INHERITANCE ROUTES ACCORDING TO CURRENT LEGISLATION?

Table of Contents

1. What is inheritance?

2. How does the law regulate inheritance?

3. At-law inheritance in current legislation?

1. What is inheritance?

Inheritance is the transfer of assets from a deceased person to a living person, the assets left behind are called inheritance.

Inheritance is divided into 02 forms:

– Inheritance by will is regulated by Article 624 of the 2015 Civil Code: “Will means an expression of the wishes of an individual, made in order to bequeath his or her property to others after his or her death”.

– Inheritance by law is regulated by Article 649 of the 2015 Civil Code: “Inheritance at law means inheritance in accordance with the order of priority of inheritance and the conditions and procedures of inheritance provided by law.”

2. How does the law regulate the order of inheritance?

The order of inheritance is determined when the inheritance is carried out according to the law without approval or without a will left by the deceased.

Pursuant to Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code, which stipulates the legal heirs:

“1. Heirs at law are categorized in the following order of priority:

(a) The first level of heirs comprises: spouses, biological parents, adoptive parents, offspring and adopted children of the deceased;

(b) The second level of heirs comprises: grandparents and siblings of the deceased; and biological grandchildren of the deceased;

(c) The third level of heirs comprises: biological great-grandparents of the deceased, biological uncles and aunts of the deceased, and biological nephews and nieces of the deceased.

2. Heirs at the same level shall be entitled to equal shares of the estate.

3. Heirs at a lower level shall be entitled to inherit where there are no heirs at a higher level because such heirs have died, or because they are not entitled to inherit, have been deprived of the right to inherit or have disclaimed the right to inherit.”

3. At-law inheritance in current legislation?

According to Article 650 of the 2015 Civil Code, it is stipulated that:

“1. Inheritance at law shall apply in the following cases:

(a) There is no will;

(b) The will is unlawful;

(c) All heirs under the will died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying, or the agencies or organizations which are entitled to inherit under the will no longer exist at the time of commencement of the inheritance;

(d) The persons appointed as heirs under the will do not have the right to inherit or disclaimed the inheritance.

2. Inheritance at law shall also apply to the following parts of an estate:

(a) Parts of an estate in respect of which no disposition has been made in the will;

(b) Parts of an estate related to an ineffective part of the will;

(c) Parts of an estate related to heirs under the will not having the right to inherit, having disclaimed the inheritance, or having died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying; and parts of an estate related to agencies or organizations entitled to inherit under the will but no longer existing at the time of commencement of the inheritance.”