Legitimate Inheritance Portions in Spain: Shares, Heirs & Regional Rules (2026)

Legitimate Inheritance Portions in Spain: Complete Guide

The "legítima" (forced share) is the portion of an estate that Spanish law reserves for certain heirs, called legitimarios (forced heirs). It is one of the most commonly consulted concepts in Spanish succession law. This guide covers Arts. 806-822 of the Civil Code, disinheritance rules, and the significant differences across autonomous communities.

What Is the Legítima?

Under Art. 806 of the Civil Code, the legítima is the portion of assets the testator cannot freely dispose of because the law reserves it for certain heirs or relatives.

Even with a will, you cannot freely dispose of your entire estate: the law requires reserving a portion for forced heirs.

Who Are the Forced Heirs? (Art. 807 CC)

1. Children and descendants: with respect to their parents and ascendants.
2. Parents and ascendants: only if there are no descendants.
3. Surviving spouse: always entitled to a usufruct share.

Unmarried partners are not forced heirs under the common Civil Code, though some autonomous communities extend protections.

The Three Thirds of the Estate

The Civil Code divides the estate into three parts:

1. Strict Legítima (1/3)

Must be divided equally among all children. The testator cannot favor one child over another.

2. Improvement Third (Mejora) (1/3)

Can only go to children or descendants, but the testator may distribute it freely among them.

3. Free Disposal Third (1/3)

The testator may leave this to anyone: a child, friend, charity, or any entity.

Surviving Spouse's Share (Arts. 834-840 CC)

The surviving spouse receives a usufruct (right to use and enjoy income):

Disinheritance (Art. 853 CC)

Forced heirs can be disinherited only for legally specified causes:

• Denying maintenance to the parent without legitimate reason.
• Physically abusing or seriously insulting the testator.
• Attempting against the testator's life (Art. 756 CC).

The Supreme Court (STS 258/2014) has recognized psychological abuse and emotional abandonment as valid grounds.

Disinheritance must be expressly stated in the will with the specific legal cause.

Regional Variations: Legítima by Autonomous Community

Spain does not have uniform succession law. Several regions have their own civil law:

Navarre stands out: testators have virtually complete freedom to distribute their estate. Catalonia and Galicia have the smallest forced share at 25%. Aragon and Basque Country use a collective system where the share can be concentrated on a single descendant.

Key Questions

Can I leave everything to one child?

Under common law, no, you must respect each child's strict legítima. In Navarre, yes. In Aragon and the Basque Country, you can concentrate the collective legítima on one descendant.

What if a will violates the legítima?

The affected heir can file a legítima supplement action (Art. 815 CC) within 5 years of death.

Are lifetime gifts counted?

Yes. Gifts made during life are added back to the estate to calculate the legítima (collation, Arts. 1035-1050 CC).

How Lexiel Can Help

Calculating the legítima requires knowing the applicable civil law (based on the deceased's civil residence), computing lifetime gifts, valuing assets, and analyzing potential disinheritance grounds. Lexiel AI lets you query both state and regional civil law, verify articles against official BOE sources and CGPJ case law, and guide inheritance calculations by applicable autonomous community.