The contador-partidor: the key figure in dividing an inheritance

Updated on 27 September 2026. The Civil Code rules on the contador-partidor have not changed. This version corrects several points in the previous one (who appoints the contador in court proceedings, whether they can interpret the will, the winding-up of community property) and adds Supreme Court judgments 655/2026 and 610/2026 and the latest land-registry doctrine on how long the appointment lasts.

When someone dies leaving several heirs, dividing the assets is often the most delicate moment. The contador-partidor (estate partitioner) is the person in charge of that division (the partición, or partition), carried out in a technical and impartial way. The person making the will can appoint one, but the heirs can also ask for one before a notary or within court proceedings.

Their role is to carry out the testator's wishes, not to replace them. They only interpret the will as far as needed to make the partition and, if the heirs disagree with that interpretation, the courts have the final say.

In this guide we explain what they can and cannot do, how long the appointment lasts, who pays their fees and how to challenge a partition you disagree with. The rules below are those of the Spanish Civil Code (Código Civil): if the deceased had the vecindad civil (regional civil status) of a region with its own civil law (Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country, Galicia or the Balearic Islands), there may be differences.

What a contador-partidor is and what they do

Art. 1057 of the Civil Code allows the testator to entrust "the mere power to carry out the partition" to any person who is not one of the co-heirs, either in the will or by an act during their lifetime. It is common for the same person to be both executor (albacea) and contador-partidor.

Their job is to count and divide:

1. Inventory: a list of the estate's assets, rights and debts.
2. Valuation: a value for each asset.
3. Liquidation: if the deceased was married under the community property regime (gananciales), that regime must be wound up first. For this the contador needs the surviving spouse, because half of those assets belong to them.
4. Division and allocation: forming the lots and allocating them to each heir in the partition document (cuaderno particional), which is normally formalised before a notary.

To do this they can carry out the necessary legal and practical steps (dividing or splitting plots, or allocating an asset that is hard to divide to one heir who compensates the others) without the consent of the heirs, legatees or forced heirs. What they cannot do is go beyond the partition: for example, they cannot sign in an heir's place to have a private sale contract signed by the deceased converted into a public deed. The Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública (the directorate-general of the Spanish justice ministry that decides land-registry appeals) made this clear in its Resolution of 5 June 2025.

Can they interpret the will?

Yes, within limits. Land-registry doctrine accepts that an executor who is also contador-partidor may interpret unclear clauses as the person in charge of carrying them out, but if the heirs disagree, a judge decides (Resolution of 15 November 2022). They can never change what the testator provided or harm the legítima (forced share), and they must keep as much equality as possible between lots, allocating to each co-heir things of the same nature, quality or kind (Art. 1061 CC).

Powers they only have if granted

• Paying the forced share in cash: the testator may expressly authorise the contador to allocate the assets to one or more children or descendants, who then pay the other forced heirs their share in cash (Art. 841 CC). The law also gives this power to the dative contador (Art. 841, second paragraph, CC). That partition needs the express confirmation of all the children or descendants or approval by the notary or the letrado de la Administración de Justicia (court registrar) (Art. 843 CC). Watch the deadlines: the decision to pay in cash has no effect unless it is communicated to the forced heirs within one year of the death, and payment must be made within a further year, unless otherwise agreed; if payment is not made in time, the power lapses and the estate is divided under the general partition rules (Art. 844 CC).
• Deferring that payment to keep a family business together: if the testator ordered the forced share to be paid in cash to keep a business undivided or to keep control of a company, the contador they appointed may set a deferral of up to five years from the death (Art. 1056 CC). In this case neither the approval in Art. 843 nor the deadlines in the first paragraph of Art. 844 apply.

Contador-partidor and executor: not the same thing

The executor (albacea) makes sure the will is carried out. Unless the testator says otherwise, their powers are limited (Art. 902 CC): paying for the funeral, paying cash legacies with the heir's knowledge and agreement, overseeing the performance of the will and defending its validity, and taking steps to preserve the assets. They only have wider powers if the testator expressly grants them (Art. 901 CC).

The contador-partidor, by contrast, deals with the partition. As the Civil Code barely regulates the role, the rules on executors (Arts. 892 et seq.) apply by analogy, something land-registry doctrine and the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) have accepted time and again.

Types of contador-partidor

The dative contador-partidor

Since the Voluntary Jurisdiction Act (Ley 15/2015, de la Jurisdicción Voluntaria, in force since 23 July 2015), the appointment no longer falls to the judge but to the notary or the court registrar (Art. 1057.2 CC). The other interested parties are summoned if their address is known.

• Before a notary (Art. 66 of the Notaries Act, Ley del Notariado): the competent notary is the one for the deceased's last domicile or habitual residence, for the place where most of their assets are, or for the place of death, or one in a neighbouring district. The contador is chosen in turn from the lists of professionals kept by the Association of Notaries (Colegio Notarial) (Art. 50).
• Before the court registrar (Art. 92 of the Voluntary Jurisdiction Act): you can choose the civil section of the Tribunal de Instancia (first-instance court) for the deceased's last domicile or habitual residence, for the place where most of their assets are, or for the place of death. There is no neighbouring-district option here: if none of those places is in Spain, the court for the applicant's domicile is competent. You do not need a lawyer or court representative (procurador) if the estate is worth less than €6,000.

The same channels are used for the contador's resignation, an extension of their term and approval of the partition. As this is a voluntary jurisdiction procedure, you do not have to try negotiation or mediation first. It is a good way out when one heir is blocking the division: we explain this in what to do when an heir blocks an inheritance.

The contador in a judicial division

If there is no contador and the heirs cannot agree, any of them can ask for a judicial division (Arts. 782 et seq. of the Civil Procedure Act, Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC). The judge does not pick the contador at will: the registrar calls a meeting at which the parties must agree on who will be the contador; if they do not agree, one is chosen by lot from practising lawyers with specialist knowledge of the subject and an office where the case is heard (Art. 784.3 LEC).

Since 3 April 2025, before filing the application you must try an adequate dispute-resolution method (medio adecuado de solución de controversias, or MASC: mediation, conciliation, a confidential binding offer or negotiation, including between lawyers), because Art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025 (Ley Orgánica 1/2025) requires it for the special proceedings in Book IV of the Civil Procedure Act.

How long the appointment lasts

The rules on executors apply by analogy:

• Acceptance: the role is voluntary, but it is deemed accepted if the appointee does not decline within six days of learning of the appointment or, if they already knew of it, of learning of the death (Art. 898 CC). Once accepted, they can only resign for just cause, as assessed by the notary or the registrar (Art. 899 CC).
• Term: the one set by the testator. If none is set, as a general rule one year from acceptance, or from the end of any lawsuits over the validity of the will (Art. 904 CC). Note that the Directorate does not count that year from an express acceptance signed later on, but from the end of the six days in Art. 898 without the appointee declining: six days from the death if the contador already knew of the appointment or, if not, six days from learning of it once the succession has opened. This stops the contador from stretching a term the law wants to be short (Resolution of 27 January 2026).
• Extension: if the testator provides for one without setting its length, it is one year; once used up, the notary or registrar may grant another (Art. 905 CC). The heirs and legatees can extend it unanimously for as long as they wish, or by majority for up to one year (Art. 906 CC).
• Delegation: only if the testator expressly authorises it (Art. 909 CC).

Ask for the extension before the term expires. In its Resolution of 27 January 2026, the Directorate refused to register an addition to the partition executed by a contador whose term (four years from the death, set in the will) had expired: the extension was requested when the appointment had already ended and was of no use. It added that a lawsuit over the will does not suspend the term set by the testator. Once the appointment has ended, the partition falls to the heirs by mutual agreement; failing that, it may be worth asking for a dative contador because the post is vacant (Art. 1057.2 CC) or applying for a judicial division.

The appointment ends on death, inability, resignation, removal ordered by a judge or expiry of the term (Art. 910 CC). Bear in mind that Inheritance Tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones) does not wait for the contador: it must be filed within six months of the death, extendable by another six if requested within the first five, with late-payment interest (intereses de demora) for the extension period (Arts. 67 and 68 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulation).

Fees: who pays the contador-partidor?

The role is unpaid unless the testator sets a fee, but the Civil Code preserves the right to charge for partition work and other professional work (Art. 908 CC). Dative and judicial contadores are usually professionals who charge fees; one chosen by lot in court proceedings may ask for an advance on costs (Art. 784.4 LEC).

Partition costs incurred in the common interest are deducted from the estate (Art. 1064 CC). In Supreme Court judgment (STS, Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo) 610/2026 of 20 April, the court held that, if the contador's fees in a judicial division have not been deducted from the estate, each heir pays them in proportion to their share of the inheritance, not in equal parts. Notary costs for recording the partition in a deed and, where applicable, for approving it come on top.

How to challenge the contador's partition

A partition lawfully made gives each heir exclusive ownership of what is allocated to them (Art. 1068 CC), and the courts are reluctant to set it aside: they only do so when there is no other remedy (as summarised in STS 784/2025 of 19 May). The main routes are:

• Rescission for loss (lesión): if what you are allocated is worth less than three quarters of what you are entitled to (a loss of more than one quarter), based on the value of the assets when they were allocated (Art. 1074 CC). You have four years from the partition (Art. 1076 CC).
• Protection of the forced share: the partition cannot harm the legítima of the forced heirs, whoever makes it. Gifts the deceased made during their lifetime also affect how it is calculated: we explain this in how lifetime gifts affect the forced share.
• Forgotten assets: they do not invalidate the partition; an addition is made with the omitted items (Art. 1079 CC).
• Nullity: for example, if the contador exceeds their powers or divides the estate with someone who was not an heir (Art. 1081 CC). If an heir is left out without bad faith, the partition stands, but the others must pay them their share (Art. 1080 CC).

On rescission for loss, there are three more things worth knowing:

• Which partitions it applies to: STS 655/2026 of 28 April made clear that it can be brought against a contador's partition. A partition made by the testator personally can only be challenged for loss if it harms the forced share or if it appears, or can reasonably be presumed, that the testator intended otherwise (Art. 1075 CC).
• What the defendant can do: choose between compensating you or agreeing to a new partition (Art. 1077 CC).
• Who cannot bring it: an heir who has sold or otherwise disposed of (by gift, exchange…) all or a considerable part of the real estate they received (Art. 1078 CC).

Before suing you must also try an adequate dispute-resolution method, subject to the exceptions in Organic Law 1/2025.

If there are minors or people with support measures

The contador can make the partition even if some heirs are minors, but must draw up the inventory summoning their legal representatives; if an heir has support measures for a disability, those measures apply (Art. 1057 CC). In STS 784/2025, the Supreme Court did not set aside a partition even though the contador had also been the court-appointed special representative (defensor judicial) of the minor heirs, because in that case the minors were not left without safeguards or defenceless: it is assessed case by case.

Is it compulsory to appoint one? Tips if you are making a will

It is not compulsory. If there is no contador, adult heirs who have free administration of their property can divide the estate as they see fit (Art. 1058 CC) and, if they cannot agree, ask for a dative contador (Art. 1057 CC) or a judicial division (Art. 1059 CC and Arts. 782 et seq. LEC). Even so, appointing one avoids disputes when there are several heirs, assets that are hard to divide or a family business. If you do:

• Do not appoint a co-heir: the law forbids it. Choose a trusted person or a professional who does not inherit.
• Name substitutes in order, in case the first cannot or will not accept.
• Set a realistic term and extension, and state whether and how much they will be paid.
• Expressly grant any special powers you want, such as paying the forced share in cash, bearing in mind its deadlines (Art. 844 CC).

Common mistakes: letting the appointment lapse without asking for an extension, counting the year of the appointment from an acceptance signed months after the death, thinking the contador can wind up the community property without the surviving spouse, waiting for the division before filing Inheritance Tax, and suing without first trying to negotiate.

If you are thinking of appointing a contador-partidor in your will, or you are an heir and disagree with a partition document, we can review your case and tell you what options you have. You can book a consultation or start with our interactive guide to the first steps in an inheritance.

Legislation and sources

• Civil Code (Arts. 841-844, 892-911 and 1051-1081)
• Law 15/2015 of 2 July on Voluntary Jurisdiction (Art. 92)
• Notaries Act of 28 May 1862 (Arts. 50 and 66)
• Law 1/2000 of 7 January on Civil Procedure (Arts. 782-789)
• Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on measures for the efficiency of the Public Justice Service (Art. 5)
• Royal Decree 1629/1991, Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulation (Arts. 67-68)
• DGSJFP Resolution of 27 January 2026 (term and extension of the appointment)
• DGSJFP Resolution of 5 June 2025 (limits of the power to "count and divide")
• DGSJFP Resolution of 15 November 2022 (interpretation of the will by the contador)
• Supreme Court, First Chamber: judgment summaries including STS 655/2026 (rescission for loss)
• Supreme Court, First Chamber: judgment summaries including STS 610/2026 (contador's fees)
• Supreme Court, First Chamber: judgment summaries including STS 784/2025 (nullity of the partition and defensor judicial)