I would just like to share my experienced while I was on vacation in my quiet hometown, Binmaley, and in the countryside lifestyle barangay, Dulag.
The story is one of the lands owned by our grandfather on my mother’s side was up for sale because of the need for cash. The buyer was making sure that such transfer wold be binding and thus one of the requirements they made is to present a red ribbon for those siblings living outside the Philippines. Everyone is in a hurry to get their share from the sale like any typical Pinoys.
This is the sad story of our country. Most Pinoys with lands are always on the hurry to convert it to cash so that they can spend it and as the saying says “at ng matikman na bago mamatay”. The Philippines is blessed with tillable land and yet most lands are now being sold to be converted to commercial areas. It was a surprised when two of the emerging companies has now established foothold in Pangasinan, Double Dragon and Puregold.
A sizeable lot just across Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital is now on its way to become Citymall, Double Dragon’s mall project. Though Pangasinan already has two competing mall companies namely CSI and Magic, other property and retail companies are coming in. It was a surprise to see a former BHF building now a Puregold store in Dagupan City. And besides these two we already have SM Rosales and Robinsons Pangasinan in Calasiao.
I am sure that even before these structures and establishment were erected, land owners have been fighting over the land. Most land here in the Philippines are not properly transferred to the heirs. Due to the olden style of just mentioning who will inherit this and that land, siblings and relatives fight over. There was recent story of a famous wedding venue in Metro Manila who is losing money since the person inheriting it did not pay the necessary estate tax so that the land title could be transferred to his name. Such is the case of most Pinoys where vast lands are still named to the estate of their great-grandfather since it takes too long for the siblings, relatives, and grandchildren to decide which lands is theirs and who pays the real and estate taxes that has been piling up. At times even siblings end up in court fighting over such lands.
We need to prevent this from happening with our generation. This chaos has to end. For that to materialize we need to have a clear will to whom will the properties we live behind go to. If ever the property you control has a chaotic papers better fixed it now so that when you leave this earth you wont pass to your children the headache. It is not to be morbid that as early you are already readying and apportioning your accumulated wealth but rather it is a good and sound financial planning to avoid costly litigation and unnecessary ill will towards siblings and relatives.
Clean your properties titles, stop the inheritance(mana) wars.
Good point! this reminds me of a neighbor who offered to sell one parcel of their land because they cannot afford to pay the Inheritance Tax that cost them almost a million pesos. Usually, inheritance taxes are just too huge and excessively expensive. So, it really makes sense to avoid them at any cost by distributing the real properties to the heirs early before we pass away from this life.