As children, you are legally entitled to a compulsory share of your parents’ estate. You are so-called “non-negligible heirs” who cannot be left out. However, in some cases you may lose this right. In this article, we will tell you exactly when you are entitled to the mandatory share and how the amount is determined.
The Civil Code defines the non-minor heirs as the children of the deceased and, if they do not inherit, their descendants. Therefore, if the children of the deceased are deceased, their children (grandchildren of the deceased) become the heirs at law.
The non-nominal heir is entitled to a compulsory share of the estate. It also applies that this obligatory share may be in the form of a share of the estate or a legacy, but must remain entirely unencumbered for the non-minor heir. This means that the testator may not lay down conditions in the will which would reduce or limit the right of the non-minor heir to his compulsory share.
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The Civil Code further states that the testator’s decrees limiting the obligatory share are disregarded. Thus, if the testator omits or bequeaths a smaller share than the obligatory share to a non-minor heir in his will, these provisions are invalid. The Civil Code therefore protects the non-nominal heirs from any attempt by the testator to reduce their rights to the inheritance.
Example: if Mr. Novak has two children and in his will he bequeaths his entire inheritance to his sister, the children are still entitled to their mandatory share of the inheritance according to the law, which considers them as non-minor heirs. Thus, even if they were omitted from the will, their right to inheritance cannot be ignored.
The Civil Code provides that “if the non-minor heir is a minor, he must receive at least three quarters of his legal share of the inheritance. If the non-minor heir is an adult, he must receive at least one quarter of his legal share of the inheritance.” In practice, this means the following:
Minor heirs (under 18 years of age) must be paid at least three quarters of their legal share of inheritance. The legal share of inheritance is the part of the inheritance that would have been due to them under the law if they had not been omitted.
For example, if a minor heir is legally entitled to half of the inheritance, then at least three quarters of that half must be paid to him, i.e. three quarters of 1/2 = 3/8 of the inheritance.
Tip: How to go through inheritance proceedings without worrying? Find the answer in our article.
Minor heirs (over 18 years of age) must be paid at least a quarter of their legal share of the inheritance.
Let us use the same example: if the statutory share of an adult heir is half of the inheritance, then at least a quarter of this half must be paid to him, i.e. a quarter of 1/2 = 1/8 of the inheritance.
The statutory share of inheritance is determined by the rules of intestate succession. Intestate succession is commonly used in cases where the testator did not leave a will and divides the inheritance among those closest to the testator on the basis of inheritance classes.
The intestate heirs, i.e. the descendants of the deceased, belong together with the spouse to the first class of succession and are deemed to divide the inheritance equally among themselves in the case of intestate succession. Each of them therefore receives an equal share, which is the legal share of the inheritance.
Example. He had two adult children and a wife. The children were not mentioned in his will. Even though Mr Novák did not leave anything to his children, they are still legally entitled to a compulsory share equal to one quarter of their legal share of inheritance. In this case, the legal share of each of the children is one third of the inheritance (CZK 100,000). Their compulsory share is therefore a quarter of this third. So, when the inheritance is settled, both children will receive 25,000 CZK as their obligatory share.
Tip: You can read more about intestate succession and succession in our article.
A non-passing heir may be excluded from the inheritance or have his/her obligatory share reduced for several reasons provided for in the Civil Code:
A non-mutual heir may voluntarily renounce his right to inheritance, thereby losing his right to the compulsory share.
A non-memorable heir is not entitled to inherit if he is incapable of inheriting. This concerns situations where the heir has committed a deliberate criminal act against the testator, his ancestor, descendant or spouse, or where he has committed a despicable act against the testator’s will (e.g. threatening the testator in order to obtain a larger share of the inheritance). An exception is where the testator has pardoned the heir for his acts.
Disinheritance is the process by which the testator decides that a non-minor heir will not be entitled to his or her obligatory share of the estate, even though he or she should by law. The testator may disinherit an heir for the following reasons:
Tip: You can find out more about when it is possible to disinherit a child and the different grounds for disinheritance in our article.
There may be a situation where, although you are legally entitled to a share of the inheritance, you are not mentioned in the will and the whole of the testator’s estate is divided among someone else. This mistake on the part of the testator does not invalidate the whole will, but you remain entitled to the share you are obliged to receive. What happens next depends on whether the testator omitted you intentionally or through ignorance.
If he or she has omitted you deliberately, then there may be what is known as a silent disinheritance. This is possible if it turns out that you have acted in any of the ways mentioned above that give rise to the possibility of disinheritance. However, if you were disinherited through ignorance, i.e. because the testator did not know about you at all, then you cannot be disinherited by silence.
If you retain the right to the mandatory share, you are entitled to claim payment of the mandatory share as a sum of money, the amount of which is determined on the basis of the inventory of the estate. However, you should take into account that in some cases the court may postpone or stagger the payment of the reserved share.
Tip: If you disagree with the reason for your eviction, you have the opportunity to defend yourself. Specifically, you must file a lawsuit in court challenging the eviction. However, the key is to secure the help of an experienced attorney. This is because an attorney has knowledge of probate law and can choose the right strategy based on the circumstances of your case. At Affordable Lawyer, we will assess your situation and propose a solution that will lead to the desired outcome.
The intestate heirs are the children of the testator or their descendants if they do not inherit. They are entitled to a compulsory share of the estate, which cannot be limited or conditioned. The compulsory share is three-quarters of the statutory share for minors and one-quarter for adults. In certain situations, a non-minor heir may be disinherited or excluded from the succession, for example because of a crime against the testator or because of intemperance. If a non-minor heir is omitted from the will, he is still entitled to his obligatory share, which will be paid to him as a sum of money.
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