Inheritance and minors: who manages the assets when the parents are separated?

Losing a parent is always hard, and it becomes more complicated when the heir is a minor and the parents were separated or divorced. Critical questions arise: Who manages the assets? Can the surviving parent sell the child’s property? How do we make sure the assets reach the child intact when they come of age?

As succession law specialists, we explain the safeguards that protect the child.

1. Managing the assets: supervised administration

Although the surviving parent usually takes over the administration of the assets by virtue of parental authority, this is not a free hand. The law sets strict limits:

• The best interests of the child: every decision must be made solely for the child’s benefit, not the parent’s.
• Court authorisation: for significant acts of disposal, such as selling a property or waiving rights, prior court authorisation is mandatory. The judge will assess whether the transaction is necessary and beneficial.
• Conflict of interest: if the interests of the parent and the child conflict, a court-appointed guardian ad litem (defensor judicial) will represent the child in the division of the estate.

2. Protection against debts

When an inheritance is accepted on behalf of a minor, it is always deemed to be accepted with the benefit of inventory. This “legal shield” applies automatically to protect the child’s own assets: the child will only be liable for the deceased’s debts up to the value of the inherited assets, and never with their own property.

3. Features of Catalan civil law

In Catalonia, inheritance is governed by its own rules, which offer different solutions from the rest of Spain. One of the most important is that the forced share (legítima) is a right to a sum of money: the heir does not have to share ownership of the assets with the other forced heirs, but can pay them their share in cash. This flexibility is key to preventing the estate from becoming deadlocked, and it allows homes or businesses to be managed freely, making the succession faster and avoiding litigation.

4. The will as a preventive tool

A will is the most effective way to prevent conflict. It allows you to appoint a specific administrator for the assets (other than the surviving parent) to manage the inheritance professionally until the child reaches a specified age.

Conclusion: the death of a parent with minor children calls for rigorous legal management. Legal and judicial supervision ensures that the child’s assets are preserved until adulthood. Specialist advice is the best guarantee against family disputes and the best way to secure the future of those who matter most.