Succession, Wills and Inheritance Procedures
Core concepts
Master testate, intestate and contractual succession, will forms (public, closed, holograph where permitted), revocation, and legitimate shares. Understand the inventory and partition process, the role of heirs and legatees, and the notary's role in deed of partition and inheritance qualification (habilitação de herdeiros).
Traps in questions
Traps: assuming a holograph will needs no formality (it may require deposit/registration); confusing heir (universal successor) with legatee (specific asset); and forgetting that legitimate heirs cannot be fully disinherited. Questions also test whether a will can be revoked by a later will - generally yes, expressly or implicitly.
Rule of thumb
Identify the succession type first. Testate → follow the will; intestate → follow legal order; always check legitimate shares.
Worked example
A testator leaves all assets to a friend, ignoring two children. The children are legitimate heirs; the will is valid but the legitimate share must be respected, reducing the friend's benefit.