Devolution of the estate

Devolution is the passing of the estate to the heirs upon the deceased's death. Universal succession applies: at the moment of death, and without any further act, the heirs acquire the estate as a whole together with its claims and debts.

Automatic acquisition does not remove the need to update the records: registering immovables in the heirs' names and transferring vehicles and accounts proceed through devolution transactions based on the certificate of inheritance. These steps are declaratory rather than constitutive, ownership having already passed at death. Filing the inheritance tax declaration within the statutory period forms the fiscal side of devolution.

In practice, property remaining registered in deceased persons' names for generations is common, blocking sales and the payment of expropriation compensation. Since chain devolutions require a certificate for every link, avoiding delay in these transactions is sound practical advice.