Bulgarian inheritance law has provided a privilege for certain categories of heirs to ensure that their grantor cannot fully deprive them of inheritance.
What are the reserved portions of the inheritance?
A reserved portion is an ideal part of the inheritance which the grantor cannot freely dispose with.
IMPORTANT! The amount of the reserved portions is determined according to the category and the number of heirs called to succession.
Do all heirs have reserved portions?
Not all heirs have reserved portions. The law has provided the right to a reserved portion of the inheritance only in respect to the grantor’s closest people.
Heirs with a reserved portion are:
– the grantor’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren;
– the grantor’s parents;
– the spouse of the grantor.
IMPORTANT! All other heirs (brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc.) do not have a reserved portion of the inheritance.
What type of transactions can harm the reserved portion of an heir?
A reserved portion can only be harmed by gratuitous transactions. This category includes donations and wills.
IMPORTANT! A reserved portion cannot be harmed by the performance of remunerative transaction. The most typical example of a remunerative transaction is a purchase-sale.
What does the grantor’s disposable portion mean and how is it calculated?
The grantor’s disposable portion is that part of his estate which remains after taking into account the reserved portions of the inheritance (depending on the category and number of heirs with a reserved portion called to succession). The grantor can freely dispose with this portion of the inheritance, including by donations and/or wills.
The grantor’s disposable portion is calculated according to a special formula.
In general, the disposable portion is determined as:
– first, calculating the total value of the assets and rights included in the estate (including the value of real estate, cars, financial funds, etc.);
– from this sum, the amount of the obligations and debts included in the estate is deducted;
– to this amount shall be added the value of all donations made by the grantor (if any);
– from this final sum, the disposable portion is calculated, taking into account the reserved portions of the heirs. For example, if this final sum is BGN 120 000 and there are heirs with a reserved portions of 2/3 ideal parts, then the remaining 1/3 ideal part of the described amount constitutes the disposable portion of the grantor. Or in other words – in this case the value of the reserved portions of the inheritance will be BGN 80 000 and the value of the disposable portion, which the grantor can freely dispose with (including by donations and/or wills) will be in the amount of BGN 40 000.
How can I legally defend myself if the grantor has exceeded his disposable portion and thus harmed my reserved portion of the inheritance?
If your reserved portion of the inheritance has been harmed, you can defend yourself by lodging a court claim for its restoration.
The claim is directed against the person who has benefited from the donation/will through which your reserved portion has been harmed.
IMPORTANT! A claim for restoration of a harmed reserved portion can only be lodged by an heir who has accepted the inheritance (no matter if the acceptance is by the general procedure or by inventory).
In what term I can exercise my rights?
The claim for the restoration of a reserved portion of inheritance can be lodged before the court in a 5-year term.
The moment at which this term starts counting is different for donation and wills:
– in case of donations harming a reserved portion of the inheritance, the 5-year period starts counting from the opening the inheritance (the moment of death of the grantor);
– in case of wills harming a reserved portion of the inheritance, the 5-year period starts counting from the moment the heir exercises his rights under the will.
In order to accurately calculate the reserved portions of the inheritance, respectively the disposable portion of the grantor, the exact amount of the assets/rights and obligations/debts included in the estate must be established. Often this process is connected with performing numerous enquiries and checks with various authorities and registers, as atty. Dilyan Kolev can provide you the necessary assistance in this respect.