What is the estate inventory?
The estate inventory is the detailed list of all the assets, rights and debts a person leaves on death. It is the complete “snapshot” of the estate: what is in the assets column, what is in the liabilities column and, therefore, what will actually be distributed.
Contents
- What does it include?
- What is it for?
- What is acceptance under benefit of inventory?
- What deadlines apply?
- Legal sources
What does it include?
- Assets: real estate, bank accounts and deposits, vehicles, shares, household goods, credits owed to the deceased…
- Liabilities: mortgages and loans, tax and private debts, last illness and funeral expenses.
The difference between the two gives the net estate, which is the basis for the distribution and for inheritance tax.
What is it for?
Three key things: knowing what is actually inherited (sometimes there are more debts than assets), preparing the partition of the estate, and protecting an heir who decides to accept under benefit of inventory.
What is acceptance under benefit of inventory?
It is the form of acceptance that limits the heir’s liability: they answer for the estate’s debts only up to the value of the inherited assets, without putting their personal property at risk (Article 1023 of the Spanish Civil Code). To rely on it, a faithful and accurate inventory must be drawn up before a notary, following the requirements of Articles 1010 et seq.
What deadlines apply?
An heir who holds the estate’s assets has 30 days to notify the notary that they wish to use the benefit of inventory (Article 1014). The inventory must begin within 30 days of summoning the creditors and legatees and, as a general rule, be completed within a further 60 days (Article 1017). Missing these deadlines means losing the benefit.
