The Provincial Court of Barcelona has ruled in favor of a son whom his father excluded from the will after a family conflict with his new wife, and has ordered that he recover his legitimate share, a proportional part of the value of an inherited home valued at more than 220,000 euros. The father had disinherited his son and his grandchildren after remarrying, but the court has determined that it has not been proven that the lack of relationship was the exclusive fault of the son, as required by Catalan law, so the distribution cannot leave him with nothing.
According to the ruling of January 29, 2024, after the death of the mother, it was the father who inherited the entire family apartment, committing to respect the legitimate of his son. However, after remarrying years later, the father broke off the relationship with his son and, when he died, left a will in which he disinherited both him and the grandchildren, claiming that there was no relationship between them.
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The will, covered by article 451-17.2.e of the Civil Code of Catalonia, alleged a “continued and manifest absence of a family relationship for reasons attributable exclusively to the son.” However, he challenged the disinheritance judicially and claimed his share of the inheritance, alleging that it was his father who separated him from the family after the wedding, influenced by his new wife.
The Court of First Instance no.
The relationship between father and son was normal until the new wife appeared.
The new wife appealed the sentence, defending that the estrangement came from before and that the father did not act motivated by her, but the Provincial Court of Barcelona rejected the stepmother’s appeal and confirmed the nullity of the disinheritance, pointing out that the lack of relationship cannot be attributed only to the son. He expressly cited article 451-17 of the Civil Code of Catalonia, which requires that the estrangement be clearly and exclusively due to the conduct of the heir inheritor for the disinheritance to be valid.
After the testimonies of several witnesses, it was considered proven that the relationship between father and son was normal until the stepmother appeared, and that it was the father who asked the son not to return home. He also highlighted that in a previous will, from only two years before, the father had respected the son’s legitimacy, which reinforced the theory that the change was not due to objectively serious behavior of the heir.
Therefore, the Court maintained the son’s right to inherit his legitimate share. However, the sentence was not final, but it could only be appealed in cassation before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia if cassational interest was proven.