Lecture on Intestate Succession and the Rights of Cohabiting Partners at the College of Notaries of Catalonia

Meritxell Gabarró delivers a lecture on intestate succession and the rights of cohabiting partners at the College of Notaries of Catalonia.

Debut at the Notarial College of Catalonia by our director, Meritxell Gabarró, within the framework of the Catalan Civil Law Conference, held on February 19, 2025, with her participation in the round table “Inheritance Law: Challenges in the Digital Age,” presenting the lecture entitled “Intestate Succession and the Rights of Cohabiting Partners,” redirecting the discussion towards the challenges faced by 21st-century Catalan families.

The Civil Code of Catalonia recognizes as cohabiting partners those who live together in a community of life analogous to marriage for at least two years, without needing to have had children together, appear before a notary, or register in the Catalonia Stable Partnerships Registry.

Meritxell raised the following reflections:

-Nowadays, is two years of uninterrupted cohabitation enough to be considered a cohabiting couple?

-Should the right of commutation be exercised by the surviving spouse or stable partner?

-Or should we grant children (intestate heirs) the right to decide whether they accept the universal and lifelong usufruct of the spouse or cohabiting partner or commute and receive 75% of the liquid inheritance?

We thank the College of Notaries of Catalonia and the Illustrious Bar Association of Barcelona for the invitation and congratulate them on the Conference, with high-level speakers such as fellow panelists, notaries Javier Serrano Copete, Elena Cantos Márquez, and Juan Galdón López.

With this lecture, Gabarró Advocats Herències aims to generate debate for the legislative update and normalization in favor of the social reality of 21st-century Catalan families.