Civil Code

From the time the succession opens, the heirs succeed to all rights and duties attached to the property of the decedent; provided, however, that this does not apply to rights or duties of the decedent that are purely personal.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, rights of ownership in genealogical records, implements used in rituals, and graves are succeeded to by the person that custom dictates is to preside over ancestral rituals; provided, however, that if the decedent has designated a person to preside over ancestral rituals, this person succeeds to these rights.

In a case as referred to in the main clause of the preceding paragraph, if it is not evident whom custom dictates, the family court determines who succeeds to the rights referred to in that paragraph.

At the request of an interested party or the public prosecutor, the family court may, at any time, order the appointment of an administrator of the estate or other dispositions necessary for the preservation of the estate; provided, however, that this does not apply if, where there is only one heir, that heir has unconditionally accepted the succession, if, where there are several heirs, the whole of the estate has been divided, or if a liquidator of the estate has been appointed pursuant to Article 952, paragraph (1).

The provisions of Article 27 through Article 29 apply mutatis mutandis if the family court appoints an administrator to the estate pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

If there are two or more heirs, the estate belongs to those heirs in coownership.

When the provisions on co-ownership are applied to the estate, the share of the estate calculated pursuant to the provisions of Articles 900 through 902 is to be the co-ownership interest of each heir.

Each coheir succeeds to the rights and duties of the decedent in proportion to that heir's share of the estate.

The assumption of rights by succession, regardless of whether it is by division of the estate, may not be asserted against a third party with respect to the portion exceeding the share of the estate calculated pursuant to the provisions of the following Article and Article 901, unless registration, recording or any other requirement for perfection has been satisfied.

If, in the case where the right referred to in the preceding paragraph is a claim, a coheir who has assumed the claim in excess of the share of the estate calculated pursuant to the provisions of the following Article and Article 901 notifies the obligor of the assumption, making clear the content of the will relating to the claim (or, if the claim was assumed by division of the estate, the content of the division of the estate relating to the claim), the provisions of that paragraph apply on the deeming that all of the coheirs have given notice to the obligor.

If there are two or more heirs of the same place in the line of succession, their shares of the estate are as prescribed in the following items:

if a child or children and a spouse are the heirs, the child's or children's share of the estate is one-half and the spouse's share of the estate is one-half;

if a spouse and a lineal ascendant or ascendants are the heirs, the spouse's share of the estate is two-thirds and the lineal ascendant's or ascendants' share of the estate is one-third;

if a spouse and a sibling or siblings are the heirs, the spouse's share of the estate is three-quarters, and the sibling's or siblings' share of the estate is one-quarter;

if there are two or more children, lineal ascendants, or siblings, each share in the estate is to be equal; provided, however, that the share of a sibling who has only one parent in common with the decedent is one half of the share of a sibling who has both parents in common with the decedent.

The share in the decedent's estate of a lineal descendant who becomes an heir pursuant to the provisions of Article 887, paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) is the same as the share that person's lineal ascendant would have received; provided, however, that if there are two or more such lineal descendants, their shares of the estate are determined in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis if the child of a sibling becomes an heir pursuant to the provisions of Article 889, paragraph (2).

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding two Articles, a person leaving an estate may decide by will the share of a coheir or entrust a third party by will with deciding the same.

If a person leaving an estate decides, or has a third party decide, only one or some of the coheirs' shares in the estate coheir, the shares of the other coheirs are decided pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two Articles.

A creditor of a debt that the decedent had at the time the succession opened may, even where a designation of shares of the estate has been made pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, exercise the creditor's right against each coheir in accordance with the share of the estate calculated pursuant to the provisions of Articles 900 and 901; provided, however, that this does not apply if the creditor has approved the assumption of the debt by one of the coheirs in accordance with the designated share of the estate.

If any of the coheirs has received from the decedent a legacy or other gift for marriage or adoption or as capital for subsistence, the estate of the decedent is deemed to comprise the value of the property belonging to the decedent at the time the succession opens plus the value of all such legacies and other gifts, and the share in the estate of a coheir who has received such a legacy or other gift is the amount remaining after the value of all such legacies and other gifts thereto is deducted from the heir's share of the estate as calculated pursuant to the provisions of Articles 900 through 902.

If the value of legacies and other gifts is equal to or exceeds the value of the share in the estate of the legatee or donee, that legatee or donee may not receive a share of the estate.

If the decedent has manifested an intention differing from the provisions of one of the preceding two paragraphs, that intention is to be followed.

If a decedent who is one spouse of a married couple whose marriage has lasted 20 years or more has made a bequest or gift to the other spouse of a building used for their residence or the land on which it stands, the decedent is presumed to have manifested an intention that the provisions of paragraph (1) are not to apply to that bequest or gift.

Even if the conduct of the donee leads to the loss of the property that was the object of a gift and even if there is a fluctuation in the value of such property, the property is deemed to be in its original state, as it was at the time the succession opened, as regards the determination of the value of the gift as prescribed in the preceding Article.