Who inherits without a will in Serbia?
In Serbia the spouse and the children inherit equal shares, and the spouse takes half with the parents.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
A spouse and children survive
The spouse and the children inherit equal shares. Children born in or out of marriage, and adopted children, are equal. If a child is not the spouse's and the spouse has the larger estate, a court can allow each child up to twice the spouse's share.
A spouse survives, but no children
In the second order the spouse takes half and the parents take the other half in equal parts. If a parent has died, that share goes to the siblings. With no parents or siblings, the spouse takes everything.
No spouse: who comes next
Children first; then the parents and their descendants (the siblings); then the grandparents and their descendants; then more distant ancestors. If there is no heir, the Republic of Serbia inherits.
A partner who is not married
A long-lasting extramarital union is treated like a marriage for inheritance, under the conditions in the Law on Inheritance.
What a will cannot take away
Descendants and the spouse have a reserved share of half of what they would inherit by law, and the parents and some others have a smaller share.
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
Serbia 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 Serbia legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Serbia? →
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.
