The legal wife

Dear Atty. Angela,

I am married to a seafarer in 1980 with whom I have one child but after 10 years of marriage, we separated and parted ways. I found out that he was able to remarry despite not having our marriage legally annulled and had two other children. I learned that my ex-husband passed away on board a vessel and that he left his death benefits where he named his new partner as a beneficiary. As the legal wife, is it correct that I, together with my child, are the ones entitled to his death benefit despite being separated for decades? How will the distribution of proceeds be?

Serena

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Dear Serena,

Yes, as the legal spouse, you are entitled to your husband’s death benefit even when you have been separated with him for many years.

In the recent case of Macalinao v. Macalinao, G.R. 250613 (2024), the Supreme Court held that in the case of the death benefits from the employment contract between the deceased seafarer and employer, Section 20.B.(3) of the POEA MC states that benefits for the seafarer’s death are payable to the seafarer’s beneficiaries consistent with the rules of succession under the Civil Code.

The Court held that the purported wife in the second marriage is disqualified as a beneficiary since she is not the deceased’s legal spouse, and their marriage was clearly bigamous and void from the beginning. The second wife’s supposed lack of knowledge of the first and subsisting marriage is not a defense.

As to the distribution of the benefits among the legal heirs, the Court clarified that when the concurring primary compulsory heirs are the surviving spouse, one legitimate child, and illegitimate children, Article 892 of the Civil Code shall apply which states that if only one legitimate child survives, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to one-fourth of the estate. On the other hand, Article 895, as amended by the Family Code, provides that if illegitimate children survive with legitimate children, the shares for each of the former shall consist of one-half of the share of each legitimate child, provided that the share of the surviving spouse must first be fully satisfied.

Thus, in the present case, the proceeds from your ex-husband’s death benefits will be distributed as follows: one-fourth to you; one-half to your child; one-eighth to the illegitimate child; and one-eighth to the other illegitimate child.

Atty. Angela Antonio