The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia (TSJG) has confirmed the acquittal of two women (mother and daughter), accused of misappropriation, fraud and falsifying documents in the distribution of an inheritance. The mother had been reported for transferring 35,814 euros from an account shared with the deceased and another 12,000 euros to her daughter’s account before the award of the inheritance. However, the court has acquitted them and urged the heirs to resolve any problems they have with the distribution of the inheritance through civil proceedings.
The case began in 2019, when a man died leaving a inheritance distributed among 20 heirs, including his nephewss. Before his death, the man shared two bank accounts with his sister-in-law and in the days before his death, while he was terminally ill in hospital, the sister-in-law transferred 35,814 euros to an account she owned and another 12,000 euros to an account owned by her. daughter, who was also an heiress.
In this way and as indicated in the November 2024 ruling, after the transfers, the balance remaining in the deceased’s accounts was 6,307.48 euros and 17,907.88 euros. That is, a total ofe 24,215.36 euros that would be distributed among the heirs, instead of the more than 71,000 that there should have been if these transfers had not been made. Therefore, the complainant accused the mother and daughter of misappropriating some of the money and the daughter of forging a signature on documents related to the acceptance of the inheritance.
Justice acquits the accused and considers that these money transfers are not a crime
Initially, the case went through the Court of First Instance and Investigation of O Barco de Valdeorras and the Provincial Court of Ourense. This last acquitted the accused by considering that the transfers made before the death of the account holder could not be considered a crimesince the accounts were shared and the sister-in-law had full capacity to operate in them.
Regarding the falsity of the documents, it concluded that no evidence was provided to prove that the daughter had forged the complainant’s signature.
The case reached TSJGsince the sister-in-law who filed the complaint requested an appeal to have the evidence evaluated again. This Court finally dismissed the appeal, confirming the acquittal of the mother and daughter.
He considered that according to article 792.2 of the Criminal Procedure Law, Acquittal sentences can only be revoked in exceptional cases, when it is demonstrated that the evaluation of the evidence was arbitrary or irrational, and in this case “It is not possible to carry out a new evaluation of the evidence, nor is the practice of new ones authorized, limiting the possible intervention to agreeing to nullity, but such nullity cannot arise from a discrepancy in the assessment.”
The Court also points out that although the transfers made could lead to a conflict between heirs, these cannot be considered criminal offenses, so The complaint could fit better into a civil claim which is the way in which claims are made regarding the distribution of inheritances.