The Provincial Court of Tarragona has issued a ruling resolving a conflict between brothers over an inheritance. The dispute revolves around the distribution of the legitimate part of it after the death of their mother, who designated in her will her daughter as universal heir and her son as legitimary (since he was one of her legal heirs). The latter denounced his sister for not giving him her share of the inheritance and justice agreed with him, forcing her to pay him 44,053.73 euros, along with legal interest since October 2017.
According to the ruling of October 2024, the inheritance was made up of assets valued at 352,429.86 euros. In 2008, the mother had granted a will in which his daughter was declared the universal heir, while the son would receive his legitimate inheritance. (the inheritance that corresponds to the heirs, according to the law). However, after the death in October 2017, the daughter did not give her brother the share that corresponded to him as legitimate heir.
This, therefore, He claimed his share, 49,714.59 euros, plus 3,231.45 euros in interest. The sister, however, argued that the inherited assets were overvalued and raised the existence of a compensable credit derived from alleged financial irregularities attributed to the brother in the management of the family assets.
Justice considers that the brother has the right to receive his legitimate share of the inheritance
The judicial process began in 2020 when the brother claims that he has not received the legitimate part of the inheritance that corresponds to him, and became complicated later after the first resolution when the sister argued that there was a compensable credit and He denounced his brother for unfair administration and misappropriation.
This caused tension to increase, since with the filing of a criminal complaint by the heir, it was requested that this accusation be resolved before the distribution of the inheritance, requesting the suspension of the civil process (in which the distribution of the same would be resolved).
The Provincial Court of Tarragona rejected said request and they consider that For the suspension of a civil procedure due to criminal prejudice to proceed, it is necessary that the criminal resolution has a direct and determining influence on the civil matter, according to article 40 of the Civil Procedure Law (LEC). The Court concluded that these facts did not affect whether the legitimate part of the inheritance could be resolved.
Regarding the distribution of the inheritance, In the first instance, the Court of Reus determined that it partially upheld the claim of the brother, ordering his sister to pay him 44,053.73 euros as legitimate.
The Provincial Court, after an appeal by the sister, confirmed the initial sentence and rejected the previously clarified arguments. In relation to the legitimate part of the inheritance, the ruling also addressed the valuation of the assets, finally excluding some of them and reiterating that the assets that the sister mentioned in the criminal complaint were not included in the inheritance and, therefore, there was no connection between both procedures.
In this way, it confirms the initial ruling of the Reus Court, recognizing the legitimate part of the brother’s inheritance, to whom he will have to pay 44,053.73 euros, plus late payment interest that has been generated since October 2017.