Inheritance, dependency and undue influence. Who may benefit under a will after Catalan Law 13/2026

Law 13/2026 introduces a far-reaching reform of the rules on disqualification from inheriting under the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, amending article 412‑5 so as to address expressly the position of those who have provided formalised support of a representative nature and to strengthen the safeguards applying to carers, care homes and providers of care services who are favoured by the deceased. This reform lies at the confluence of the new model of support for the exercise of legal capacity, protection against undue influence and the need to preserve the testamentary freedom of elderly or dependent persons. Law 13/2026 was published in the DOGC —Catalonia's official gazette— on 4 August 2026 and comes into force on 4 February 2027, so that its new regime is not yet applicable. For private practice, the effect will be significant from that date onwards in wills made by persons who live in care homes, receive private care or have assistants, and it opens up a field of potential litigation concerning conflicts of interest, the rendering of accounts and challenges brought by forced heirs.

07/09/2026

Inheritance and succession Litigation

1.Disqualification from inheriting under the previous regime and its preventive function

Article 412‑5 of the “Código Civil de Cataluña” —the Catalan Civil Code, the CCCat—, in its previous wording, set out a list of persons disqualified from inheriting by reason of their involvement in the execution of the instrument of succession or of their relationship with the testator during his or her last illness. Those disqualified were the attesting notary, his or her spouse or cohabiting partner and close relatives, the witnesses, medical practitioners, experts and interpreters taking part in the execution of the instrument, the member of the clergy who had attended the testator during his or her last illness and the guardian before the final accounts of the guardianship had been approved, unless he or she was a close relative. The second paragraph added a specific safeguard for natural or legal persons and carers providing the deceased with care, residential or similar services under a contractual relationship, allowing them to be favoured in the succession only where it was ordered in an open notarial will or in a succession agreement. The purpose of these disqualifications was clearly preventive: to prevent the testator's will from being improperly procured by persons who, by reason of their position of trust or of the testator's dependence on them, might unduly influence his or her dispositions.

Catalan and Spanish case law had construed these rules restrictively, emphasising their exceptional nature and their purpose of protecting testamentary freedom. The “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, in its judgment of 8 April 2016, examined the disqualification of the member of the clergy and of the religious community running a care home, drawing a distinction between spiritual assistance and assistance of a care-related and contractual nature, and concluded that the disqualification did not apply where the relationship was principally one of care and the will was made by open notarial deed. The “Audiencia Provincial” of Barcelona, the provincial appeal court, and the “Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña”, Catalonia's High Court of Justice, had insisted that the disqualification could not be extended by analogy to other professionals, such as lawyers, unless they took part formally in the execution of the will as experts within the technical meaning of the provision.

2.Law 13/2026 and the new disqualification of assistants, representatives and carers

Law 13/2026, published in the DOGC, Catalonia's official gazette, on 4 August 2026 and coming into force on 4 February 2027, amends article 412‑5 CCCat in order to align it with the new system of support measures and to strengthen protection against undue influence in situations of dependency. The reform expressly addresses the position of anyone who has provided formalised support of a representative nature, that is, of anyone who, under a support measure formalised by a court or before a notary, has assumed powers of representation in the personal or financial affairs of the deceased. The logic is clear: a person who has held the power to act on behalf of the person receiving support, managing his or her assets or decisions, is in a position of potential conflict of interest if he or she is favoured in the succession.

The new wording of the provision adds, alongside the traditional categories of disqualified persons, specific references to assistants, representatives and carers who have provided formalised support. The safeguards applying to care homes, entities providing care services and private carers are strengthened, so that the possibility of their being favoured in a will is made subject to stricter conditions, such as the requirement of an open notarial will, the absence of any conflict of interest and, where appropriate, the prior rendering of accounts. The purpose remains preventive, but it is adapted to the new context in which disability and dependency are managed through support measures rather than through a declaration of legal incapacity.

3.Representative support, conflict of interest and succession

The new system of support draws a distinction between assistance measures, which supplement the person's own actions, and representative measures, in which the assistant or curator assumes representation for certain acts. Law 13/2026 takes the view that those who have provided representative support are in a particularly delicate position in matters of succession. Where the representative has managed the deceased's assets, has decided on his or her expenditure, investments and gifts, and has been involved in organising his or her daily life, the risk of his or her influencing the testamentary dispositions for his or her own benefit is plain.

The reform of article 412‑5 CCCat may provide that an assistant or representative who has provided representative support is disqualified from inheriting from the deceased, unless certain conditions are met, such as approval of the accounts of his or her management, the absence of any conflict of interest and the ordering of the succession in an open notarial will with a reinforced assessment of capacity and of the absence of undue influence. The disqualification may be absolute, barring any entitlement under the succession, or relative, restricting the possibility of being favoured to cases involving close relatives or dispositions of minor value.

Conflict of interest becomes the central criterion. The rules on support measures already require that, where there is a conflict of interest between the person receiving support and his or her assistant or representative, a “defensor judicial” —a special representative acting for that particular act— be appointed. The succession reform extends that logic to the making of wills: where the assistant or representative is a potential beneficiary under the succession, his or her involvement in the process of executing the will must be carefully controlled, and his or her position as heir or legatee may be limited by the disqualification.

4.Carers, care homes and providers of care services

The reform also strengthens the safeguards applying to carers, care homes and providers of care services. The second paragraph of article 412‑5 CCCat already provided that natural or legal persons, and the carers dependent on them, who had provided the deceased with care, residential or similar services under a contractual relationship could be favoured in the succession only where it was ordered in an open notarial will or in a succession agreement. Law 13/2026 may extend that provision by introducing additional requirements, such as a requirement that the notary verify the absence of undue influence, transparency in the contractual relationship and the rendering of accounts for the management of the deceased's finances.

In practice, this has a direct effect on residential homes for the elderly, day centres, home care services and private carers. The possibility of the deceased appointing as heir the care home where he or she lives, or the entity providing him or her with care services, is subject to closer scrutiny. The notary must assess whether the disposition reflects a free and grateful intention, or whether it may be the result of pressure, dependency or the improper procurement of the testator's will. Disqualification from inheriting operates as a barrier against dispositions favouring those who hold a position of power over a dependent person.

5.Challenges by forced heirs, the rendering of accounts and proof of undue influence

The new disqualification of assistants, representatives and carers opens up a field of potential litigation over the challenging of wills by forced heirs, the Spanish “legitimarios”. Children, descendants and other forced heirs may contest dispositions favouring assistants, representatives or carers, relying on the disqualification under article 412‑5 CCCat, the existence of undue influence or the deceased's lack of natural capacity. The evidence will focus on the relationship of dependency, on the beneficiary's position of power, on his or her involvement in the process of executing the will and on the management of the estate.

The rendering of accounts by assistants and representatives becomes a key element. The rules on support measures require those who have managed the assets of the person receiving support to account for their conduct, and approval of those accounts may be a condition for the disqualification from inheriting to be lifted. Where the accounts reveal irregularities, misappropriation or decisions contrary to the person's interests, the disqualification is reinforced and any challenge to the will is made easier. Even in the absence of irregularities, the mere position of power may justify applying the disqualification.

Undue influence, as a legal category, takes on a leading role. A challenge may be founded on the assistant, representative or carer having induced the deceased to make, revoke or amend the will in his or her favour, taking advantage of the deceased's situation of dependency. Article 412‑3 CCCat already provides for the unworthiness to inherit of anyone who has maliciously induced the deceased to make, revoke or amend a will, or has prevented him or her from doing so, and the reform may strengthen the connection between unworthiness and disqualification in contexts of support and care.

6.Notarial liability and preventive practice

Notarial liability is heightened in this new context. The notary must be especially diligent where the will favours assistants, representatives or carers, or care homes and care-providing entities. He or she must verify the deceased's natural capacity, the absence of undue influence, the transparency of the support or care relationship and the suitability of the support measures used. The relevant circumstances must be recorded in the deed, such as the presence or absence of the assistant at the execution of the will, the involvement of medical practitioners, the existence of support measures and the rendering of accounts.

For private practice, the reform calls for a preventive strategy. In wills made by elderly persons, by residents of care homes or by persons with private carers, the position of potential beneficiaries should be analysed carefully, the existence of representative support assessed and possible conflicts of interest anticipated. Estate planning will have to take account of the disqualification of assistants, representatives and carers, avoiding dispositions that may later be challenged and devising solutions that respect the testator's wishes without infringing the statutory safeguards.

7.Conclusion

The reform of article 412‑5 CCCat by Law 13/2026, in introducing a new disqualification of assistants, representatives and carers from inheriting and strengthening the safeguards applying to care homes and providers of care services, responds to the need to protect testamentary freedom in situations of dependency and support. Inheritance, dependency and undue influence become a central triangle of Catalan succession law, in which the position of those who have provided representative support or care is subject to reinforced scrutiny. For private practice, the impact will arise when the reform comes into force, on 4 February 2027, in the wills of elderly and dependent persons, and it already makes it advisable to pay particular attention to conflicts of interest, the rendering of accounts and notarial liability, within a framework in which the autonomy of the person receiving support must be reconciled with protection against the improper procurement of his or her will.

Alburquerque AbogadosLaura GarrigaBarcelona 07/09/2026

See all related publications

Related publications

Notable matter

What went unsaid in the first lawsuit can no longer be pleaded in the second. Res judicata and preclusion against the reopening of an owners' association resolution

A company that owned a flat sought to argue for a second time, nine years on, whether the by-law prohibition on tourist use in its building applied to it. It tried with new packaging, challenging what had been said at a later general meeting and relying on an administrative-court judgment it had obtained in the meantime. The court upheld the plea of res judicata raised by this Barcelona law firm in defence of the owners' association, ordered the dismissal of the proceedings at the pre-trial hearing itself and awarded costs against the claimant. The lawsuit ended without a trial.

Making a will with support: the new testamentary capacity in Catalonia following Law 13/2026

The “Ley 13/2026, de 3 de agosto” —Law 13/2026 of 3 August— is a far-reaching reform of Book IV of the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, on the law of succession, and is due to come into force on 4 February 2027. The reform turns on the redefinition of testamentary capacity around natural capacity at the time of execution, the adaptation of the notary's assessment of capacity to a support-based model and the specific regulation of wills made by persons with sensory disabilities. It forms part of the wider process of bringing Catalan civil law into line with the new paradigm of disability, centred on autonomy, support and accessibility, and it raises significant questions as to the distinction between natural capacity and legal capacity, the involvement of medical experts, subsequent challenges to the will, undue influence and notarial liability.

International inheritance in 2026: habitual residence, professio iuris and proof of foreign law

International successions have become an area of great technical complexity in 2026. The Court of Justice of the European Union, in its judgment in Isergartler, C‑618/24, of 26 March 2026, has once again given a broad interpretation to the concept of succession under Regulation (EU) 650/2012, reinforcing its vocation as a comprehensive body of rules. In parallel, a Decision of the “Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública” —the DGSJFP, the directorate-general responsible for land registry and notarial matters— of 27 April 2026 has dealt with a cross-border estate and has insisted on the correct determination of the deceased's habitual residence, of the law applicable to the succession and of proof of foreign law, drawing a careful distinction between the European Certificate of Succession and national certificates of succession. For Catalonia, the combination of the European Regulation, foreign nationality, residence in Catalonia and Catalan “vecindad civil” —regional civil-law status— adds a further level of complexity.

Holograph wills and inheritance tax: recording the will in the notarial protocol does not stop the tax time limit

The “testamento ológrafo” —the holograph will— is a classic institution of civil law which, in order to take full effect, requires a subsequent procedure of authentication and recording in the notarial protocol. In practice, many heirs have understood that this procedure “suspends” or postpones the moment at which the obligation to declare and pay the “Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones”, Spain's inheritance and gift tax, arises. The judgment of the Third Chamber of the “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, of 27 January 2026, Second Section, cassation appeal 1845/2024, clearly corrects that perception: where the recording of a holograph will is dealt with as non-contentious proceedings and does not become contentious, the tax accrues on the death of the deceased and the subsequent recording does not of itself postpone the start of the six-month period for filing the self-assessment. The decision has significant practical consequences in terms of surcharges, late-payment interest and limitation, and makes it necessary to distinguish between the mere handling of a non-contentious matter before a notary or a court and a genuine judicial dispute with suspensive effect on the time limits.

Chronicle of an executorship for the realisation of an estate: bequeathing what you do not own

There are wills that are carried out by signing a public deed of acceptance of the estate and dividing up what there is. And there are others that, in order to be carried out at all, first require the deceased's corporate structure to be dismantled and the assets he had left to third parties without owning them to be taken out of it. This is the second kind. The firm acted as universal executor for the realisation of the estate —the “albacea universal de realización de herencia”— and completed the task in little more than eleven months, well within the time limit the testator had set. But the work that made that result possible did not begin with the death of the deceased, but years earlier, on the day he was helped to draw up his will.

Three court levels for a revised rent to take effect from the agreed date: the judgment does not create the contract, it declares it

The court of first instance declared void the contract on which our claim was founded and ordered our client to pay the costs. The “Audiencia Provincial”, the provincial appeal court, set that decision aside, declared the contract valid and fixed the rent sought, but limited its effects to the date of its own judgment, three years after the agreed date. The “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, in a judgment of December 2025, quashed the appeal decision and upheld the claim in full, with a clarification of general scope for rent-review clauses: a judgment declaring that an agreement exists does not constitute it, it merely recognises it, and the agreement therefore takes effect from the date fixed by the parties.

Can cohabitation automatically make the survivor an heir? The intestate succession of Catalan stable partnerships before the Constitutional Court

The “cuestión de inconstitucionalidad” 8613‑2024 —a court's reference on the constitutionality of a statute—, admitted by the “Tribunal Constitucional”, Spain's Constitutional Court, and still pending, has placed the intestate succession rights of Catalan unmarried couples at the centre of the debate. The model of the “Código Civil de Cataluña” —the Catalan Civil Code, the CCCat— constitutes a “pareja estable”, a stable partnership, automatically by cohabitation and confers on the surviving cohabiting partner the status of heir on intestacy in the absence of descendants, placing him or her on the same footing as the surviving spouse. This article examines the scope of that assimilation, the problems of evidence and of personal autonomy to which it gives rise, the conflict between parents and cohabiting partner and the possible effects of a declaration of unconstitutionality, should one be made, on successions already opened, in a context of high potential for litigation.

Dividing is not parcelling out the co-ownership: a judgment on the limits of condominium (“propiedad horizontal”) as a way of dividing jointly owned property

No one is obliged to remain in a co-ownership. That is the starting point of Article 552-10 of the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, and the raison d'être of the action for division. From that follows something that seems obvious but is often disputed in practice, a division that leaves the co-owners sharing the resulting properties all over again does not fulfil the purpose of the action. The judgment obtained by this Barcelona law firm confirms this and declares the property physically and legally indivisible, over the opposition of the majority co-owner, who was seeking precisely that.