{"id":5629,"date":"2024-06-17T16:19:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T13:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/%cf%87%cf%89%cf%81%ce%af%cf%82-%ce%ba%ce%b1%cf%84%ce%b7%ce%b3%ce%bf%cf%81%ce%af%ce%b1\/claim-for-participation-in-the-acquisitions-of-a-deceased-spouse-relation-to-inheritance-rights\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T16:19:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T13:19:47","slug":"claim-for-participation-in-the-acquisitions-of-a-deceased-spouse-relation-to-inheritance-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/legal-issues-for-individuals\/claim-for-participation-in-the-acquisitions-of-a-deceased-spouse-relation-to-inheritance-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"CLAIM FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE ACQUISITIONS OF A DECEASED SPOUSE \u2013 RELATION TO INHERITANCE RIGHTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upon the death of one spouse<\/strong>, the marriage is automatically dissolved<\/strong>. As a result, in addition to the inheritance rights<\/strong>, the surviving spouse<\/strong> acquires a claim for participation in the acquisitions<\/strong> (i.e., property gains) of the deceased spouse, as provided for in Articles 1400 et seq. of the Greek Civil Code<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Specifically, Article 1400 of the Civil Code<\/strong> grants each spouse the right to claim a share of the increase in the other spouse\u2019s property<\/strong>, to the extent that they contributed to that increase<\/strong>.<\/strong> There is a legal presumption<\/strong> that such contribution amounts to one-third (1\/3)<\/strong> of the increase, while the claimant bears the burden of proof if they assert a higher percentage of contribution. This right arises upon the dissolution of the marriage<\/strong>,<\/strong> regardless of the cause, including the death of one of the spouses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A legal question arises regarding the relationship between this claim and the inheritance rights<\/strong> of the surviving spouse over the estate of the deceased.<\/p>\n

Firstly, if the surviving spouse inherits<\/strong> from the deceased\u2014either under a will or intestate succession<\/strong>\u2014the estate devolves to them from the time of death<\/strong>, regardless of when the inheritance is formally accepted. From that moment, the surviving spouse acquires a real (in rem) right<\/strong> over the inherited property, to the extent determined either by the testator\u2019s will or by statutory law. They are, however, required to register the acceptance of the inheritance<\/strong> or the probate certificate<\/strong> at the competent Land Registry (\u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03b8\u03b7\u03ba\u03bf\u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03af\u03bf).<\/p>\n

By contrast, the claim for participation in the acquisitions<\/strong> is a claim under the law of obligations<\/strong> (personal claim). This means that the surviving spouse is treated similarly to a creditor<\/strong> of the deceased\u2019s estate. In other words, this claim is regarded as a \u201cburden\u201d on the estate<\/strong>, and all heirs are liable<\/strong> for its satisfaction toward the surviving spouse, proportionally<\/strong> to their respective shares in the inheritance.<\/p>\n

Naturally, in the common situation where the surviving spouse is also one of the heirs<\/strong>, the obligation is extinguished with respect to their own share<\/strong>, since they simultaneously hold the position of both debtor and creditor<\/strong>. However, the shares of the other heirs<\/strong> remain unaffected, and they continue to be liable<\/strong> in proportion to their inheritance share.<\/p>\n

It becomes clear, therefore, that the claim for participation in the acquisitions<\/strong> is a personal (obligatory) right<\/strong> that may be enforced against the other heirs<\/strong>, and it exists independently<\/strong> of any inheritance rights the surviving spouse may have over the deceased\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upon the death of one spouse, the marriage is automatically dissolved. As a result, in addition to the inheritance rights, the surviving spouse acquires a claim for participation in the acquisitions (i.e., property gains) of the deceased spouse, as provided for in Articles 1400 et seq. of the Greek Civil Code. Specifically, Article 1400 of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[526],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-issues-for-individuals"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"spiliopouloslaw","author_link":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/author\/spiliopouloslaw\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Legal Issues for Individuals<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Upon the death of one spouse, the marriage is automatically dissolved. As a result, in addition to the inheritance rights, the surviving spouse acquires a claim for participation in the acquisitions (i.e., property gains) of the deceased spouse, as provided for in Articles 1400 et seq. of the Greek Civil Code. Specifically, Article 1400 of","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiliopouloslaw.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}