A document that must be executed before a notary public. It establishes a person's estate and specifies how it should be distributed upon their passing. As long as they maintain sound mental capacity, an individual may modify their will at any time throughout their life.
Who are the legal heirs?
Typically, they are the children; however, if the individual had no children, the parents are next in line. If it cannot be allocated to them, it goes to siblings or a spouse, and in the absence of any of the above, to nieces and nephews.
However, if you wish to leave your assets to someone outside the family, it is also possible to designate them in the inheritance.
According to the Colombian Civil Code, under Articles 1045 to 1051, the order of hereditary succession is as follows:
- First Order (descendants): children—legitimate, adopted, born outside of marriage, or born within a civil union.
- Second Order (closest ascendants): parents and the surviving spouse.
- Third Order (siblings and spouse): siblings and the surviving spouse.
- Fourth Order (children of siblings): nieces and nephews.
- Fifth Order (ICBF): the Colombian Family Welfare Institute.
An individual is barred from inheriting under a will if they committed a crime or homicide against the testator, or allowed them to perish when they could have saved them. The same applies if they made an attempt against the life, honor, or property of the testator, their spouse, or any of their descendants or ascendants.
