The Provincial Court of Albacete has confirmed that the will in which a grandmother disinherited her two granddaughters is valid, considering it proven that they maintained a behavior of abandonment and emotional contempt that caused the elderly woman serious psychological harm. In this way, the granddaughters are left without legitimate part of the inheritance that corresponded to them and their uncles become universal heirs.
According to the ruling of July 11, 2025, after the death of the grandmother, her granddaughters They challenged the will alleging that there was no legal cause to be disinherited and that the grandmother had made that decision influenced by those who turned out to be universal heirs. They maintained that the estrangement occurred after their father died and that it was their grandmother herself who distanced herself from them, encouraged by her uncles.
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The heirs and the executor defended the validity of the will, alleging that the granddaughters stopped having a relationship with their grandmother for years, did not visit her or call her, and that abandonment caused her deep emotional pain. The Court of First Instance understood that there was legal cause of disinheritance and that it had been proven that the breakup took place unilaterally and consciously on the part of the granddaughters.
Several witnesses confirmed the grandmother’s emotional fraud and the granddaughters are excluded from the inheritance
The Provincial Court of Albacete confirmed the first instance ruling and recalled that psychological abuse constitutes just cause for disinheritance, in accordance with article 853.2 of the Civil Code, which includes “having mistreated the ascendant in action or seriously insulted the ascendant by word of mouth.”
Relying on the doctrine of the Supreme Court (SSTS of January 30, 2015, May 13, 2019 and June 5, 2024), he explained that psychological abuse can be assimilated to work-related abuse, as long as it is proven that the disinherited person caused psychological harm to the testator.
She understood, after analyzing the evidence provided, that after the death of the father the relations between the grandmother and granddaughters were broken attributable to the latter, who chose to withdraw all types of attention and affection and stopped visiting her or worrying about her health. And both the executor and a non-heir niece credited the emotional pain of the grandmother, who felt despised and expressed her intention not to take any of her inheritance.
According to the ruling, a medical report is not necessary to prove this suffering, direct testimonies from close people are sufficient.
Therefore, the validity of the will was confirmed, keeping the granddaughters excluded from the inheritance. However, the sentence was not final and a cassation or extraordinary appeal for procedural infringement could be filed against it before the Supreme Court.