrument.

4. The WAIVOR undertakes to sign and execute any and all further documents that may be necessary to give full effect to this waiver, including the corresponding Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have hereunto set their hands this ____ day of __________, 20____, at [Marikina City], Philippines.

______________________________ ______________________________
[CARLOS D. REYES] [MARIA REYES-CRUZ]
Waivor Waivee

WITH MY MARITAL CONSENT:

______________________________
[Spouse of the Waivor]

SIGNED IN THE PRESENCE OF:

______________________________ ______________________________
Witness Witness

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
CITY OF [MARIKINA CITY] ) S.S.
x----------------------------------------x

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

BEFORE ME, a Notary Public for and in [Marikina City], this ____ day of __________, 20____, personally appeared the above-named parties, exhibiting to me their competent evidence of identity, known to me and to me known to be the same persons who executed the foregoing Waiver of Rights, and they acknowledged to me that the same is their free and voluntary act and deed.

WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL on the date and at the place first above written.

______________________________
Notary Public

Doc. No. ______;
Page No. ______;
Book No. ______;
Series of 20____.

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Three different documents, all called a “waiver”

“Waiver of hereditary rights” is used loosely in Philippine practice for three transactions that the Civil Code treats quite differently, and that the BIR taxes quite differently. Choosing the wrong one is not a drafting nicety: it changes whether you have accepted the inheritance, who ends up with your share, and what tax falls due.

	A. General repudiation	B. Renunciation in favour of a named person	C. Transfer for a price
What you are doing	Rejecting the inheritance outright. You take nothing and name nobody	Giving up your share so that a particular person gets it	Selling or assigning your hereditary right to someone for consideration
Have you accepted the inheritance?	No. You never became an heir in fact	Yes. Article 1050 treats a renunciation for the benefit of one or more named co-heirs as an acceptance, followed by a transfer	Yes. Article 1050 treats a sale, donation or assignment of the hereditary right as an acceptance
Where your share goes	To whoever the law sends it — by accretion, by representation, or to the other heirs under the rules of succession. You cannot direct it	To the person you named, because you transferred it to them	To the buyer or assignee
Form	A public or authentic instrument, or a petition to the court handling the settlement (art. 1051). Total, not partial	A public instrument, and in substance a deed of donation or of assignment of hereditary rights	A public instrument — in substance a deed of sale or assignment of hereditary rights
Tax exposure	Generally no donor's tax on the renouncing heir, because nothing passed through them. The estate tax on the estate is unaffected	Generally analysed as a donation by the renouncing heir, with the donor's tax consequences that follow. Confirm on your facts	Analysed as an onerous transfer, with the income-tax, capital-gains and documentary-stamp consequences that follow from what was actually transferred

Legal basis: Civil Code arts. 1041 (acceptance and repudiation are voluntary and free), 1050 (when an inheritance is deemed accepted), 1051 (form of a repudiation), 1052 (creditors of a repudiating heir) and 1056 (irrevocability). Article 1050 also makes the point that a gratuitous renunciation in favour of all the co-heirs indiscriminately, where those co-heirs are the very persons on whom the share would devolve by accretion anyway, is not treated as an acceptance.

When a waiver is valid

Article 6 of the Civil Code sets the rule: rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognised by law. Three practical conditions follow. The right must actually be yours. You must know what you are giving up. And the waiver must not be one the law forbids.

Can you waive it?	Examples
Yes	Your share in an inheritance; your rights over a specific property; a claim for damages already accrued; a right of first refusal
No	Future support; labour standards benefits below the statutory minimum; the right to be free from future negligence in many contexts; a compulsory heir's legitime before the decedent's death
Only with care	Employment quitclaims — valid if voluntary and for reasonable consideration, but courts scrutinise them closely

The tax trap that catches most families

How a waiver of hereditary rights is taxed follows from which of the three transactions above it actually is, and that is settled by article 1050 of the Civil Code rather than by the heading on the page. Where an heir repudiates without designating anyone, nothing passes through the heir's hands: the share devolves by operation of law, and there is generally no gratuitous transfer by the heir to tax. Where the heir names a beneficiary, or takes a price, article 1050 treats the heir as having accepted the inheritance first — so there is a share belonging to the heir, and then a transfer of it, and each of those has its own tax consequence.

General repudiation of the whole inheritance, no designated beneficiary — the share devolves by operation of law, and there is generally no donor's tax on the repudiating heir. The estate tax on the estate itself is unaffected either way.
Renunciation in favour of a named co-heir, gratuitously — an acceptance followed by a gratuitous transfer, which is analysed as a donation by the renouncing heir, with the 6% donor's tax on net gifts above the ₱250,000 annual threshold.
Transfer of the hereditary right for a price — an onerous transfer, whose treatment depends on what was actually transferred and on the classification of the underlying property; income tax, the capital gains tax where a capital asset is involved, and documentary stamp tax may all be in play.
A gratuitous renunciation in favour of all the co-heirs indiscriminately, where they are the same persons on whom the share would devolve by accretion, is not an acceptance under article 1050 — but that is a narrow case and depends on the composition of the heirs.

This states the framework, not an outcome for your facts. The characterisation turns on the exact wording of the instrument, on who the other heirs are, on whether the estate has been settled, and on the classification of the underlying property — and the BIR examines the instrument itself, not its title. Get a written computation or a ruling from the BIR, or advice from a tax practitioner, before executing a waiver over anything substantial. Do not treat the tax outcome as settled in advance.

How to fill it in

1
Recite where the right comes from
The WHEREAS clauses should explain the source: the death of the decedent and your heirship, the contract that gave you the right, or the title you hold.
2
Describe the property or right precisely
Title number, area, location, or the contract and the specific right under it. A waiver of 'all my rights' with nothing identified is worth very little.
3
Decide first which of the three documents you are signing
If you simply want out and do not mind where your share goes, repudiate generally and name nobody — that is Sample A, it must be total, and article 1051 requires a public or authentic instrument or a petition to the court. If you want a specific person to receive it, you are accepting and then transferring: draft it as a renunciation in favour of that person or as a deed of assignment, and price in the donor's tax. If you are being paid, it is a sale of the hereditary right and should be drafted and taxed as one.
4
State the consideration honestly
If you were paid, say the amount. Writing 'for love and affection' over a paid transaction is a false recital and creates both a tax and an evidentiary problem.
5
Include the voluntariness and capacity clause
That you are of legal age, of sound mind, understand the consequences, and act without force or undue influence. This is what defeats a later claim that you were pressured.
6
Get marital consent where needed
If the right waived forms part of the conjugal or community property, the spouse must consent.

Legal basis: Civil Code of the Philippines, art. 6 (waiver of rights), art. 1347 (no contract may be entered into upon future inheritance except in cases expressly authorised by law), arts. 1041–1057 (acceptance and repudiation of an inheritance) and in particular arts. 1050 (when an inheritance is deemed accepted, including renunciation in favour of a co-heir and renunciation for a price), 1051 (form of repudiation), 1052 (creditors of a repudiating heir) and 1056 (irrevocability); NIRC secs. 98–104 as amended by RA 10963 and, on filing and payment, by RA 11976 (Ease of Paying Taxes Act).

Employment quitclaims — a special case

A quitclaim signed on separation from employment is a waiver, and Philippine labour tribunals examine them closely. A quitclaim is generally upheld where the employee signed voluntarily, understood what they were signing, and received reasonable consideration. It is set aside where the consideration was unconscionably low, where there was fraud or duress, or where the terms are contrary to law. Signing one does not automatically extinguish a valid claim for unpaid statutory benefits.

What if…

1
…the waivor is abroad
Execute the waiver before the Philippine Embassy or Consulate, or before a local notary followed by an apostille. Estate settlements involving OFW heirs almost always hinge on getting this document home in original form.
2
…an heir is a minor
A minor cannot waive an inheritance. Court approval is required for the guardian to repudiate on the minor's behalf, and courts are reluctant. Take advice.
3
…the waiver was signed under pressure
Consent vitiated by intimidation, violence, fraud or undue influence makes the instrument voidable, and an action to annul must be brought within the period the Civil Code allows. Act quickly and take advice.
4
…you want to waive only part of your share
Repudiation under the Civil Code operates on the inheritance as a whole, so there is no such thing as repudiating one lot and keeping another. What you want is a partition among the heirs, or a deed of assignment or donation of your undivided share in the specific property. Both start from accepting the inheritance, so both carry transfer-tax consequences that a genuine repudiation would not.

Frequently asked questions

+Is a waiver of rights valid without notarisation?

Between the parties a written waiver may be effective, but anything affecting registered land must be in a public instrument to be registrable, and the Register of Deeds and the BIR will require a notarised document. Notarise it.

+Do I pay tax on waiving my inheritance?

It depends on which transaction you actually executed. Article 1050 of the Civil Code treats a renunciation in favour of a named co-heir, and a renunciation for a price, as an acceptance of the inheritance followed by a transfer — so there is a transfer by you to tax. A general repudiation naming nobody is not an acceptance, so generally nothing passes through you and there is no donor's tax on you. Beyond that framework the outcome turns on the wording, on who the other heirs are and on what property is involved, and the BIR reads the instrument itself. Get the treatment confirmed for your facts before you sign anything substantial.

+Can I waive my share in just one property and keep the rest?

Not by repudiating. A repudiation under the Civil Code operates on the inheritance as a whole, not on individual items, so a partial repudiation is not what you are looking for. What achieves that result is a partition among the heirs, or a deed of assignment or donation of your undivided share in that specific property — each of which involves accepting the inheritance first, with the tax consequences that follow.

+Can I waive my inheritance while my parent is still alive?

No. There is no inheritance until death, and article 1347 of the Civil Code prohibits contracts upon future inheritance except where the law expressly allows. A lifetime transfer is done by donation instead.

+Can a waiver be revoked?

Not once it is validly executed and the other party has relied on it. It can be annulled if consent was obtained by fraud, mistake, violence, intimidation or undue influence — but that requires court action within the prescriptive period.

+Is a quitclaim I signed when I resigned valid?

Often, but not always. Labour tribunals uphold quitclaims that are voluntary, understood, and supported by reasonable consideration, and set aside those that are unconscionable or obtained by fraud or duress. Signing one does not necessarily bar a claim for unpaid statutory benefits.

The law behind this

Donor's tax in the Philippines: rate, threshold, deadline

Read →How to use it

How to transfer a land title, step by step

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