Who inherits without a will in Croatia?

The spouse and the children are in the first order and inherit in equal parts. A child who has died is replaced by their own children.

The spouse shares half with the parents. If both parents have died, the spouse takes the whole estate.

Children inherit first, then the parents (with siblings if a parent has died), then grandparents, great-grandparents and more distant ancestors.

An extramarital partner and a registered same-sex life partner are treated like a spouse. An informal life partner is treated like an extramarital partner. Such a union generally must have lasted at least three years, or less if the couple had a child.

Descendants, spouses and partners are forced heirs owed half of what they would inherit by law. Parents and other ancestors are owed a third, but only if they are permanently unable to work and have no means.

In this EU country the Succession Regulation applies to people who die after 16 August 2015: the whole estate is generally governed by the law of the country where the person had their habitual residence at death, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. A foreigner living here, or a citizen living abroad, can therefore be governed by a different law than the one described on this page.

Croatia 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 Croatia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Croatia? →

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Croatia