Inheritance - Hereditary succession

Inheritance – what to do? Are you involved in an inheritance? Do you suspect that someone will take away assets that belong to your family and that belong to you?
Has a relative or person embezzled your parents’ properties, or persuaded them to make a will? Are your parents facilitating your brother or sister at your expense?
We, your trusted lawyers, will be by your side, and we will explain step by step what you need to do to solve your problems!

Five things to do

Hereditary succession begins at the time of the deceased’s death in the place where he had his last domicile.

A person can be called to inherit through a will, or by law, when in the absence of a will, the inheritance is devolved by law to the spouse and relatives up to the 6th degree.

The right of acceptance is the right of the called party to acquire the inheritance. Only with acceptance does the called person become an heir. This right lapses in ten years. The acceptance can be pure and simple and in this case the heir is liable for the debts and the hereditary bequests even if they exceed the hereditary patrimony.

If the heir wants to prevent confusion between his estate and that of the deceased, he must accept with the benefit of inventory. In this case, in fact, the heir is liable for the obligations transmitted to him by the deceased only within the limits of the value of the hereditary patrimony.

If the person called to the inheritance wants to renounce the inheritance, he can do so only after the opening of the succession. The renunciation of the inheritance is a solemn act which must result from a declaration made by the called party to a notary or to the clerk of the district court in which the succession was opened.

There is a will

First check if there is a valid will and contact the Inheritance Lawyer or a notary.
You must know that the law distinguishes ordinary wills into:

  • Holographic will which is drawn up, dated and hand signed by the testator
  • Will by notary deed (which can be public or secret)

The publication of the will

The publication of the will has the function of making it possible for the person called to the succession and the relatives of the deceased to know its contents, as well as for the hereditary creditors and the heir’s creditors, to protect their respective rights, as well as make execution possible.

There is no will

Legitimate succession

In the absence of a will, the law states that the following are legitimate successors:

  • the spouse
  • the descendants (legitimate, legitimized, adoptive and natural)
  • legitimate ancestors
  • the collaterals
  • the other relatives up to the sixth degree (if these are missing, the inheritance is devolved to the State).

Insights

  1. The father and mother are succeeded first of all by legitimate and natural children in equal parts. Legitimate children and adoptive children are treated as legitimate children.
  2. The descendants category excludes all other relatives except the spouse. If there are no descendants, the parents or legitimate ascendants succeed, or adopters with special adoption: in this case the closest ascendant excludes the remote ones.

The spouse can hold the status of

  • Heir, by purchasing the entire inheritance, when the deceased leaves no children, ascendants or siblings
  • Co-heir, when co-heir with the legitimate, legitimized, adopted or natural children of the deceased, with the ascendants or brothers of the deceased.
  • Remember that the surviving spouse has the right of residence in the marital home and the right to use the furniture in any case of competition.

You should know that the law gives the members of the family unit the intangible right to a share of the assets, regardless of what the deceased may have established.

  • The surviving spouse
  • Legitimate children (including legitimized and adopted) and their descendants as they succeed by representation
  • The natural children
  • Legitimate ancestors
  • The available share, which the testator was free to dispose of;
  • The legitimate share (or reserve), which the testator could not dispose of because it was due by law to the heirs.

There is damage to the legitimate when the share due to the legitimate is affected by the owner of the deceased as a result of acts of disposition inter vivos (donations) or dispositions mortis causa.

When the legitimacy is injured, it must be reinstated, through the action of reduction. The precondition for such action is the fictitious meeting. The fictitious merger is an accounting operation aimed at calculating the entire entity of the hereditary assets at the time of the opening of the succession, to establish whether the rights of the heirs have been harmed.

The reduction action is the action that has as its purpose the reinstatement of the legitimacy, through the reduction of the testamentary dispositions and of the donations exceeding the quota that the testator could have at his disposal.

The subjects entitled to exercise the reduction action are:

  • The legitimate injured party
  • The legitimate heir
  • The successor in title of the heir

The reduction action is subject to a ten-year statute of limitations.

Are you the heir, with others, of an asset and do you want to proceed with the division?
You should know that when the deceased is succeeded by more heirs, they become co-owners of the assets that form part of the inheritance. Each co-heir can sell his share, but, in any case, must notify the sale proposal and the price to the other co-heirs, who have the right to be preferred at the same price. If the co-heir transfers his share to third parties and fails to notify the co-heirs in advance, they have the right to redeem the alienated share from the purchaser.

How does the community of inheritance end?

The community of inheritance ends with the division. Each co-heir has an imprescriptible right to division. The division in which all co-heirs do not participate is null. The forms of division are:

    • Amicable or contractual division, which takes place, in the exercise of the power of private autonomy, with the modalities established by the co-heirs themselves, on the basis of unanimous consent;
    • The judicial division
    • The division of wills

Do you have a well-founded fear that the deceased made large donations to the other heirs during his lifetime? You must know that there is a remedy: collation is the act by which the legitimate, legitimized, adoptive and natural children or descendants, and the spouse of the deceased, who contribute to the succession, must confer to the active mass of the hereditary patrimony all the assets that were donated during life by the deceased, so as to divide them with the other co-heirs in proportion to their respective shares.
Are not subject to collation:

  • Living expenses, education and sickness
  • Ordinary expenses for clothing, weddings, education
  • Donations made on the occasion of services rendered or in accordance with custom
  • Things donated, perished, for reasons not attributable to the donee
  • Small-value donations made to a spouse

Do you need legal support?

Or write to us.

We will contact you within 24 hours

Call us
Contact us

There is a will

First check if there is a valid will and contact the Inheritance Lawyer or a notary.

You must know that the law distinguishes ordinary wills into:

  • Holographic will which is drawn up, dated and hand signed by the testator
  • Will by notary deed (which can be public or secret)

The publication of the will

The publication of the will has the function of making it possible for the person called to the succession and the relatives of the deceased to know its contents, as well as for the hereditary creditors and the heir’s creditors, to protect their respective rights, as well as make execution possible.

There is no will

Legitimate succession

In the absence of a will, the law states that the following are legitimate successors:

  • the spouse
  • the descendants (legitimate, legitimized, adoptive and natural)
  • legitimate ancestors
  • the collaterals
  • the other relatives up to the sixth degree (if these are missing, the inheritance is devolved to the State).

What is the order in the succession of legitimate relatives

  1. The father and mother are succeeded first of all by legitimate and natural children in equal parts. Legitimate children and adoptive children are treated as legitimate children.
  2. The descendants category excludes all other relatives except the spouse. If there are no descendants, the parents or legitimate ascendants succeed, or adopters with special adoption: in this case the closest ascendant excludes the remote ones.

The rights of the surviving spouse

The spouse can hold the status of

  • Heir, by purchasing the entire inheritance, when the deceased leaves no children, ascendants or siblings
  • Co-heir, when co-heir with the legitimate, legitimized, adopted or natural children of the deceased, with the ascendants or brothers of the deceased.
  • Remember that the surviving spouse has the right of residence in the marital home and the right to use the furniture in any case of competition.

The succession of legitimates

You should know that the law gives the members of the family unit the intangible right to a share of the assets, regardless of what the deceased may have established.

Who are the legitimate ones?

  • The surviving spouse
  • Legitimate children (including legitimized and adopted) and their descendants as they succeed by representation
  • The natural children
  • Legitimate ancestors

When there are legitimate heirs, two parts are distinguished in the hereditary patrimony:

  • The available share, which the testator was free to dispose of;
  • The legitimate share (or reserve), which the testator could not dispose of because it was due by law to the heirs.

When does legitimate injury occur?

There is damage to the legitimate when the share due to the legitimate is affected by the owner of the deceased as a result of acts of disposition inter vivos (donations) or dispositions mortis causa.

What can you do if you believe that the legitimacy has been harmed?

When the legitimacy is injured, it must be reinstated, through the action of reduction. The precondition for such action is the fictitious meeting. The fictitious merger is an accounting operation aimed at calculating the entire entity of the hereditary assets at the time of the opening of the succession, to establish whether the rights of the heirs have been harmed.

What is the reduction action and who can exercise it?

The reduction action is the action that has as its purpose the reinstatement of the legitimacy, through the reduction of the testamentary dispositions and of the donations exceeding the quota that the testator could have at his disposal.

The subjects entitled to exercise the reduction action are:

  • The legitimate injured party
  • The legitimate heir
  • The successor in title of the heir

The reduction action is subject to a ten-year statute of limitations.

The community of inheritance

Are you the heir, with others, of an asset and do you want to proceed with the division?
You should know that when the deceased is succeeded by more heirs, they become co-owners of the assets that form part of the inheritance. Each co-heir can sell his share, but, in any case, must notify the sale proposal and the price to the other co-heirs, who have the right to be preferred at the same price. If the co-heir transfers his share to third parties and fails to notify the co-heirs in advance, they have the right to redeem the alienated share from the purchaser.

How does the community of inheritance end?

The community of inheritance ends with the division. Each co-heir has an imprescriptible right to division. The division in which all co-heirs do not participate is null. The forms of division are:

  • Amicable or contractual division, which takes place, in the exercise of the power of private autonomy, with the modalities established by the co-heirs themselves, on the basis of unanimous consent;
  • The judicial division
  • The division of wills

What is collation?

Do you have a well-founded fear that the deceased made large donations to the other heirs during his lifetime? You must know that there is a remedy: collation is the act by which the legitimate, legitimized, adoptive and natural children or descendants, and the spouse of the deceased, who contribute to the succession, must confer to the active mass of the hereditary patrimony all the assets that were donated during life by the deceased, so as to divide them with the other co-heirs in proportion to their respective shares.
Are not subject to collation:

  • Living expenses, education and sickness
  • Ordinary expenses for clothing, weddings, education
  • Donations made on the occasion of services rendered or in accordance with custom
  • Things donated, perished, for reasons not attributable to the donee
  • Small-value donations made to a spouse