In life, everyone sooner or later faces the death of a parent, relative, or loved one. Along with the pain and grief of loss, families often encounter a series of legal questions that need to be resolved. These are usually related to where the deceased’s property goes. Who falls within the circle of heirs? What share of the estate does each heir inherit? What is included in the inheritance?
In this article, we will attempt to provide answers to most of the questions related to inheritance.
Who inherits the deceased?
Under our law, the succession is established by the legator’s death. From that moment, the right of succession arises. To inherit from a relative, you must meet the conditions set out in the Succession Act, which has been in force since 1949. As per this act and depending on the family relationship with the deceased person, the heirs are categorized into lines.
First line of heirs – children of the deceased (sons, daughters, including adopted children);
Second line of heirs – parents of the deceased (mother, father);
The third line of heirs consists of 2 groups:
– 1st group – brothers and sisters of the deceased;
– 2nd group – grandparents of the deceased;
Fourth line of heirs – aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives up to the fourth degree of persons related collaterally.
The presence of heirs in a certain line excludes inheritance by heirs in subsequent lines. For example: If the deceased has children, his parents must not inherit. If he has neither children nor parents, brothers, sisters or grandparents inherit.
When there is more than one heir from the same line or group, they inherit equal shares.
It should be mentioned that there is an exception to this principle, in cases where the closest heir by blood relation has predeceased the legator. Then, the deceased heir is replaced in the succession by their descendants– children and grandchildren.
Example: The deceased son may be replaced by his children, who will inherit their grandfather.
And what about the spouse?
The surviving spouse does not fall within any line of heirs. They inherit alongside the heirs from the first three lines.
For example, when inheriting with the first line of heirs, namely with the children, the spouse inherits an equal share with each child.
Matrimonial property
It is important to know that the property acquired during the marriage between the deceased legator and the surviving spouse is part of the so-called Matrimonial Property (MP) of spouses. It is the joint property of the spouses.
This means that after the death of one spouse, the other spouse owns half of the property as their individual property, as the MP is terminated upon death. Then only the remaining ½ ideal share of the real estate is distributed among the heirs.
Thus, the surviving spouse has a ½ personal share of the property and the corresponding share of the other half, which is inherited.
The deceased might have left no descendants.
Then the spouse will inherit with ascendants (mother, father) or with brothers and sisters of the deceased.
The spouse receives half of the inheritance if it is established before the expiration of 10 years from the date of marriage and 2/3 of the inheritance, if it is established after 10 years of the date of marriage.
Suppose, the spouse inherits along with ascendants, brothers/sisters or their descendants. In that case, they receive 1/3 of the inheritance if it has been established before 10 years of marriage and 1/2 if established after this period.
If there are no heirs from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line – the surviving spouse inherits everything.
All of the above describes the so-called inheritance by law. There is also a second type of inheritance – by will, which has several peculiarities. We will discuss it in one of our future articles.
If you need consultation and assistance regarding an unsettled inheritance relationship, do not hesitate to contact us via our contact form – or email contact@legalmasters.bg, or by phone at 0893050449!
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