Who inherits without a will in Czechia?

The spouse and the children are in the first class and inherit in equal measure, after the joint marital assets have been settled.

The spouse inherits with the parents and members of the household, and takes at least half the estate. If both parents survive, each takes a quarter.

Children inherit everything. Without children: the parents and household members; then siblings and cohabitants; then grandparents; then great-grandparents; then nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts. If nobody inherits, the state is treated as the heir.

A cohabitant who shared the household of the deceased for at least a year is an heir in the second and third classes. If there is no spouse or parent, they inherit together with the third class.

Only the descendants are protected: minors must receive at least three quarters of their statutory share and adults at least a quarter. The spouse and parents have no protected share.

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.

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

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Czechia