Inheritance in Murcia: tax, partition and several heirs

When a relative dies and the estate is shared between several heirs, the practical problem is rarely an abstract point of law: there is a home some want to sell and others do not, shares in the family company whose value is disputed, and a tax that must be self-assessed within six months even though nothing has yet been received. This guide explains how an estate is taxed in the Region of Murcia, how to bring an undivided estate to an end, and what leverage an heir has when they do not agree with the split being proposed. The general rules of succession —the legitime, the ways of accepting and the tax deadlines— are covered in our guide to inheritance in Spain and are taken as read here.

Inheritance tax in Murcia: a 99 % allowance that does not reach everyone

Section Five of Article 3 of Legislative Decree 1/2010 grants, in the Region of Murcia, a regional allowance of 99 % of the Inheritance and Gift Tax due on acquisitions on death, applied to the amount remaining after any state and regional deductions.

It is limited by family relationship: it reaches only taxpayers in Groups I and II of Article 20.2.a) of Law 29/1987 —descendants and adopted children under twenty-one, and descendants and adopted children of twenty-one or over, the spouse, ascendants and adoptive parents— with registered unmarried partners treated as spouses. Siblings, nephews and nieces, uncles, aunts and cousins fall outside it, and are also subject to the multiplying coefficients of Article 22 of the same law. In a succession between collateral relatives, therefore, the tax cost should be calculated before accepting.

The allowance does not remove the duty to file. The self-assessment is submitted to the Tax Agency of the Region of Murcia within six months of the death, under Article 67 of the Inheritance Tax Regulations, with the extension provided for in Article 68. If the deceased was not resident in Spain, or the heirs live abroad, Spanish law may not be the law governing the succession — a preliminary question we examine in our guide to which law governs an estate for non-residents.

The family company in the estate: the 99 % relief and the strings attached

Where the estate includes a sole trader's business, a professional practice or shares in companies qualifying for the exemption in Article 4, section eight, of Law 19/1991 on Wealth Tax, Section One of that same Article 3 adds a further regional relief of 99 % of the taxable base. It is not automatic: it requires the company to have its registered office and tax domicile in the Region of Murcia, a holding by the deceased of at least 5 % individually or 20 % jointly with a spouse, ascendants, descendants or collateral relatives up to the fourth degree, and that both the investment and that domicile be maintained for the five years following the death.

The maintenance condition has a side that is easily missed: the recipient may not carry out disposals or corporate transactions that, directly or indirectly, substantially reduce the value of what was acquired, and a breach means self-assessing the tax not paid, with late-payment interest. The relief is also incompatible, for the same acquisition, with the one in Article 20.2.c) of Law 29/1987. It follows that an heir who receives shares and plans to sell them in the short term cannot separate the design of the partition from its tax consequences: they are a single decision.

Several heirs: the undivided estate and how to bring it to an end

Until the partition is carried out, co-heirs do not own specific assets but hold the estate jointly: none of them can sell "their" half of the house. That situation is not permanent. Under Article 1051 of the Civil Code, no co-heir may be compelled to remain in undivided ownership of the estate, unless the testator expressly prohibited division — and even then, division will take place on any of the grounds that bring a partnership to an end.

There are three ways out: partition by common agreement, executed as a public deed; the estate divider (contador-partidor) appointed by the testator, who under Article 1057 may be any person who is not a co-heir; and the court- or notary-appointed divider, available where there is no will, no divider named or the post is vacant. The latter is appointed by the Court Clerk or by a notary at the request of heirs and legatees representing at least 50 % of the estate, and the resulting partition requires the approval of that Clerk or notary unless all heirs and legatees expressly confirm it.

The divider does not arbitrate the dispute: they draw up the inventory, value the assets and allocate lots. Their partition can be challenged, but an heir who disagrees with the valuation must say so on the record before signing. If one of those called to inherit dies without accepting or renouncing, the right to accept passes to their own heirs, with the consequences we examine in our analysis of the right of transmission.

Assets that cannot be divided: allocation, valuation and excess

A home, a plot of land or a block of shares cannot be split into useful portions. Article 1062 of the Civil Code allows such an asset to be allocated to one heir, who must pay the others the difference in cash — but it adds a closing rule of considerable negotiating weight: it is enough for a single heir to request its sale at public auction, open to outside bidders, for the sale to go ahead.

The split also has tax consequences of its own. Article 27 of Law 29/1987 provides that, whatever partitions the parties make, for tax purposes the estate is treated as having been divided in strict equality and in accordance with the rules governing the succession; and its section 3 requires excess allocations to be taxed under the rules of Transfer Tax where there are differences against the inheritance entitlement, and also where the verified value of what is allocated to an heir exceeds 50 % of what would correspond to them. An heir who keeps the house and compensates the others in cash should check beforehand whether that balance produces a taxable excess. And where the will grants the usufruct to one person and bare ownership to others, it is worth bearing in mind that, under Article 127 of the Companies Act, membership of the company rests with the bare owner while the usufructuary is entitled only to dividends approved during the usufruct: a usufruct over shares in a company that distributes no dividends may produce no income at all.

As regards real estate, the room for argument is narrow: following the reform introduced by Law 11/2021, Article 9 of Law 29/1987 sets the taxable base as the cadastral reference value (valor de referencia) at the date the tax accrues, unless the value declared is higher. With shares, by contrast, the range is wide, and much of the split is decided there, because net book value is not the value of a company as a going concern. Before accepting the divider's figure there is material to request in writing: the approved annual accounts together with the minutes approving them and their date —the financial year chosen changes the result— the notes to the accounts, and an up-to-date valuation of the company's properties.

A co-heir with support measures: the partition needs court approval

Where one of the co-heirs is a person with a disability who needs support in decision-making, the partition cannot simply be closed. Following the reform brought in by Law 8/2021, Article 1057 of the Civil Code refers, where the co-heir has support measures in place, to whatever those measures provide; and Article 1060 specifies that a partition carried out by a guardian (curador) with representative powers does not require prior court authorisation, but does require court approval once completed. If the guardianship has not been constituted there is no partition that can be closed or registered, and the tax clock keeps running while the process is under way — which is why the appointment of support measures should be pursued alongside the inventory, not at the end.

How we support you with your inheritance in Murcia at RCM Legal

There are three points at which these estates almost always get stuck. The inventory, accepted as someone else has drawn it up, without checking what is missing or what has been improperly included. The valuation, because a figure for the shares or the land is signed off without testing the method or the financial year it was taken from, and that figure cannot be recovered. And the calendar: the tax falls due at six months, and that pressure pushes people into accepting a split they would not otherwise accept, particularly where what is inherited is not money but assets that will take years to turn into money.

Avoiding that —signing before knowing what you are signing— is precisely our work. At RCM Legal we act as inheritance lawyers in Murcia throughout: refining the inventory, providing tested valuations of shares and property, dealing with the estate divider and the other co-heirs, self-assessing inheritance tax with the reliefs and regional allowances that apply, and bringing an action for division or challenging the partition where no agreement is possible. If you have inherited alongside other heirs, with a family company or with assets that are difficult to divide, tell us about your case and we will tell you, with the documents in front of us, what room you have.