Forced Heirship in Spain: The Legítima and Its Regional Map (2026)

The legítima is the reason a Spanish parent cannot simply leave everything to one child, a new spouse or a charity. Part of the estate is reserved by law to the herederos forzosos, and a will that ignores the reserve gets corrected by the courts after the death. The rule everyone quotes, two thirds for the children, is only the common regime: six territories apply their own fractions, and the differences are dramatic. This page gives the common rule first and then the map.

Information last verified on 23 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Spanish law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

The common regime: two thirds, in three slices

Art. 806 CC defines the legítima as the portion of the estate the testator cannot dispose of because the law reserves it to the herederos forzosos. Art. 807 lists them in order: children and descendants; absent those, parents and ascendants; and, in every case, the surviving spouse in the form the Código sets out.

For children and descendants the reserve is two thirds of the estate (art. 808 CC), but the two thirds are not uniform:

• Legítima estricta (1/3): split equally among the children. No child can be pushed below this share without a lawful disinheritance.
• Mejora (1/3): the testator may distribute this third unevenly among children and descendants, favouring one child or even a grandchild.
• Libre disposición (1/3): the only slice the testator may leave to anyone at all.

If there are no descendants, the ascendants take a legítima of one half, reduced to one third when they concur with the deceased's surviving spouse (art. 809 CC).

The widow or widower: a usufruct that moves

The surviving spouse's legítima is a usufruct, and it belongs only to a spouse who was not legally or de facto separated from the deceased at the death (art. 834 CC). Its size depends on who else survives: one third (the mejora third) when concurring with children or descendants (art. 834 CC), one half of the estate when concurring only with ascendants (art. 837 CC), and two thirds when there are neither (art. 838 CC).

Because a usufruct over scattered assets is awkward, art. 839 CC lets the heirs commute it, by agreement or court decision, into a life annuity, the income of specific assets, or a lump sum in cash. Note that the intestate position is different from the usufruct: if there is no will and no descendants or ascendants at all, the spouse inherits everything outright, as the declaración de herederos page explains.

Disinheritance and pretermission

A forced heir can be excluded only by desheredación for a cause the law expressly lists, stated in the will (arts. 848 and 849 CC). The causes are narrow: for children, they include denying support to the parent without legitimate reason and having mistreated the parent physically or gravely insulted them (art. 853 CC). If the disinherited person denies the cause, the burden of proving it falls on the testator's heirs (art. 850 CC), and an unproven cause annuls the institution of heir to the extent it harms the disinherited person (art. 851 CC).

Simply omitting a forced heir does not work either: the preterición rules of art. 814 CC protect the legítima of anyone left out, and unintentionally omitting a child can annul the will's appointment of heirs altogether.

The foral map: where the fraction changes

Six territories have their own civil succession law, and the legítima is where the divergence bites hardest. Each row below is taken from the territory's own code as published in the BOE:

Two details are worth spelling out. Aragón and País Vasco use a legítima colectiva: the reserved fraction must stay within the group of descendants, but the testator may split it unequally or give it all to one, disinheriting nobody. And Navarra's ley 267 says its traditional legítima «no tiene contenido patrimonial exigible», so a Navarrese testator enjoys near-total freedom that would be unthinkable under the Código Civil.

Which law applies follows the deceased's vecindad civil, not simply where the property sits, and mixed cases (a Catalan vecindad with property in Madrid, a foreign national resident in Baleares) are exactly where professional advice earns its fee. For how the legítima interacts with the will itself, see the testamento page, and for the whole process, the Spain inheritance section.

This page is general legal information about Spanish law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case. The controlling texts are the current versions in the BOE, including each territory's civil code.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I disinherit a child in Spain?

Only for a cause the law expressly lists, stated in the will: for children these include denying the parent support without legitimate reason and physical mistreatment or grave verbal insult (art. 853 CC). If the child denies the cause, the testator's heirs must prove it, and an unproven cause annuls the exclusion. In Navarra, and within the collective legítima systems of Aragón and País Vasco, the testator has far more freedom.

What is the legítima in Spain?

The portion of the estate the law reserves to the forced heirs (herederos forzosos). In the common Código Civil regime it is two thirds of the estate for children and descendants, of which one third must be split equally and one third may be distributed among descendants as mejora, leaving one third of free disposal. Several territories apply different fractions under their own foral law.

What does the surviving spouse inherit in Spain?

As a forced heir, the spouse receives a usufruct: one third of the estate concurring with children, one half concurring with ascendants, and two thirds when there are neither. The heirs may commute it into an annuity, specific income or a lump sum. If there is no will and the deceased left no descendants or ascendants, the spouse inherits the whole estate outright.

Is the legítima the same in Cataluña as in the rest of Spain?

No. Cataluña reserves one quarter of the estate, calculated as a cash claim, instead of the Código Civil's two thirds. Galicia also uses one quarter, Aragón one half as a collective legítima, País Vasco one third collective, Baleares one third (one half with more than four children), and Navarra's legítima is essentially symbolic.

What happens if a will ignores the legítima?

The will is not void, but it is corrected: dispositions that invade the reserved portion are reduced at the request of the harmed forced heirs, and an omitted (preterido) forced heir can have the appointment of heirs annulled in whole or in part under art. 814 CC. The legítima claim is exactly the litigation a badly drafted Spanish will produces.