The Provincial Court of Barcelona recognizes the right of children to have money that their father had donated to his partner before he died so that he could buy a house included in their legitimate part of their inheritance. In this way justice obliges the deceased’s new partner to pay the deceased’s children 86,670 euros in total (43,335 euros for each child), plus legal interest from death.
This is reflected in a ruling from October 2024, in which it is clarified that the deceased left a will in which he designated his romantic partner as heir and He recognized his children only as beneficiaries of the legitimate property. This part of the inheritance is the one that corresponds to the forced heirs, and in article 451.5 of the Civil Code of Catalonia, it is required that the descendants receive a minimum part of the heritage, unless they have been expressly disinherited.
In this case the conflict arises because, before his death, andThe father gave his partner money to buy a home. The children consider that this donation should be part of the legitimate inheritance, while the father’s partner alleges that it was not a donation, but rather “liberal use” or informal help, and stated that he had his own resources to acquire the housing. In addition, he alluded to the fact that the deceased’s will implied the disinheritance of the children.
Justice considers that this donation is part of the legitimate inheritance of the children
At first the Rubí Court of First Instance, partially ruled in favor of the children. Firstly, he recognized that the money the deceased had lent his partner was a donation and would therefore have to be included as part of the inheritance. However, the court considered that the legitimate share corresponding to each child was 38,547.50 euros.
Neither the descendants nor the deceased’s partner agreed with the decision. of the court and appealed the same. The children claiming a larger amount as legitimate and the couple reiterating that it was not a donation, in addition to considering the calculation of legitimacy questionable.
The Provincial Court of Barcelona has finally supported the court’s decision considering that it is a donation and also expanding the amount that the children must receive as part of their legitimate inheritance.
For this they highlight that The sum given for the purchase of the home should be considered a donation attributable to the legitimate party, as established in article 451.5 of the Catalan CC. This establishes that donations made in the ten years prior to death are counted as legitimate, as long as there is no evidence to the contrary. In this case, “the donation is not presumed”, but the deceased’s partner did not provide evidence to show that the money was a loan or a one-time aid not linked to the legitimate one.
The deceased’s partner, as indicated in article 217 of the Civil Procedure Law, had to prove that the money he had received was not a donation, and the court considered that the evidence provided was not sufficient and, therefore, it was.
The sentence Nor does he consider valid the allusion to the fact that the children had been disinherited. The CC of Catalonia establishes the necessary requirements to be able to disinherit legitimate heirs, and among them the same must be done explicitly in the “will, codicil or succession agreement” and include some of the valid causes that typify article 451-17. of the same law.
In how much to the amount of the legitimate inheritance of the two children, the hearing considers that a greater amount corresponds to it, To do so, they made reference to previous doctrine established in the Judgment of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, which defines legitimate as a right to credit for descendants.
For this reason, it corrects the amount established by the court of first instance, setting the total legitimate amount at 86,670 euros (43,335 euros to each child), based on the total value of the home acquired by the deceased’s partner, who will have to pay said amount to each child, in addition to legal interest since 2015.