Half-sisters and inheritance

Half-sisters and inheritance

Following a death, inheritance law lays down various provisions for managing the deceased's assets if he or she has not previously drawn up a will or entered into an inheritance agreement. These assets are divided among the legal heirs in order of priority. The surviving spouse normally receives half, while the other half goes to the children or their own descendants. The 50% going to the children is divided equally, because in theory everyone has the same rights to the estate, whether they are siblings or half-siblings.It is important to note that inheritance is not linked to the emotional closeness between the deceased and the heir, but rather to the degree of kinship. It should be noted, however, that a legal heir may be disinherited (the correct term is "disinherited") if he has committed a serious criminal offence against the deceased or one of his close relatives, or if he has seriously failed to fulfil his duties to the deceased or his family as required by law. The violation of family duties may, for example, result from a failure to provide for the vital care of the deceased before his death. That said, we must not forget the mechanism of hereditary reserves by virtue of which a minimum share of the deceased's assets must necessarily go to a legal heir. This means that it is not possible to deprive a legal heir, such as a child or spouse, at whim, except in serious cases that have led to exheritance proceedings. On the other hand, it is quite possible to give nothing more than this minimum share to certain children, with the aim of benefiting others or bequeathing part of the estate to third parties.In concrete terms, in your case, your father could now decide to reduce your half-sister's share by 25% and transfer them to you, so that of the amount due to the children, 3/8ths would go to your half-sister and 5/8ths to yourself. Finally, it should be noted that from 2023 onwards, the percentage of the inheritance reserves guaranteed to the children should fall, which means that in a situation such as yours, your half-sister's share could be reduced by 50% without any further justification being necessary in order to be allocated to yourself or to third parties.