A granddaughter took her grandmother to court because she considered that what she received from her grandfather’s inheritance did not respect the minimum value guaranteed by law. The court ruled in favor and confirmed that the grandmother, universal heir, will have to pay R$ 186,503.21 as a complement to the legitimate inheritance. Infobae says that the granddaughter claimed this share as successor to her deceased father.
According to Noticias Trabajo, a Spanish website specializing in legal and labor matters, the case was analyzed by the Barcelona Provincial Audience, which confirmed the decision of the first instance and concluded that the property attributed to the granddaughter in the will did not fully cover the value to which she was entitled under the Civil Code of Catalonia.
A property did not arrive to fulfill its legal status
The granddaughter had benefited from her grandfather’s will with the grant of housing. However, he understood that the value of this asset was below the minimum quota that the law guarantees as legitimate.
According to the publication, the action was filed under article 451-10 of the Civil Code of Catalonia, which allows claiming the so-called legitimate supplement whenever the amount received is lower than the legally established minimum. The grandmother, designated universal heir, was responsible for the payment, under the terms of article 451-15 of the same diploma.
The first degree court partially ruled in favor of the granddaughter and set the additional amount at R$ 186,503.21, acquitting the other family members due to lack of passive legitimacy. Both the granddaughter and grandmother appealed the decision.
The value of the inheritance had already been accepted
The Provincial Hearing fully confirmed the previous sentence. According to Noticias Trabajo, the judges recalled that the legitimate amount must be calculated taking as a reference the value of the assets on the date of death of the author of the inheritance, in accordance with the rules of the Civil Code of Catalonia, where the legitimate amount corresponds, in global terms, to a quarter of the calculation basis.
In the case in question, the public deed of acceptance of the inheritance set the value of the assets at 3,850,451.41 euros. It was this amount that served as a reference to determine the granddaughter’s minimum share.
During the appeal, the parties tried to support different assessments through expert reports. The grandmother sought to reduce the overall value of the inheritance and increase the value of the property received by her granddaughter, in order to reduce the supplement to be paid. The granddaughter argued that the inherited asset was far from reaching the legal minimum.
However, explains the same source, the court applied the doctrine of own acts, provided for in article 111-8 of the Civil Code of Catalonia. As both parties had voluntarily accepted the values contained in the deed and had not challenged the document due to error or demonstrated the existence of omitted assets, they could not now depart from this calculation basis.
Later sale reinforced initial valuation
The judges also refused to review the value of inherited property and shares in a family partnership. The house was sold shortly afterwards for a value very close to what was stated in the deed, which reinforced the correctness of the initial assessment.
In view of these elements, the Provincial Hearing confirmed the grandmother’s sentence to pay 186,503.21 euros, plus interest, which, in the additional interest, generally counts from the date of the complaint in court.
The decision, however, has not yet become final. According to the , a cassation appeal could be filed, namely to the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia when rules of Catalan civil law are at stake, without prejudice to the routes provided for the Supreme Court depending on the grounds.
The case once again highlights the importance of inheritance in Spanish inheritance law and the legal weight of assessments accepted at the time of sharing. When values are formally assumed in a public deed and are not challenged under legal terms, the possibility of reopening them later tends to be more limited.
And in Portugal?
In Portugal, the legal regime is also protected by law in the Civil Code. The spouse, descendants and ascendants are legitimate heirs. The percentage of the inheritance varies: in the case of a dispute between spouse and children, it is two thirds of the inheritance; If there is no surviving spouse, the children’s share is half if there is only one child, or two-thirds if there are two or more.
The testator cannot freely dispose of this quota, under penalty of the legitimate heirs being able to request the reduction of liberalities that offend the legitimate, to the extent necessary for its fulfillment. In practice, the logic is close to what in Catalan law is treated as a supplement to legal rights, although with its own framework and procedural instruments.
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