An heir was ordered by the Barcelona Provincial Hearing to pay 92,798 euros to the two brothers who his father had unfairly disinherited in order to leave him the entire inheritance. The decision, recently released, concludes that the family separation was not the sole fault of the children, as claimed in the will, and that the father was already showing signs of cognitive and emotional deterioration when he wrote the document.
According to Notícias Trabajo, a Spanish website specializing in legal and labor matters, the case dates back to the will of a man who, before dying, decided to exclude two of his three children, claiming that they had been away for more than six years and stopped paying attention to both him and his wife, who lived in a residence.
The court considered, however, that it was not proven that the distance had been intentional or caused solely by the children.
Court reversed disinheritance
The two brothers went to court, arguing that their removal was motivated by family conflicts and the younger brother’s influence on their father, at a time when he was already experiencing memory problems and mental confusion.
Although the Court of First Instance No. 6 of Manresa had initially validated the will, the Barcelona Provincial Hearing decided to revoke the sentence and annul the disinheritance, restoring the right to inheritance.
Disinheritance cannot be a punishment
According to article 451-17.2.e of the Civil Code of Catalonia, a father can only disinherit a child if the absence of the relationship is prolonged and exclusively attributable to the heir. The court concluded that this was not the case, as the separation resulted from mutual conflicts and a distorted perception of the father, worsened by the illness.
Witnesses at the residence where the mother lived confirmed that the man “showed distrust and unjustified jealousy” towards his older children: signs of a weakened mental state.
According to , the judges also highlighted that disinheritance cannot be used as an instrument of family punishment, but only applied in legally recognized situations. The legitimate, they explained, has a protective function and is intended to safeguard family ties and equity between descendants.
Right to legal reestablishment
Based on these grounds, the court declared the disinheritance invalid and recognized the two children’s right to receive their legitimate inheritance. The brother who inherited everything will now have to pay 46,399 euros each, plus legal interest since the father’s death.
The sentence is not yet final and may be appealed to the Supreme Court or the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.
And in Portugal, would it be different?
In Portugal, the law is clear: children always have the right to legitimate inheritance, a minimum portion of the inheritance that the testator cannot freely dispose of, under the terms of articles 2157 to 2164 of the Civil Code.
Disinheritance is only possible in situations provided for in article 2166, such as a crime against the testator, abandonment in a situation of need or attempted murder.
The simple lack of family contact does not constitute a legal reason. Thus, if an identical case occurred in Portuguese territory, the decision would probably be the same: the will would be challenged and the right to legal inheritance reestablished.
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