- Legitime
In civil law and
Roman law , the "legitime", or forced share, of a decedent's estate is that portion of the estate from which he cannot disinherit his children, or his parents, without sufficient legal cause. The word comes from French "héritier legitime", meaning "rightful heir."The legitime is usually a fraction of the entire property, which is then shared by the heirs. Where there is the law of legitime, and in the case where the testator has children, it is not lawful for a
testator with issue to designate his spouse as sole heir while ignoring his children.The legitime, common in
Continental Law jurisdictions, is a portion of property fixed by law, which a testator with issue is bound to bequeath to his children.__TOC__Common law
At
common law , there is no legitime; theStatute of Wills, 32 Hen. VIII c. 1, provided for the unfettered distribution of a decedent's entire estate; atestator is entitled to disinherit any and all of his children, for any reason and for no reason. Most jurisdictions in theUnited States have enacted statutes that prohibit a testator from disinheriting a spouse, or provided that in the event of such a will the spouse may elect to "take against the will" and claim a statutory share of a decedent's estate. This is done as a substitute for the common law rights ofdower andcurtesy .In certain jurisdictions
Brazil
In
Brazil , the descendants (alternatively, the parents or grandparents) and the spouse must receive at least 50 % of it among themselves.Czech Republic
In the
Czech Republic , the nearest descendants can require a half of their intestacy portion if they are of age or the whole intestacy portion if they are under age. (If a child of the deceased died before him, his children can claim forced share instead of him etc.)Louisiana
In
Louisiana , up until recently, the situation was different. In Louisiana the "legitime" operated to prevent a parent from wholly disinheriting his children, who were called "forced heirs". If there was one child, that child must receive at least 25% of the decedent's estate. If there were two or more children, they must receive at least 50% of it among themselves. Similar provisions prevented a decedent with living parents from disinheriting them.Current
Louisiana law provides for a forced share if the decedent's children are under 24 years of age, or are permanently unable to take care of themselves.Scotland
In
Scotland , "legitim" refers to the "Bairn's Part" ("bairn" = "child").See also
*
Forced heirship External links
* [http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/la/civilcode2.html The Louisiana Civil Code] on Successions
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