Who inherits without a will in Panama?

In the civil-code tradition the children inherit first, normally in equal shares, and the surviving spouse takes a share set by the code or a right to use part of the estate.

A spouse with no children usually shares the estate with the parents and other ascendants, and takes the whole estate if there are none.

Children first, then the parents and other ascendants, then the brothers and sisters, then more distant relatives up to a set degree, and finally the state.

Some countries recognise a stable de facto union for inheritance after a set period of living together; otherwise an unmarried partner has no automatic right.

Civil-code countries reserve part of the estate for the children, and often for the parents or the spouse, so a will cannot leave them nothing.

The law of the place where land lies usually governs the land, and the law of the person's last home usually governs the rest. An estate with a foreign element needs advice in the country.

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

• JuriGlobe, University of Ottawa: world legal systems
• World Bank: Women, Business and the Law (country data on inheritance rights)