The heirs: Some Things you should know
The inheritance includes all the assets, rights and obligations of a person, which are not extinguished by his death. Heir is called the one who succeeds by universal title, and the legatee who succeeds by private title.
The heirs succeed the deceased by the fact only of his death in all his rights and obligations.
A person can dispose of their assets before death, making a will, or can die without having granted it, finding us before an intestate inheritance or also called "intestate".
Classes of heirs
If the deceased person has made a prior will, there may be two kinds of heirs:
- The forced heirs: They are those to whom the law recognizes the right to inherit a part of the inheritance, which is called legitimate. Therefore, the legitimate is the portion of assets that the testator cannot dispose of in favor of any person who is not a forced heir.
- Voluntary heirs: They are those persons designated by the deceased in his will, other than forced heirs. Voluntary heirs can only be left with the portion of property that is not reserved for forced ones. If there are no forced heirs, volunteers can acquire the entire inheritance.
If any of the heirs designated by the deceased in his testament has been instituted in a certain and determined thing (example: "I leave the olive farm to my brother Juan"), it will be considered as a legatee.
When the testator names some heirs individually and others collectively, as if to say: I institute for my heirs N. and N. and the children of N., those collectively named will be considered as if they were individually, unless there is evidence of a Clearly, the will of the testator has been different. When the testator calls a person and his children to the succession, all shall be understood to be instituted simultaneously and not successively. The testator will designate the heir by his name and surname, and when there are two that have them the same, he must indicate some circumstance by which the instituted is known. Even if the testator has omitted the name of the heir, if he designates it in such a way that it cannot be doubted who the instituted is, the institution will be valid.
Who are the forced heirs?
They are forced heirs:
1. Children and descendants with respect to their parents and ascendants.
2. In the absence of the above, parents and ancestors with respect to their children and descendants.
3. The widower or widower in the manner and measure established by this Code.
Who inherits when there is no will?
In the absence of a will, the law determines who are the heirs unclaimed money from deceased relatives. This legal succession is called intestate or "intestate" succession.
When there is no testament, the law indicates the order in which the deceased must be succeeded by his relatives and, in their absence, the State. The order is as follows:
1) In the first place, the descendants will inherit the unclaimed property
2) If there are no descendants, the ascendants inherit
3) The spouse inherits in the absence of descendants and ascendants and before the collateral relatives (brothers and nephews).
4) If there are no descendants, ascendants or spouse, the collaterals inherit.
The other relatives up to the fourth degree (cousins) will inherit in default of all the previous ones. Beyond this fourth degree of kinship, it is not possible to inherit if there is no will.
5) In the absence of all previous relatives, inherits the State.