Restrictions on the freedom to dispose of one’s succession by will (reserved portion).
Last update: 10/3/2012
Under Czech law a portion of the estate is reserved for the deceased’s descendants (his/her children or – in the case of predeceased children – his/her grandchildren). Neither the surviving spouse nor the ascendants are entitled to any of the reserved portion.
The reserved portion can amount to the total estate if the deceased was a bachelor/spinster and leaves a minor child. The value of the reserved portion varies according to the beneficiary’s age (minor/adult) and the number of heirs.
Beneficiaries of the reserved portion cannot relinquish their share of the reserved portion. They have only the option to accept or renounce the whole of the succession. But in the framework of an agreement as to succession between heirs, a beneficiary of the reserved portion may agree to receive less of the estate than he/she is entitled to of the reserved portion.
Detailed information
Is there a reserved portion set aside for heirs? What percentage of the estate does this reserved portion represent? What is its legal nature?
The descendants have the right to a reserved portion of the deceased’s property. Descendants who are minors must receive at least as much as constitutes their intestate share in the estate, and adult descendants must receive at least one half of their intestate share in the estate. (Sec. 479 of the Law No. 40/1964 Coll.).
What is the procedure to be followed to assert a right to the reserved portion? What are the time limits?
The heirs may assert their right to the reserved portion in the course of the succession procedure before the Court Commissionaire.
Is it possible to renounce the reserved portion?
The heirs may choose whether they will claim the right to their reserved portion or not.
