Succession

The court entrusts a notary as a court commissioner to oversee inheritance proceedings. It is the only case where you are not able to choose the notary. For reasons of impartiality and objectivity, the court entrusts inheritance proceedings to notaries according to a predetermined schedule. The court usually commences proceedings without a petition and on the basis of a death certificate received from the registry office. At the beginning of the inheritance proceedings the notary contacts an heir, usually the person that arranged the funeral and is able to inform them what is necessary to do to oversee the settlement of the inheritance.

Succession is regulated by the Civil Code. An inheritance may be acquired pursuant to the law, based on a will or a combination of them both. A testamentary heir has priority over a legal heir, with the exception of the decease’s descendants (so-called “forced heirs”). The heirs of the deceased may inherit all or only part of their assets, but they also acquire any of the deceased’s outstanding debt to the sum of the value of these assets. An heir may chose to not accept the inheritance, however, in several cases the inheritance passes down to the descendants of the heir who rejected the inheritance, which is usually an unwanted consequence. The inheritance is usually settled in an agreement between the heirs which must be concluded before a notary. Up until the time of its conclusion an heir may express their desire to not receive any assets from the inheritance.

The Civil Code sets out four groups of heirs. The first group includes the deceased’s spouse or registered partner and children (or their descendants if there are none). Should there be no heirs in the first group the inheritance goes to persons in the second.

Should there be no will and no rightful heirs then the inheritance will go to the state.