Can I leave more to one child than to another in Catalonia?

This applies if the estate is governed by Catalan law. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”), children are entitled to two thirds of the estate. One of those thirds, the “tercio de mejora” or betterment third, can be left to just one of the children or grandchildren. The remaining third can go to whoever one wishes, including that child.

How it is done

• By will. The child one wishes to favour is appointed heir, or several children are appointed in unequal shares. The others are left their forced share. The forced share does not make them heirs. It entitles them to be paid its value by the heir.
• The forced share can be left using the formula “lo que por legítima le corresponda” (whatever is due to him or her by way of forced share), as a sum of money or as a specific asset. If nothing is said, the heir chooses whether to pay it in money or with assets from the estate.
• Anything given to a child during the parent's lifetime on account of his or her forced share is deducted from what he or she is entitled to. This has to be stated when the gift is made. Anything given to buy a first home or to start a business or a profession is deducted even if this is not stated, unless the father or mother excludes it.

What cannot be done

• Leave a child less than his or her forced share without disinheriting the child on a legal ground. If the child is left less, he or she can claim the difference.
• Impose conditions or burdens on the forced share, such as that it is not to be paid until the surviving spouse dies. Such burdens are not valid. If the child is left more than his or her forced share subject to a burden, the child chooses between accepting it on those terms and receiving only the forced share, free of burdens.
• Disinherit without cause. The grounds are laid down by law, such as serious ill-treatment, refusing to maintain the father or mother when legally obliged to do so or a clear and continuous absence of family relations attributable solely to the child. In this last case the courts require the child to have distanced himself or herself persistently and without reason. They also consider whether the father or mother sought contact. The child and the ground must be named in the will. If the child challenges it within four years of the death, the heir has to prove the ground.

Taxes

Each child pays the “impuesto de sucesiones”, the Spanish inheritance tax, on what he or she receives. The child who receives more pays more and proportionately more, because the tax rate rises the more is inherited and the discount on the tax, the tax credit, is smaller.