Forced Heirship by Country

Civil-law jurisdictions impose mandatory reserved shares for children, spouses, and ascendants — overriding the deceased's will. Sharia jurisdictions apply fixed Quranic shares as the default. Common-law jurisdictions (US, UK, Australia) operate full testamentary freedom with discretionary court relief as a safety net. This reference covers the rules and the available opt-out mechanisms (Brussels IV in the EU, DIFC Wills in the UAE) for international estate planning.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-09. Forced-heirship rules are fundamental to estate planning but change rarely — most recent reforms: Switzerland (January 2023), France (2021 tightening), Belgium (2018 simplification).

Forced heirship system, child reserved shares, spouse rights, and Brussels IV applicability by country
Country	System	Child reserved share	Spouse share	Brussels IV
Argentina	Civil-law strict	Two-thirds of estate (porción legítima) for descendants. Argentine forced heirship is among the strictest globally. The 2015 Civil and Commercial Code unified previously-divergent provincial rules.	Spouse: 50% reserved share alongside descendants where children exist.	No
Brazil	Civil-law strict	50% of estate (legítima) reserved for descendants and ascendants combined; remaining 50% freely disposable. Brazilian civil-law forced heirship is procedurally rigorous via mandatory judicial probate (inventário) for estates above small thresholds. https://www.tjsp.jus.br/	Surviving spouse: depending on marriage property regime, takes 50% of community property + intestate share of estate alongside or instead of descendants.	No
France	Civil-law strict	1 child: 50% reserve. 2 children: 67% (33% each). 3+ children: 75% (divided equally among children). France has one of Europe's strictest forced-heirship regimes — the reserved share (réserve héréditaire) is constitutionally protected. The 2021 reform extended forced-heirship protection to French residents' estates even when foreign law applies via Brussels IV — a notable narrowing of choice-of-law freedom for French residents. https://www.notaires.fr/	Surviving spouse takes 25% if any children exist; usufruct option of full estate available where no descendants but parents survive.	Yes
Italy	Civil-law strict	1 child: 50%. 2 children: 67%. 3+ children: 75% (legittima). Italian legittima protects descendants and spouses with constitutionally-strong reserved shares. Brussels IV choice-of-law works for Italian-resident non-citizens but is procedurally complex for those with Italian-situs real estate. https://www.notariato.it/	Surviving spouse: 25% reserve + usufruct on family home regardless of children.	Yes
Portugal	Civil-law strict	Legítima = 50% (1 heir) to 67% (2+ heirs) reserved for descendants. Portuguese legítima rules align with general civil-law forced-heirship pattern. NHR / IFICI tax regime does not interact with inheritance / forced-heirship rules. https://www.dgsi.pt/	Spouse: included in legítima share alongside children.	Yes
Spain	Civil-law strict	Two-thirds of estate (the legítima) reserved for descendants: 1/3 strict legítima (equal division), 1/3 mejora (parental discretion among descendants). Spanish civil-law forced heirship operates differently in different autonomous communities — Catalonia, Aragon, Navarra, Basque Country, Balearic Islands have their own foral systems with varying degrees of forced heirship. Catalonia's 25% legítima is materially less restrictive than the national 67%. https://www.notariado.org/	Surviving spouse: usufruct of 1/3 of strict legítima where descendants exist; 1/2 usufruct where parents only survive.	Yes
Belgium	Civil-law moderate	Reserved share for children = 50% of estate, divided equally regardless of number of children. Reform of September 2018 simplified from previous 1/2 / 2/3 / 3/4 sliding scale. Belgium's 2018 reform simplified forced-heirship rules and introduced 'pacts of inheritance' (succession agreements) for advance estate planning. https://www.notaire.be/	Surviving spouse: usufruct of all estate where descendants survive; usufruct + ownership otherwise.	Yes
Germany	Civil-law moderate	Children entitled to Pflichtteil (compulsory share) = 50% of intestate share. With one child + spouse: child's Pflichtteil = 25% of estate. German Pflichtteil is a monetary claim, not a fractional share of specific assets — gives more flexibility than the French/Italian model. Disinherited heirs receive cash equivalent rather than asset claims. https://www.bnotk.de/	Spouse's Pflichtteil = 50% of intestate share (typically 1/4 of estate with children).	Yes
Greece	Civil-law moderate	Reserved share (νόμιμη μοίρα) = 50% of intestate share for descendants and surviving spouse. Greek civil-law forced heirship standard. The Greek HNWI flat-tax regime does not override forced-heirship protections. https://www.ministryofjustice.gr/	Surviving spouse: included in reserved share alongside children.	Yes
Mexico	Civil-law moderate	Mexican civil law generally protects minor children + dependent spouse via support obligations rather than fixed reserved shares — more testator-friendly than Continental European models. Mexico is the major Latin American outlier — significantly more flexible forced-heirship rules than Argentina, Brazil, Chile.	Spouse: support obligation rather than fixed share.	No
Netherlands	Civil-law moderate	Children have a legitimate portion (legitieme portie) = 50% of intestate share. Like Germany, a monetary claim rather than asset share. Dutch system is among the most flexible civil-law forced-heirship regimes — children's claims are monetary and deferrable, spouses have no compulsory share but strong default-rule protections. https://www.knb.nl/	Surviving spouse: no compulsory share — but extensive default protections via the law of intestate succession.	Yes
Switzerland	Civil-law moderate	Pflichtteil reduced from 3/4 to 1/2 of intestate share by January 2023 reform. Spouse + child(ren) get half of intestate share each. Switzerland is not bound by Brussels IV (not in EU). The January 2023 inheritance-law reform materially expanded testamentary freedom — half the estate can now be freely disposed where previously only a quarter could. https://www.bj.admin.ch/	Surviving spouse: Pflichtteil = 50% of intestate share.	No
Canada	Mixed	Common-law provinces (most): no forced heirship; dependant relief via court application. Quebec: civil-law system but no forced heirship for adult children — only support obligations for minors. Quebec's civil-law system surprisingly does not impose strict forced heirship for adult children, despite its French civil-law lineage. Family patrimony rules are the main spousal-protection mechanism.	Common-law provinces: family-law matrimonial property rights + dependant relief. Quebec: family patrimony rules protect spouses substantially regardless of will.	No
Saudi Arabia	Sharia	Sharia fixed shares — sons receive twice the share of daughters. Specific fractions for each class of heirs codified. Sharia inheritance rules apply by default to all Muslim estates and to non-Muslim estates of Saudi-resident decedents who do not opt out (limited optionality). Conflicts with Western estate planning are fundamental — DIFC Wills Service (in Dubai) is the main workaround for non-Muslim expats wanting home-country law to apply.	Wife: 1/8 if descendants survive; 1/4 otherwise. Husband: 1/4 if descendants survive; 1/2 otherwise.	No
United Arab Emirates	Sharia	Sharia default for Muslim estates; non-Muslims may opt out via DIFC Wills Service or Abu Dhabi Judicial Department procedure (2017 / 2020 reforms). UAE has emerged as the most accessible Sharia-jurisdiction option for non-Muslim expats — the DIFC Wills Service (since 2015) and ADJD non-Muslim inheritance procedure (since 2020) provide structured opt-out mechanisms allowing home-country inheritance law to apply. https://difcprobate.ae/	Sharia default; opt-out available for non-Muslims.	No
Australia	Common-law (testamentary freedom)	No forced heirship. Family Provision Act applications (varying by state) allow dependants to seek reasonable provision via court — discretionary, not automatic. Standard common-law testamentary freedom with court-discretion safety net.	Discretionary claim under Family Provision legislation.	No
United Kingdom	Common-law (testamentary freedom)	No forced heirship under English & Welsh law. Testamentary freedom is the default; the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 allows dependants to seek reasonable provision via court application — discretionary, not automatic. Scotland operates differently — legal rights (jus relictae for spouse, legitim for children) provide automatic claims to movable estate. England & Wales is the principal common-law-flexible jurisdiction. https://www.gov.uk/inherits-someone-dies-without-will	No fixed compulsory share — dependant claim available via 1975 Act.	No
United States	Common-law (testamentary freedom)	No forced heirship in any US state for adult children. Louisiana retains forced heirship for minor children and disabled children only (post-1996 reform). US testamentary freedom for descendants is among the broadest in the world. The Louisiana exception is a vestige of the state's civil-law (French/Spanish) heritage.	Most states grant surviving spouse an 'elective share' (typically 30%-50% of augmented estate) that can be claimed against the will. Community property states (CA, TX, AZ, etc.) give spouse 50% of community property automatically.	No

Brussels IV — the EU choice-of-law option

EU Regulation 650/2012 (informally "Brussels IV", in force from August 2015) lets EU residents designate the law of their nationality rather than the law of their residence to govern their succession. This is the principal estate-planning workaround for British, American, Irish, or Australian citizens resident in continental Europe who want common-law testamentary freedom over civil-law forced heirship.

How to elect.Express choice in a written will: "I elect the law of [my country of nationality] to govern the succession of my estate as a whole." Should be incorporated into a properly-executed will under the law of either country.
Limitations.Some countries — most notably France since the 2021 amendment — apply forced heirship to residents' estates regardless of Brussels IV election. Real estate located in non-EU countries may also escape EU coordination.
Denmark + Ireland. Brussels IV does not apply in Denmark (opted out) or Ireland (limited opt-in). Estate planning in these countries still requires bilateral treaty / conflicts-of-law analysis.
UK + Brexit. Brussels IV was never implemented in the UK (no opt-in pre-Brexit either). UK nationals resident in EU member states can still benefit from electing UK law to govern their EU-located estate under host-country Brussels IV conflicts rules.