Your parents may disinherit you for various reasons. For example, because you don’t care for them, don’t take care of them, are in debt and lead an unmanaged life. However, these reasons are not always based on the truth. In this article, we will therefore give you advice on how to defend yourself against wrongful eviction.
You can defend against an eviction mainly if the reason given is not true, not specific enough or does not correspond to the legal grounds under the Civil Code. In practice, the dispute is most often about whether the descendant was not genuinely interested in the deceased, did not provide assistance in times of need or led a permanently unmanaged life. Evidence is usually decisive: communications, witnesses, medical reports, evidence of care or financial assistance. The defence typically follows the succession proceedings and often ends with a lawsuit to establish succession rights.
Do you need a quick assessment of whether the disinheritance is valid in your case? Contact our attorneys. We will evaluate the disinheritance document, review the evidence, and suggest a course of action in the probate proceeding and any litigation.
Disinheritance is a legal institution that allows a testator to specifically exclude someone from the line of heirs in his or her will, even if he or she would have been legally entitled to the inheritance. Specifically, disinheritance refers to the obligatory share of a so-called non-nominal heir.
The children of the deceased and other descendants (grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.) are non-negligible heirs. The compulsory share is then the amount to which these non-nominal heirs are legally entitled. This share amounts to ¼ of the legal share for adult heirs and ¾ for minor heirs. The legal share of inheritance is determined according to the succession and is the amount that the non-minor heir would have received in the event of a succession by operation of law.
If you are on the other side of the barricade and wish to disinherit your offspring, then you must not miss our next article.
Only a non-nominee heir (children and their descendants) can be disinherited, and only for the reasons provided by law. There are 6 of them:
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| Legal reason | What it typically means in practice | What it is usually shown to be in a dispute |
|---|---|---|
| Failure to provide emergency relief | The offspring failed to help in a serious situation where help was realistically needed | medical records, witnesses, communications |
| Failure to show genuine concern | Prolonged lack of interest in the parent without reasonable cause | phone calls, texts, emails, witness statements |
| Criminal convictions indicative of a perverted nature | Serious misconduct by the offspring | criminal conviction, copy of record |
| Permanently disordered life | Long-term addictions, repeated offenses, social disruption | witnesses, treatment reports, other documents |
| Incapacity to inherit | E.g. intentional crime against testator or interference with will | judgments, documents from succession proceedings |
| Indebtedness or vanity | Risk of the estate being forfeited to debt or squandered recklessly | foreclosure, insolvency, financial documents |
How exactly does succession by operation of law work and what is the order of succession? Find out in the next article.
After her father’s death, Mrs. Žáková learned that she had been disinherited on the grounds that she had not shown any interest in him for a long time. However, when we reviewed her documents, it turned out that she had repeatedly written to her father, attempted to visit him, and had also dealt with his medical condition through other family members for several years. The problem was more that the father himself refused contact. We prepared a timeline of communications for the succession proceedings, secured a list of messages, emails and witness statements from relatives. As a result, it was possible to establish that the alleged “lack of interest” was not a unilateral failure on the part of the daughter, but the result of long-standing disturbed family relationships. It is often in these disputes that the details and well-put-together evidence are decisive, not the emotive statement in the disinheritance document alone.
If your parents are still alive, finding out about the disinheritance can be a challenge. This is because disinheritance is determined by a declaration of disinheritance by the children, for which the same rules apply as for a will. Your parents could have handwritten the declaration and kept it somewhere safe at home, or had it drawn up as a public deed by a notary public. In the latter case, it is deposited with a notary public and recorded in the register of legal acts in case of death, which is not publicly accessible.
In both cases, you will not be able to get a declaration of disinheritance. The only way to find out about the disinheritance while your parents are still alive is to ask them.
If your parents die, you will learn about the disinheritance during the succession proceedings. The notary who is in charge of the succession proceedings is obliged to contact all the persons involved in the succession proceedings (including the disinherited). The specific reason for the disinheritance must be stated in the declaration of disinheritance. You have the right to know this reason and to defend yourself against it.
If you disagree with the reason for your disinheritance, you have the option to defend yourself. Specifically, you must file a lawsuit in court challenging the eviction. The key is to challenge the truth of the reason given in the declaration of expulsion.
Indeed, an extradition is legally valid only if it meets the legal requirements and is proven. When bringing an action, it is therefore important to gather evidence that shows that the reason for the expulsion is invalid. For example, you may present testimony, medical reports, documents, photographs or other evidence.
It is at the evidence-gathering stage that the assistance of a lawyer is most practical. It is not enough just to claim that the reason for the disinheritance is not true – you need to properly evaluate what has evidentiary value and what the court or notary will no longer consider. Our attorneys can quickly assess the disinheritance document, devise an evidentiary strategy, and prepare the next course of action so that the client does not unnecessarily miss the follow-up steps in the probate process.
The key is to secure the assistance of an experienced attorney. This is because an attorney has knowledge of inheritance law and can choose the right strategy based on the circumstances of your case. He or she can handle and locate all the evidence well and represent you in court, where he or she will present legal arguments and respond to the opposing party’s evidence.
Let’s explain this by looking at the individual reasons for disinheritance:
If the reason for disinheritance is that you did not provide emergency assistance, you can argue that you did in fact provide assistance or that you were not informed of the need for assistance. Evidence may include:
You can also read how to proceed in the event of an additional succession hearing.
This reason can be challenged if you can prove that you were interested in your parents and maintained contact with them, or that you were interested but your parents were not. Defences may include:
If you have been convicted of a crime but the reason for the disinheritance is false or exaggerated, you may have a defense:
If your parents disinherited you on the grounds that you lead an unmanaged life (e.g. alcohol or drug addiction, problems with the law), you can defend yourself:
This reason allows the testator to reduce the heir’s mandatory share to protect his or her estate from loss (due to debt or prodigality). If you disagree with this reason, you can defend yourself:
Divorce is not just a family decision, but a legal act that must meet the legal requirements. A testator can only disinherit a non-nominee heir and only for the specific reasons allowed by the Civil Code. It is therefore not enough to state generally that family relations were bad or that the offspring “was not what the parent wanted”.
In practice, the most common dispute is whether the offspring did not show genuine interest, did not provide help in times of need or led a permanently disordered life. This is where the evidence comes into play: reports, emails, witness statements, care certificates, proof of financial assistance or, conversely, documents that refute claims of debt or extravagance.
If you believe that the disinheritance is not justified, it is not worth waiting for the inheritance proceedings to develop. From the very first moment, it is advisable to work with the disinheritance deed, analyze the stated reason and prepare an evidentiary strategy. A well-constructed defence can fundamentally influence the outcome of the dispute and whether you will actually assert your inheritance rights.
No. A bad relationship alone is not enough. There has to be a legal reason for the eviction.
Usually not. Most often you will only find out about it in the succession proceedings.
Yes. The reason must be in accordance with the law and sufficiently specific.
You can defend yourself with evidence, such as communications, witnesses or evidence of visits and assistance.
Yes. It is typically settled by lawsuit if the reason for the eviction is false or legally unsustainable.
Yes. The sooner the evidence and strategy are properly prepared, the better.
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