Do grandchildren inherit if their parent died before their grandparent?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Usually, yes. If the grandparent did not make a will, the grandchildren take the place of their deceased father or mother and share what that parent would have received. If the grandparent made a will, it depends on what it says, but the grandchildren keep at least the forced share (“legítima”) that their father or mother would have had. If, on the other hand, the parent was alive and renounced the inheritance, without a will that parent's share usually goes to his or her siblings. With a will, it depends on what it says. If there is no will The grandchildren inherit in place of the deceased child and share equally what would have gone to that child. This is what the law calls the right of representation. For example, a widowed grandfather leaves 300.000 euros. He had two children and one of them, who had two children, died before him. The surviving child receives 150.000 euros and each grandchild 75.000. If the grandparent leaves a surviving spouse or stable partner (“pareja estable”, Catalan stable partnership), that person has the usufruct of the whole estate. In other words, they use it and collect the rents from it for as long as they live. If the child was alive and renounced, their share goes to their siblings, not to their children. If all the children renounce, the grandchildren inherit. But if the grandparent's surviving spouse or partner is the father or mother of all the children who renounce, the spouse or partner inherits, not the grandchildren. If there is a will Many wills provide that, if a child dies first, their share passes to their descendants. If the will does not provide for this, the deceased child's share usually goes to the other heirs. The grandchildren are entitled to the forced share that would have gone to their father or mother and can claim it from the heirs. The forced share is a quarter of the estate, divided among the children. Using the figures in the example above, the two grandchildren would have 37.500 euros between them. They also have that forced share if their father or mother was disinherited for just cause or declared unworthy to inherit. Anything the grandparent gave the deceased child during their lifetime on account of the forced share is deducted from the grandchildren's forced share. If the child was alive and renounced, their share goes to whoever the will designates. If the will says that the share of a child who dies first passes to that child's children, the same applies when the child renounces, unless the will says otherwise. This applies if the estate is governed by Catalan law. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”) grandchildren inherit in a similar way, but the forced share is larger and the surviving spouse only has the usufruct of a third. The tax Grandchildren pay the “impuesto de sucesiones”, the Spanish inheritance tax, as descendants. Those aged 21 or over deduct 50.000 euros. Those under 21 deduct at least 100.000 euros and, except in large estates, pay very little.