Legal Heritage: Definition, Features, and Types in Law
Concept of Legal Heritage
A person’s estate is the set of legal relationships, both active and passive, that constitute their assets. Assets primarily serve to meet our needs and secondarily to fulfill contractual responsibilities. In case of default or breach of obligations, the debtor is liable with their entire estate.
Under civil law, the estate comprises rights, property, and obligations, encompassing both assets and liabilities.
Owner’s Equity: The estate always belongs to the same subject (owner). While the estate contains diverse objects, it maintains subjective unity: all assets share the same owner.
Mission of Assets
- Meeting the goals and needs of the individual.
- Guaranteeing creditors. The debtor is liable for obligations with all present and future assets (Art. 1911 Civil Code).
Capital and Asset Building
Everyone possesses an estate (equity), which exists throughout their life and is extinguished only upon death.
Transfer of Assets
Individual elements of the estate are generally transferable (with exceptions), but the entire estate cannot be transferred inter vivos (during life) as a single unit. In Spain, transferring the entire estate at once is not possible during the owner’s lifetime. The entire estate can only be conveyed mortis causa (upon death) through inheritance. This transfer is a total and unitary transmission (occurring through a single act).
Characteristics of Heritage (4 Key Features)
- Legality: Heritage exists as a legal construct created by legislation.
- Unity: The estate is considered an indivisible whole.
- Instrumentality: The estate serves purposes: primarily, the owner’s support, and secondarily, fulfilling obligations (contractual or non-contractual) in case of default.
- Intransmissibility (Inter Vivos): While individual assets can be transferred during life (inter vivos), the entire estate cannot be transferred as a whole in a single act during the owner’s lifetime (except through inheritance).
Classes of Heritage: Special Cases
Besides the standard personal estate, other types exist:
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Separate Estate: Occurs when the law permits certain assets within an estate to be segregated, forming a distinct, separate estate. The owner then possesses two estates. Common examples include:
- a. Inheritance Accepted Under Benefit of Inventory: An inheritance accepted this way does not merge with the heir’s pre-existing personal estate. The heir manages two separate estates (personal and inherited). Debts of the inherited estate are paid only from the assets within that inherited estate.
- b. Estate Subject to Fideicommissary Substitution: Assets are inherited by a first heir (fiduciary) with the obligation to preserve and transfer them to a subsequent heir (fideicommissary). This designated heritage remains separate from the fiduciary heir’s personal estate.
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Collective Estate (Group Heritage): An estate owned jointly by multiple individuals. Each co-owner possesses their personal estate and is also a co-holder of the collective estate. Examples in law include:
- a. Marital Community Property: Assets belonging jointly to both spouses.
- b. Undivided Inheritance: An inherited estate held jointly by co-heirs before partition.
- Protected Estate for Persons with Disabilities: Established by the Law of 18 November 2003, this creates a special fund designated to meet the future needs and care of a person with disabilities, especially when current caregivers are no longer able to provide support.
- Interim Estate (Temporary): Refers to a temporary estate arrangement destined to end. Legislation creates this to protect the assets of a legally declared absentee person (someone who has disappeared). A legal representative manages the absentee’s estate for a legally defined period. If the absentee does not return within that time, they may be declared legally deceased. Subsequently, their estate is distributed through inheritance.