In principle, the answer to this question is negative.
The law provides for the existence of certain heirs who, due to their close family ties to the testator, are protected by law and cannot be excluded from the succession. These are called legitimate heirs, which include the spouse, descendants (children), and ascendants (parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents).
According to the law, these heirs have the right to a portion of the estate, regardless of the testator's will – this is called the "legitimate share" or "indisposable quota."
Thus, the testator can only freely dispose of the remaining portion of their assets – the "disposable quota."
The legitimate share and disposable quota vary depending on the number of legitimate heirs and their nature.
For example, the legitimate share of the spouse, if there are no descendants or ascendants, is half of the inheritance – in this case, the testator can only dispose of half of their estate as they wish.
If there is a spouse and children, the legitimate share is 2/3, and the disposable quota is 1/3.
If there is no spouse, the legitimate share of the children is half – if there is only one child, or 2/3 if there are two or more children, with the remaining being the disposable quota.
Note: Ascendants only inherit if there is no spouse or children.
DISINHERITING A CHILD – WHAT THE LAW SAYS:
According to the law, disinheriting a child (or another legitimate heir) is only justified under the following circumstances:
• The child has been convicted of a deliberate crime (i.e., intentional, not merely negligent), even if not completed, committed against the person, property, or honor of the author of the succession or their spouse, ascendant, descendant, adopter, or adopted, provided that the crime carries a penalty of more than six months in prison;
• The child has been convicted of false accusation or perjury against the same persons;
• The child has unjustifiably refused to provide the author of the succession or their spouse with the necessary support.
As, in practice, the cases in which a child may legally be disinherited are very rare and specific, it is common for the testator to resort to tricks to circumvent this legal prohibition – such as dissipating the estate so that, at the time of the succession, there is no inheritance for the legitimate heir to receive.
In such cases, the heir harmed by the testator's actions may challenge the transactions in court, with varying degrees of success.
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