The Provincial Court of Barcelona has accepted as valid the will of an elderly man in which He denies his grandchildren the legitimate part of his inheritance valued at more than 89,000 euros. The grandfather excluded them from the will, alleging a manifest and continued absence of a family relationship, which was considered the sole fault of the grandchildren.
This is detailed in a ruling from September 2024 in which it is clarified that, after the death of the grandfather, the last will signed by him declared universal heir of one of his children (uncle of the disinherited). A clause was included in which he disinherited his grandchildren, who had acquired the status of heirs after the death of their father, another of the testator’s children.
The document detailed that as provided in it as provided in article 451-17 of the Catalan Civil Code, grandchildren were excluded “due to the manifest and continued absence of a family relationship between the testator and the heirs, for a reason exclusively attributable to them”.
Not satisfied with said disinheritance, The grandchildren contested the will (it can be done for these reasons), claiming their legitimate share of the inheritance of more than 89,000 euros (to be distributed among the 3) arguing that there was no lack of relationship and that if there was it was not solely their fault.
Justice considers valid the will that disinherits the grandchildren
In the first instance, a The court dismissed the grandchildren’s claim considering that the reason for the disinheritance was justified. He highlighted the absence of the grandchildren at key moments in family life, such as their grandmother’s funeral and important celebrations (for example, the grandparents’ golden wedding).
The tests showed that they and their grandfather They did not have a close relationship and statements from impartial witnesses stated that the grandfather expressed sadness due to the lack of contact with them. They claimed that he had even confessed that he had “a thorn in the side” for not being able to see his grandchildren and felt “envy” when observing the relationship that other families maintained with their descendants.
The grandchildren appealed the sentence before the Provincial Court of Barcelona, arguing that it had not been proven that the lack of relationship was attributable to them.
In this case it has been the AProvincial court which has validated the court’s decision and confirmed the validity of the will. They point out that according to Catalan legislation in this matter, it is up to the heir to demonstrate the concurrence of the cause of disinheritance.
It had been shown that the grandfather had tried to maintain contact with his grandchildren, but they showed no interest in reestablishing the relationship.
According to the Court, “The manifest and continued absence of a family relationship must be exclusively attributable to the heir apparent.” and, in this case, It was demonstrated that the lack of contact was the responsibility of the grandchildren. Furthermore, the ruling states that “The behavior of the grandchildren’s father cannot be attributed to them”but in this case the descendants were already old enough and capable of deciding to maintain a relationship with their grandfather.
Justice ratifies, therefore, the disinheritance of the three grandchildrenconfirming the validity of the will and rejecting his claim to legitimacy.
The judicial decision is based on article 451-17 of the Civil Code of Catalonia, which allows depriving an heir of his legitimate interest under certain circumstances, and its section e indicates the argument in this case ““the manifest and continued absence of a family relationship between the deceased and the heir, if it is due to a cause exclusively attributable to the heir.”