In Colombia, inheritance is the set of transmissible goods, rights and obligations that a person leaves at the time of his death, and that They pass to their heirs or legatees according to the provisions of the Civil Code.
This patrimonial transmission is known as succession due to death and can occur in a testamentary waywhen the deceased leaves a valid will that provides how their assets will be distributed, or intestate, when there is no will and the law determines who are called to inherit, following an order of established kinship.
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The Colombian law differentiates between heirs and legatees, as indicated by article 1011 of the Civil Code. The heirs are the ones who receive the totality or a proportional part of the deceased’s assets, while the legatees obtain specific assets or rights.
Article 1011 of the Colombian Civil Code establishes that: “Universal assignments are called inheritances, and the assignments singularly, legacies. The inheritance assignee is called heir, and the legacy assignee, legatee”
Inheritance
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UNIVERSAL ASSIGNMENTS: They are those in which a person happens to the deceased in the totality or a proportion of their assets, rights and obligations. These are known as inheritances.
Singular assignments: They are those that fall on a specific or determined good (for example, a property or a sum of concrete money). These are known as legacies.
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The person who receives the inheritance is the heir, while who receives a legacy is the legatee.
This article is essential to distinguish:
Who inherits all or part of the heritage? → heir (universal assignment).
Who receives something specific? → legatee (singular assignment).
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This differentiation is not merely semantic: it has implications in the matter of successor procedures,
It is worth saying that the Succession process in Colombia can be carried out notarially – when there is an agreement between all heirs and there are no minors or people with disabilities— or by judicial process, if there are disagreements or special conditions.
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This procedure seeks to invent the assets, assess the assets, pay debts and, finally, award each heir or legatee what corresponds to it. Besides, The transfer of inherited goods is subject to taxes, such as the occasional gain, whose percentage depends on the value received.
In any case, the acceptance of the inheritance also implies assuming the debts and obligations that the deceased had, until the amount of the inherited goods.
Valentina Delgadillo Abello
Portfolio journalist
