Who inherits without a will in Chile?
In Chile the spouse takes twice a child's share, never less than a quarter, and two thirds with the parents.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
A spouse and children survive
The spouse takes twice the share of each child, but never less than a quarter of the estate. The children share the rest.
A spouse survives, but no children
With the ascendants the spouse takes two thirds and the ascendants one third. With none, the spouse takes everything.
No spouse: who comes next
Descendants first; then the ascendants; then the siblings; then collateral relatives up to the sixth degree. If none, the estate goes to the state.
A partner who is not married
An unmarried partner has no right to inherit without a will, but a partner in a registered civil union is treated like a spouse.
What a will cannot take away
Half of the estate is reserved for the descendants, the spouse and the ascendants (the 'legítimas'). The rest can be freely left by will.
If the person or the property is abroad
The country has its own rules on which law governs an estate. An estate with a foreign element needs advice in each country involved.
Understand the legal system first
Chile belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the Chile legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Chile? →
Official sources
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.
