If the heirs do not reach an agreement on the adjudication of the assets that make up the inheritance, the legal procedure of judicial distribution of the inheritance must be initiated. This, in summary, once the lawsuit is filed in the Court of First Instance of the last domicile of the deceased – and in which the appointment of an administrator can be requested – consists of the following phases:
- Drawing up of the inventory of the estate.
The parties don’t always agree on the assets and rights to be included in the estate: debts, fictitious purchases and sales, legacies of other people’s property, among others.
If there is no agreement, a hearing is held from which a court ruling is issued that can be appealed against before the Provincial Court and, if certain requirements are met, an appeal in cassation before the Catalan High Court of Justice.
- Appointment of legal experts.
The Court appoints independent experts who will appraise the assets and inheritance rights.
- Appointment of accountants.
The Court appoints a distributing accountant who will draw up the distribution report, preparing similar lots of assets, trying to avoid indivisibility and, if necessary, establishing compensation.
- The judge has the power to approve, or not, the partition book; this decision may be challenged.
The economic and time costs are higher than in a negotiation, but in certain cases taking a case before the courts provides the solution to an unsustainable situation of the management of the inherited estate and the relationship between the heirs.
In GABARRÓ ADVOCATS –HERÈNCIES- we have a department specialised in legal proceedings in inheritance matters, defending your interests in the inheritance before all legal bodies, including the High Court of Justice of Catalonia.
