Who are your legal heirs and how much to leave them? .
- Children and descendants: two thirds of the inheritance: a third of the estate is to be left equally to your children, and another third to your children and grandchildren. This last third ( called " de mejora") can be distributed freely among these or can be left just to one or some of them.
("One third to all descendants, one third to selected descendants")
- Parents and ascendants: if you do not have children or descendants, you need to leave to your parents or any direct ascendants:
*One third if your widow/widower is still alive
*One half if your widow/widower is not alive or you were not married.
("To ascendants, when you do not have children: one third if you are married, one half if you are not married")
- Widower or Widow: right to usufruct of:
*One third if you have children or descendants
* One half if you do not have descendants bu you have ascendants
* Two thirds if you have no descendants or ascendants
(" To the spouse: one third if descendants, one half if ascendants, two thirds if none of them")
You can only deprive these people o legal inheritance rights in disinheritance cases, regulated by the Civil Code and very unfrequent in practice. Outside these limits you have freedom to name heirs and legatees.
More is coming!
Jesús Castro and María L. de Castro
Sunset in La Barrosa, Cádiz, Costa de la Luz, by Sergi Gisbert at Flickr.com