Who inherits without a will in Slovenia?

The spouse and the descendants are in the first order and inherit equal shares before all others. If the spouse cannot support themselves, the court may increase their share.

If the parents survive, the parents inherit one half in equal shares and the spouse the other half. If both parents have died without descendants, the spouse inherits the entire estate.

Descendants first. If there are none, the parents inherit the entire estate in equal shares. If there are no parents or their descendants, the grandparents inherit, half to each side of the family.

Extramarital partners and civil union partners are treated as spouses for inheritance, provided nothing would make a marriage between them invalid. The same fractions apply.

Descendants, adopted children, parents and the spouse are necessary heirs with a reserved share that the will cannot touch. Grandparents and siblings qualify only if they are permanently unable to work and have no support.

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.

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

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Slovenia