When a family member dies, on many occasions the distribution of the inheritance generates tensions and conflicts between the heirs. Personal differences or lack of information can even lead to disputes between brotherssometimes going so far as to hide the parents’ will.
The inheritance expert lawyer Laura Lobo has spoken about this problem, who through a video published on her social networks has explained what to do if a brother decides to hide the family will. Her message has attracted attention for its clarity: “If your brother hides your parents’ will from you, I will tell you what to do,” says the lawyer at the beginning of her speech.
You may be interested
He inherits two apartments in Madrid and in the Inheritance tax they charge him 18,423.23 euros more for the furniture: justice clarifies it can only be applied to the habitual residence
A mother disinherits her daughter for not accepting her dating another woman, but justice annuls it: it was the mother who left home
What to do if an heir hides the will
Lobo details that the will that is usually kept at home does not have legal validity to process the inheritance. “The will that we have at home, the simple copy that they give us at the notary when we sign it, is useless, simply to consult it,” the lawyer clarifies.
In order to begin the process of distributing assets, what is really needed is an authorized copy of the will. “To process an inheritance we need an authorized copy. You can go to the notary and ask for that authorized copy and with this you will be able to process the entire inheritance,” he explains.
“You can request all the authorized copies that are necessary. You just have to be an interested person,” he emphasizes.
This means that, if a brother hides the will, the rest of the heirs can go directly to the notary, prove their relationship with the deceased and request an official copy to continue with the succession process without having to wait.
Who can request a copy of the will
In order to access a copy of the will, you must be an interested person. In this sense, the notary María Cristina Clemente clarified who can do so according to the Notary Regulationsl.
The first group, according to the notary, are “the heirs, legatees, executors, accountants-partiers, administrators and, in general, other people to whom the will recognizes some right or power, whether or not they are family members of the testator.”
Secondly, the “legitimate or forced heirs” may obtain a copy of the will.
And lastly, which may be the most common in situations in which there are conflicts with inheritance, those people who “if that will does not exist or is void, would be called in whole or in part to that inheritance, either by a previous will or by intestate succession.”