Who inherits without a will in Lithuania?

The spouse inherits one quarter together with the children where there are no more than three other heirs. Where there are more than three, the spouse takes an equal share with the others.

With the parents or grandchildren the spouse takes half the inheritance. With no heirs of the first or second degree, the spouse takes the entire estate.

Heirs inherit by degree, in equal portions within each: first, children; second, parents and grandchildren; third, grandparents and great-grandchildren; fourth, siblings and great-grandparents; fifth, nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts; sixth, cousins. A lower-numbered degree generally excludes the higher.

The official fact sheet does not describe rights for unmarried partners. Treat an unmarried partner as having no automatic right and take advice.

Children, the spouse and parents who were financially dependent on the deceased receive half of what they would take by law, regardless of the will, unless the will leaves them more.

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.

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

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Lithuania