Inheritance by will or by intestacy according to the Bulgarian legislation

According to the Bulgarian legislation, succession to immovable property shall be governed by the law of the State in which the said property is situated. The antecessor may designate the law of the State of which the said antecessor was a national at the time of the designation.

A very interesting question is related with the Testamentary dispositions made by foreign people owning a property in Bulgaria. In the practice there are many cases of foreign citizens intending to leave the purchased property in Bulgarian to their relatives. In this case the relevant question is related with the legal consequences of the will composed in the foreign country.

The designation of applicable law and the revocation of the said designation must be expressed in a statement made in accordance with the formal requirements for testamentary dispositions. In any case the choice of applicable law must not affect the reserved share of the heirs.

Reserved shares of the heirs are defined in Bulgarian Succession Law.

RESERVED AND DISPOSABLE SHARE Where the deceased leaves descendants, parents or a spouse, he or she may not, through testamentary dispositions or donation, infringe upon what constitutes their reserved share of the estate. The share of the estate, out of the reserved share, shall constitute the disposable share of the deceased. The reserved share for descendants (including adoptees), when the deceased has not left a spouse, shall be as follows: in case of one child or descendants thereof - 1/2 and in case of two or more children or descendants thereof, 2/3 of the estate of the deceased. The reserved share for the parents or the surviving one shall be 1/3. The reserved share for the spouse shall be 1/2, where he or she is the only heir, and 1/3 where the deceased has also left his or her parents. Where the deceased has left descendants and a spouse, the reserved share of the spouse shall be equal to the reserved share of each child. In these hypotheses the disposable share, in case of one child, shall be equal to 1/3; in case of two children it shall be equal to 1/4; and in case of three or more children it shall be equal to 1/6 of the estate.

In any case if the foreigner made a will it shall be valid if conforms to the law of the State:

1. in which it was made, or 2. of which the testator was a national at the time of making the will or upon death, or 3. in which the testator was habitually resident at the time of making the will or upon death, or 4. in which the immovable property subject to the will is situated.

However, if the property is in Bulgaria but the will has been made in the other country it should be acknowledged by the Bulgarian authorities. However, at the moment there is not such practice of acknowledgment of foreign will in Bulgaria and it is not clear what will be the applicable requirements in case of such acknowledgment. According to the Bulgarian Succession Law there are two types of inheritance: by will (testament) or by intestacy SUCCESSION BY TESTAMENT ( will) Any person, who has reached 18 years of age and is not under full incapacitation due to dementia and who is capable of acting reasonably, can make testamentary dispositions with regard to his or her property for the time after his or her death. In all cases testamentary dispositions cannot infringe upon the reserved share of an estate.

A testamentary disposition can be notarial or personally handwritten.

A notarial testamentary disposition shall be executed by a notary in the presence of two witnesses. The will shall be signed by the testator, the witnesses and the notary.

A personally handwritten will must be entirely written by the hand of the testator him- or herself, set out the date, when it was drafted and it must also be signed by him or her. The signature must be placed below the testamentary dispositions. A will can be transmitted for keeping to the notary in a sealed envelope. In this case the notary shall draft a protocol on the very envelope.

A person, who has possession of a personally handwritten will, must as soon as he or she becomes aware of the testator's death, request its disclosure by the notary.

DISTRIBUTION ON INTESTACY The children of the deceased shall take equal parts. Those adopted by the deceased shall be considered his or her children. Where the deceased has left no children, the estate shall be equally distributed among his or her parents or be taken by the one who is alive. Where the deceased has only left brothers and sisters, together with ascendants in the second or higher degree, the former shall take two-thirds of the estate and the ascendants - one-third. Where the deceased has left no ascendants in the second or higher degree, no brothers or sisters or descendants thereof, the relatives on the lateral line up to the sixth degree inclusive shall take. The ones closer in degree, as well as the descendant of a relative closer in degree, shall exclude those more distant in degree. The spouse shall take a part equal to the part of each child.

When the spouse inherits together with ascendants or with brothers and sisters, or with descendants, he or she shall take half of the estate, where said estate is opened before the expiry of ten years from marriage, and conversely, he or she shall take 2/3 of the estate. When the spouse takes together with ascendants and with brothers and sisters or their descendants, he shall take one-third of the estate in the first hypothesis and half of it in the second hypothesis.

Where no other heirs under the previous paragraph are found, the spouse shall take the whole estate.