Who inherits without a will in Serbia?

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.

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.

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 long-lasting extramarital union is treated like a marriage for inheritance, under the conditions in the Law on Inheritance.

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.

The country has its own rules on which law governs an estate. An estate with a foreign element needs advice in each country involved.

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? →

• Notaries of Europe (UINL): successions in Serbia