Recumbent inheritance, what is it?

Everything related to inheritances has its complexity. An unknown moment that generates a lot of uncertainty is the recumbent inheritance.

We are going to see everything related to the recumbent inheritance, its composition, duration and most relevant aspects.

What is recumbent inheritance?

The recumbent inheritance is the set of assets, rights and obligations of the deceased from the moment a death occurs until the heirs decide whether to accept or renounce the inheritance.

Therefore, the recumbent inheritance is a temporary period that ends once the heirs accept or renounce the inheritance. It also occurs when there are no heirs who can acquire mortis causa all the assets owned by the deceased.

Composition of the recumbent inheritance

The recumbent inheritance is made up of all the assets in the estate of the person who has died. This includes both real and personal property, rights, obligations and all debts that are in force at the time of death.

It is the entire patrimonial mass that is going to be inherited.

Duration of the recumbent inheritance

As we have already seen, the recumbent inheritance is a temporary period.

This period begins at the time of the death of the person who was the owner of the assets, rights and obligations and ends when the inheritance is accepted.

Therefore, the duration of the existing inheritance is not fixed, but will depend on the time that elapses between death and acceptance.

And this is established in the Law. The regulations do not establish the duration of the recumbent inheritance. Of course, it determines that the statute of limitations to claim an inheritance is 30 years. That is, it is the maximum period that heirs have to claim the inheritance from those who are enjoying the hereditary assets.

Therefore, it can be understood that the recumbent inheritance has a maximum duration of 30 years. After that period of time the inheritance could not be claimed and the existing inheritance would have ended.

Administration of the recumbent estate

During the time that the recumbent inheritance is in force, it is necessary that there be someone who is responsible for the care, maintenance and any other management related to the assets, rights and obligations that are pending acceptance by the heirs. This is called administration of the recumbent estate.

The person in charge of the administration of the inheritance will be in charge of:

Preparing an inventory with all assets, rights and debts.
Notifying banks, insurance companies and other organizations of the death.
Paying outstanding debts of creditors and Public Administration.
Distributing assets and debts among heirs.
Making an explanatory report on the distribution.

In relation to the administration of the recumbent estate, there are two people who can carry out these functions:

The administrator. It is a person who represents the inheritance of the deceased until it is distributed, this being its main function. The charge must be accepted in court.
Executor. It is that person who has been appointed by the testator of the inheritance and who is responsible for mediating between the heirs to enforce the last will of the deceased.

Therefore, the main difference between the executor and the administrator of the estate is that the former has been appointed by the testator and the latter is appointed by a court when the will is not valid, there is no will or when the heirs do not agree on the distribution.

The administration of the recumbent estate can be carried out by an estate administrator named in the will or by an executor. But, in the event that there is no named executor or administrator, the heirs themselves will manage the assets.

In the latter case, the heirs may request the judge to appoint an administrator of the recumbent estate, if necessary.

Acceptance of the recumbent inheritance

The acceptance of the recumbent inheritance, as we have seen, puts an end to this situation. After it, the heirs would become owners of all assets and rights and the administrator or executor would cease to carry out their functions.

The acceptance of the recumbent inheritance can be of different types:

Express. It is the type of acceptance that is made through a public or private inheritance acceptance document.
Tacita. Tacit acceptance of inheritance occurs when there is no express acceptance but the heirs carry out acts that make it completely clear that they have the will to accept the inheritance.

A very important point to keep in mind, especially in relation to the tacit acceptance of the inheritance, is that the administration of the inheritance by the heirs does not imply the acceptance of the existing inheritance. As we have seen, the recumbent inheritance is the set of assets, rights and debts that make up the assets of the deceased during the period of time between death and acceptance of the inheritance.

Further information

This article is part of our service Inheritance in Spain. Visit this section where you will find all the useful information on this topic, including a complete guide on Inheritance in Spain with a non-resident, expat or foreigner.

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