AN HEIR CAN BE SENTENCED TO RETURN AN INHERITANCE FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE TESTATOR’S WILL

A singular judgement of the Provincial Court of La Coruña of 2 February 2021 sentenced a husband to return an inheritance bequeathed to him by his deceased wife because he had failed to comply with the condition imposed in her Will of not remarrying. Consequently, the husband was ordered to return the assets received as inheritance, declaring null and void any transfers he may have made and any registry entries.

The case in question is particularly strange since the husband had not actually remarried after his wife’s death but had cohabited with another woman for a long time, behaving socially as a couple with all the appearance of an actual marriage including sharing a home. On his second partner’s death, the defendant even described himself as her husband on her gravestone.

Consequently, the court declared the first wife’s two brothers as her heirs, annulling all the property transfers that the husband had made from the inheritance he had received from her.

Author: J. Escobedo

I am a member of the Tenerife Law Society since 1989 with a dedicated team for anyone who needs an immediate answer or long term solution to any practical or legal issues appertaining to any property or business investment in Spain. If you have decided to move to Spain to start a new life, whether that´s buying a property or a business, then you will definitely need the services of a good Spanish Lawyer who is fully conversant with Spanish protocol and who has a good command of the English language. I am based in the south of Tenerife and I am specialist in Property Law, Inheritance issues and taxes as well as Tenerife and Canarian law and a great deal more. ABOUT MY STAFF All my friendly and professional staff are fluent in English. We have been working for foreign clientes for over 30 years in Tenerife, providing legal advice and litigation services to all our clients investing throughout the whole of Spain and we pride ourselves on providing a high quality service to our clients in the form of clearer communication and advice.

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