IN MEXICO, IF THERE IS NO WILL, WHO IS ENTITLED TO INHERIT?

September is the month of the will in Mexico. This government campaign seeks to promote the granting of wills and contribute to a culture of prevention, certainty and legal safety in the right to inherit.  Granting a will has many advantages, we inherit peace of mind to our loved ones, greater expenses are avoided, as well as the waste of time and family issues. If there is a will, there is no need for an intestate succession proceeding that can be long and complicated.

But what happens when someone dies and he/she made no will? In this case, who are entitled to inherit?

If there is no will, a proceeding must be brought before civil courts known as intestate succession or legitimate succession, in which the judge will determine who is entitled to inherit, and at the end will grant heirs with ownership over the property.

If there is no controversy among the possible heirs, it is a fast and simple proceeding, however, in case there is, then it turns into a slow and complicated process. Therefore granting a will offers great advantages, since it reduces problems and family disputes.

When there is no will, Mexican civil laws establish that descendants, the spouse, ascendants, collateral relatives in fourth degree, and in certain cases concubines can be heirs. Kinship by affinity, this is in-laws, does not give the right to inherit. If there are no relatives, then public assistance shall be heir.

However, it does not mean that those described above can be heirs at the same time, because to determine who has a better right to inherit, there is a general rule for the institution of heirs, which consists in closer relatives excluding remoter ones. This rule gives preference to relatives closer in degree, and eliminates the right of remoter ones.  For example, a child excludes a grandchild, a brother excludes a nephew, father excludes grandfather, etc.

In a hypothetical case, let´s say that Mr. Juan Perez is married and has three children, he also has two siblings and his parents are still alive.  If Mr. Perez dies and leaves no will, those entitled to inherit would be his children and wife, all in equal parts. His siblings and parents cannot be heirs because his children and wife are the closest relatives and exclude the remote ones.

Now, let´s say that Mr. Perez was single with no children, had two siblings, as well as his father and mother and his grandparents are still alive.  In this case, his parents would be heirs in equal parts since they are the closest relatives, excluding his siblings and grandparents.

There can be different cases, where there are siblings and half siblings; concubine and children; siblings and nephews and nieces; etc. The Mexican Civil Code and jurisprudence establish the solution to determine who has better right to inherit and in which parts, always applying the mentioned closeness rule.

In the next entries of this legal blog we will discuss other topics related to successions and inheritances.