The will comes first, with two limits
The order of inheritance in the Inheritance Code (ärvdabalken) applies when there is no will, and to the part of the inheritance that the will does not cover. With a will (testamente) you can give what you leave behind to anyone you like, for example a cohabiting partner (sambo), a friend, a stepchild or an association.
Two groups still have protection that a will cannot take away. Your children, and grandchildren in place of a child who has died, have a right to their statutory share (laglott). A surviving spouse has basic protection. Parents, siblings and other relatives have no such protection, so if you have no children you can leave everything away from them in your will.
The will only covers your estate. If you are married, a division of property (bodelning) is made first, and what your spouse receives there is not an inheritance. Your will has no say over that part.
The statutory share is half of the share of the inheritance
The statutory share is half of what a child would inherit by law. If you have two children and no spouse, they inherit half each. The statutory share is then a quarter each, and you decide freely over the other half of your estate in your will.
The statutory share does not come automatically. The will must be formally served on the heirs, usually with a certified copy, and a child who wants their statutory share must ask for the will to be adjusted (jämkning) within six months of being served. If the child does not, the will applies as written.
Anything the child has already received as an advance on their inheritance, and anything the will gives them, counts towards the statutory share. The will also cannot put restrictions on the statutory share, for example by giving someone else the right to use it. If you gave away property while you were alive and the gift in practice works like a will, the gift can also be adjusted. The child must then bring a court case within one year of the estate inventory (bouppteckning) being completed.
Married with children together
If you are married and only have children together, your spouse inherits everything first. The children receive their inheritance from you when your spouse has also died. This is known as deferred inheritance (efterarv). Until then your spouse has control over the property, but may not leave what is meant to go to your children to anyone else in a will.
If you write a will in favour of your spouse, it changes little for your shared children. If they ask for adjustment to get their statutory share, it still goes to your spouse, and the children have to wait until your spouse has died. If you leave the inheritance to someone else, the children can receive their statutory share straight away.
Your spouse also has basic protection. The surviving spouse always receives enough from the estate that, together with what they received in the division of property and their separate property, it equals four price base amounts (prisbasbelopp), if the estate is large enough. A will that cuts into that protection does not apply to that extent.
Särkullbarn get their inheritance straight away
Children you have with someone other than your spouse (särkullbarn) have the right to receive their inheritance from you straight away. They can choose to give it up in favour of your spouse, and then receive deferred inheritance instead when your spouse dies.
With a will you can give your spouse everything. The särkullbarn can then only receive their statutory share, and they must ask for adjustment within six months to get it. Your spouse's basic protection also applies against the särkullbarn.
A cohabiting partner only inherits with a will
Cohabiting partners do not inherit from each other by law. If you want your partner to inherit from you, you need a will. Your children, whether you have them together or not, can still ask for adjustment and receive their statutory share straight away, because the rules on deferred inheritance only apply to married couples.
Without a will, a surviving cohabiting partner has the right to ask for a division of property covering the shared home and household goods. The partner then always receives enough of that property to equal two price base amounts, if the property is large enough. A will in favour of a cohabiting partner does not apply if you had moved apart before the death.
How we can help you
If you want to know how far a will can go in your family, we go through who would inherit from you today and how large the statutory shares would be. Then we write the will according to your wishes. Read more about how we help you write a will, or send an enquiry and you normally get a quote within one working day.
