Accepting or renouncing a succession

If a relative or friend dies and you become a successor (potential heir), you have 6 months from the date of death to accept or renounce the succession. This period can be extended to allow you 60 days after closure of the inventory.

Before deciding, wait for the notice of closure of inventory, which is published in:

• the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights (RDPRM);
• a local newspaper distributed where the deceased lived.

This will give you a better idea of the succession’s value and reveal any unknown assets or debts.

You can also consult a legal advisor about the consequences of your decision.

Once you have made your decision, inform the liquidator. As a rule, you cannot change your mind afterwards. If you do not renounce the succession within the allotted time, you will be deemed to have accepted it.

There are two ways to accept a succession:

• Tacitly, by taking an action that presupposes your intention to accept;
• Expressly, by formally stating your desire to accept.

Examples of tacit acceptance

You are considered to have accepted the succession if you:

• use a property in the succession as if it were your personal property;
• fail to renounce the succession within the prescribed time; or
• exempt the liquidator from making an inventory.

However, certain actions taken with the agreement of all the successors do not automatically count as acceptance. They include:

• distributing clothing, personal papers and family mementos;
• selling perishable items, giving them to charity or dividing them among the potential heirs.

You may renounce a succession, for example if the deceased’s debts exceed the value of the assets.

To renounce, you must:

• sign a notarial act stating that you have renounced the succession; and
• publish this renunciation in the RDPRM.

In rare cases, renunciation may be made by a judicial declaration in the course of legal proceedings.

You can no longer renounce if you have already taken an action that results in acceptance.

Please consult a legal advisor if you would like to know more about how to renounce a succession.

If you accept a succession, you must pay its debts. Generally speaking, you are not required to pay the portion of the debt that exceeds the value of the property inherited.

However, you may be held liable for debts exceeding the value if you have, for example:

• exempted the liquidator from making an inventory of the deceased’s property;
• mingled your own property with that of the deceased before the inventory;
• liquidated the succession without following the rules set by law.

Death terminates any commitment the deceased may have made to provide a surety or guarantee.

You are considered to have renounced the succession if, acting in bad faith:

• you concealed property belonging to the succession;
• you failed to notify the liquidator of the existence of certain property during the inventory.