Types of inheritance renunciation

Updated on 27 September 2026. The rules on renunciation in the Civil Code and in the state tax legislation have not changed. We now make clear that the so-called "renunciation in favour of another person" amounts to accepting the inheritance (Article 1000 of the Civil Code), we cover Supreme Court judgment 1029/2026 on who receives the forced share of an heir who renounces, and we include Madrid's 50% tax credit (bonificación) for siblings, nephews and nieces and other group III relatives, in force since 1 July 2025.

Renouncing an inheritance – which the Spanish Civil Code (Código Civil) calls repudiar, "to repudiate" – is a decision you cannot take back, and it changes who inherits, who pays tax and who is liable for the debts. People usually talk about two types of renunciation, but only one of them is a true renunciation. We explain how they differ, where your share goes, which taxes come into play and how it is formalised under the Civil Code (Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre, the Basque Country, Galicia and the Balearic Islands have their own rules).

What you should know before renouncing

• It is all or nothing. You cannot renounce in part, for a limited time or subject to conditions (Article 990 CC): you cannot keep the house and reject the debts. A common exception: if you are both an heir and a legatee, you can accept one and renounce the other (Article 890 CC).
• Only after the death. Renouncing a future forced share (legítima) during the person's lifetime is void (Articles 816 and 991 CC).
• It is irrevocable, unless your consent was vitiated or an unknown will comes to light (Article 997 CC).
• Be careful what you do while you decide. Selling estate assets or spending the deceased's money as if it were yours may amount to tacit acceptance; acts of mere preservation do not (Article 999 CC). Anyone who hides estate assets loses the right to renounce (Article 1002 CC).

Types of renunciation

Outright renunciation (renuncia pura, simple y gratuita)

This is renunciation in the strict sense: you turn down the inheritance without saying who should receive your share and without getting anything in return. This means that:

• You are left out of the succession, as if you had never been an heir (Article 989 CC): you receive no assets and are not liable for the debts.
• You pay no Inheritance Tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones).
• Your share goes to whoever the will or the law designates, not to someone you choose.

Renunciation "in favour of" another person (renuncia traslativa)

"I renounce, but so that my share goes to my sister." Legally, this is not a renunciation but an acceptance. Article 1000 of the Civil Code treats the inheritance as accepted when the heir sells, gives away or assigns their right; when they renounce, even free of charge, for the benefit of one or more specific co-heirs; or when they renounce in exchange for a price in favour of all of them.

The only exception is a renunciation made free of charge in favour of all those who would receive your share anyway through the right of accrual (derecho de acrecer). Because the result is the same as an outright renunciation, the safest course is to word it as one, without naming anybody.

In practice, with a translative renunciation you first inherit and then transfer: you are liable for the debts as an heir, even with your own assets (Article 1003 CC), and two transfers are taxed. In a case about jointly owned property, the Supreme Court has held that renouncing "in favour of" a specific person fits a gift rather than a renunciation in the proper sense (STS 950/2025, of 17 June).

Who receives your share if you renounce

If there is a will

1. The substitute named in the will (Article 774 CC). Substituting each child with their own descendants is very common.
2. Failing that, the co-heirs through the right of accrual, where you were called jointly without specified shares. The wording "in equal shares" does not prevent it; only assigning each heir a numerical share or specific assets rules it out (Articles 982 and 983 CC).
3. Otherwise, the deceased's heirs at law (Article 986 CC).

Watch out for the forced share. A repudiated forced share goes to the other forced heirs in their own right (Article 985 CC). In STS 1029/2026, of 25 June, the Supreme Court applied this rule: the strict forced share repudiated by two children went to their fellow forced heirs and not to the substitutes named in the will, even though these were the children's own descendants; the thirds for betterment (mejora) and free disposal did pass to the substitutes. If you renounce thinking that everything will go to your children, that may not be the case.

If there is no will

• Your share accrues to the other heirs of your same degree (Article 981 CC). Your children do not take your place: a living person cannot be represented except in cases of disinheritance or incapacity to inherit, which includes unworthiness (Article 929 CC).
• Only if all those of the nearest degree renounce do those of the next degree inherit, in their own right (Article 923 CC). If all the children renounce, the inheritance passes to the grandchildren, who will in turn have to decide.
• If nobody is left, the State inherits after an administrative declaration (Articles 956 and 958 CC); some regions with their own civil law have specific rules.

Debts: renouncing or accepting with the benefit of inventory

Renouncing means you are not liable for the estate's debts, but it does not wipe them out: they still weigh on the assets the deceased left. If you suspect there are more debts than assets, consider these alternatives first:

• Accepting with the benefit of inventory (a beneficio de inventario): you are liable only up to the value of the inherited assets (Articles 1010 and 1023 CC). It is declared before a notary (Article 1011 CC). If you already hold estate assets, you must ask for the inventory within 30 days of learning that you are an heir (Article 1014 CC). You lose the benefit if you hide assets or sell without authorisation (Article 1024 CC).
• Requesting the inventory in order to deliberate: once the inventory is finished, you have 30 days to tell the notary whether you accept or renounce; if you stay silent, you accept outright (Article 1019 CC).

Watch out for guarantees: if you guaranteed a debt of the deceased or signed it with them as a joint debtor, you are still liable whether or not you renounce, because that obligation is your own.

If you are the one with debts and you renounce to your creditors' detriment, they can ask the court to authorise them to accept on your behalf, only up to the amount of their claims (Article 1001 CC).

Tax implications

• Outright renunciation: you do not pay; those who receive your share do. If your relationship to the deceased carries a higher multiplying coefficient than theirs, yours applies, so that renouncing cannot be used to pay less (Article 28.1 of Law 29/1987 on Inheritance and Gift Tax, and Article 58.1 of its Regulations). Municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal) is paid by whoever acquires the property (Article 106 of the Local Finance Act).
• Renunciation "in favour of": you pay the tax as an heir (Article 28.2 of the Law and Article 58.2 of the Regulations) and, in addition, the second transfer is taxed: as a gift, under Inheritance and Gift Tax, if it is free; or as a sale, under Transfer Tax (Impuesto sobre Transmisiones Patrimoniales), if there is a price (paid by the buyer: Articles 7 and 8 of its consolidated text). With urban property, municipal capital gains tax may arise twice.
• Late renunciation: if you renounce once the tax on that inheritance has become time-barred (as a general rule, 4 years from the end of the filing period), it is treated as a gift (Article 28.3 of the Law; Articles 66 and 67 of the General Taxation Act). Simply going past 6 months is not enough, despite what is sometimes claimed.
• Deadlines: the tax must be filed within 6 months of the death, extendable by another 6 if requested within the first 5, with interest (Articles 67 and 68 of the Regulations). Your indecision does not extend the deadline for the others.

In the Community of Madrid

Madrid's rules apply to an inheritance if the deceased had their habitual residence in Madrid for most of the five years before their death; to a gift, if the property given is in Madrid or, for other assets, if the recipient has lived there for most of the last five years (Articles 28 and 32 of Law 22/2009 on the financing of the autonomous communities). If the deceased had moved to Madrid only recently, Madrid's rules may not apply. In those cases, the tax credit is 99% for descendants, spouse and ascendants (groups I and II) and, since 1 July 2025, 50% for siblings, nephews and nieces, uncles and aunts, parents-in-law and sons- and daughters-in-law (group III) (Article 25 of Legislative Decree 1/2010, as worded by Law 2/2025). Self-assessment is mandatory.

So if a child "renounces in favour" of a sibling who would not receive that share anyway (for example, because there are other siblings or the will names substitutes), the inheritance gets the 99% credit, but the subsequent gift between siblings only 50% (and with its own requirements, such as proving the source of any money given).

How to renounce, step by step

1. Gather the documents: death certificate, certificate of last wills (certificado de últimas voluntades, which can be requested once 15 working days have passed since the death) and an authorised copy of the will or the declaration of heirs.
2. Get informed before deciding about assets and debts (accounts, property, loans, guarantees). Asking for information does not amount to acceptance.
3. Sign the deed before a notary. This is compulsory (Article 1008 CC) and you can choose the notary. Fees are governed by the official notarial fee scale (Royal Decree 1426/1989) and, as this is normally a document with no stated value, they do not depend on the value of the estate.
4. Hand over a copy to whoever is handling the estate: the beneficiaries will need it for the partition and the tax.

If the heir is a minor, the parents need court authorisation to renounce on their behalf, unless the minor is 16 or over and consents in a public document; if the court refuses, the inheritance can only be accepted with the benefit of inventory (Article 166 CC). If the parents' interests conflict with the child's (for example, because they also inherit and benefit from the renunciation), a court-appointed representative (defensor judicial) must be named; if the conflict is with only one parent, the other one represents the child (Article 163 CC). A curator (curador) with powers of representation, appointed by a court to support an adult, also needs court authorisation (Article 287 CC).

Notarial demand: when you are forced to decide

The Civil Code sets no specific deadline for accepting or renouncing (although the right does not last for ever), but any interested party can ask a notary to formally require you to decide (interpelación notarial). You will have 30 calendar days to accept outright, accept with the benefit of inventory or renounce; if you do not reply, you are deemed to accept outright, debts included (Article 1005 CC). It cannot be requested until 9 days after the death (Article 1004 CC). If the person called dies without deciding, that right passes to their own heirs (Article 1006 CC).

STS 1311/2025, of 25 September (appeal no. 3231/2020), clarifies that, under the common civil law, only a notary can make this demand, that it must set out the options and consequences, and that if it was never actually served it does not result in acceptance. In Catalonia it is the other way round: the demand cannot be requested until one month after you are called to the inheritance, the period is two months and silence counts as repudiation, unless the person called is a minor or has had their legal capacity modified by a court, in which case they are deemed to accept with the benefit of inventory (Article 461-12 of the Civil Code of Catalonia).

If another heir is holding up the distribution, read what to do when an heir blocks an inheritance.

Common mistakes

• Signing a "renunciation in favour of" a relative in the belief that it has no tax cost.
• Using estate assets or money before deciding and accepting without realising it.
• Renouncing to escape debts without warning those who are called next, such as your children if all the siblings renounce.
• Believing that renouncing means returning what you received during the deceased's lifetime: an heir who repudiates does not bring lifetime gifts into account (colación), unless they must be reduced because they encroach on others' forced shares (Article 1036 CC). We explain this in how lifetime gifts affect the forced share.

Need help deciding?

Before signing, you should be clear about the inventory of assets and debts, who will receive your share and what each person will pay. You can start with our guide Inheritance: first steps and deadlines or book a consultation to review your case.

Legislation and sources

• Civil Code (Articles 163, 166, 287, 774, 816, 890, 923, 929, 956, 958, 981–1024 and 1036)
• Law 10/2008 of 10 July, Book Four of the Civil Code of Catalonia on succession (Article 461-12)
• Law 29/1987 of 18 December on Inheritance and Gift Tax (Article 28)
• Royal Decree 1629/1991, Inheritance and Gift Tax Regulations (Articles 58, 67 and 68)
• Royal Legislative Decree 1/1993, consolidated text of the Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty Act (Articles 7 and 8)
• Law 58/2003 of 17 December, General Taxation Act (Articles 66 and 67)
• Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, consolidated text of the Local Finance Act (Article 106)
• Law 22/2009 of 18 December on the financing of the autonomous communities (Articles 28 and 32)
• Legislative Decree 1/2010 of the Community of Madrid, consolidated text on ceded taxes (Article 25)
• Law 2/2025 of 25 June of the Community of Madrid, raising the group III tax credit (in Spanish)
• Community of Madrid: Inheritance Tax (in Spanish)
• Royal Decree 1426/1989 of 17 November, notarial fee scale
• Supreme Court, Civil Chamber: summary of judgments including STS 1029/2026 (repudiated forced share)
• Supreme Court, Civil Chamber: summary of judgments including STS 1311/2025, appeal no. 3231/2020 (notarial demand; the summary's heading wrongly gives "25 October")
• Supreme Court, Civil Chamber: summary of judgments including STS 950/2025 (renunciation "in favour of")