What is the widow's quarter (“cuarta viudal”)?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

It is the right of a surviving spouse or stable partner (“pareja estable”, Catalan stable partnership) who does not have sufficient means to meet his or her needs to claim from the heirs whatever is lacking, up to a maximum of one quarter of the estate. It is neither automatic nor fixed. It depends on his or her needs and on what he or she already has or receives. It exists whether or not there is a will and must be claimed within three years of the death. Who can claim it The surviving spouse or stable partner, provided they were not separated, not even de facto. Nor can he or she claim it if a claim for separation, divorce or annulment was pending, unless they had been reconciled. Only if he or she does not have sufficient means, taking into account his or her own assets, whatever is due to him or her on the winding-up of the matrimonial property regime and whatever the deceased has left him or her. To assess his or her needs, account is taken of the standard of living they had, the value of the estate and his or her age, health, income and financial prospects. How much it can be Whatever is necessary to meet his or her needs, subject to a limit. The limit is one quarter of the value of the estate on the day of death. To calculate it, the debts and whatever the deceased has already left to the surviving spouse are deducted. What the deceased gave to other people in the last ten years of his or her life is added. For example, a man leaves all his assets, 400.000 euros with no debts, by will to the children of his first marriage. He had made no gifts. His widow, aged 75, has only a small pension and no other assets. She can claim whatever she needs from the children, up to a maximum of 100.000 euros. How to claim it It is claimed from the heirs, who choose whether to pay it in money or with assets from the estate. If no agreement is reached, it is claimed in court. It earns interest from the date of the claim. The claim can be recorded at the “Registro de la Propiedad”, the Land Registry. That way, if the heirs sell a property, the buyer is bound by the claim. If the estate is not enough, legacies and gifts made to take effect on death can be reduced, but not what is due as the forced share (“legítima”). The right is lost if it is not claimed within three years, if the surviving spouse renounces it after the death or if he or she dies without having claimed it. It is also lost if he or she marries or starts living with another person before claiming it, or if, through his or her own fault, he or she loses parental authority over the children they had together. The widow's quarter is specific to Catalan law. This applies if the estate is governed by Catalan law, although in the case of a surviving spouse the law governing the marriage also counts. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”) the surviving spouse instead has a forced share in usufruct, whether he or she needs it or not. An unmarried partner has none.