Costa Rica inheritance laws - Type of Wills

An Open Will is drafted within the presence of three witnesses before a Notary Public. In cases wherein there’s the appearance of a testator, then two witnesses plus the Notary Public should be present. As for the attested open will, it may be drafted without the presence of the Notary Public provided that there are four witnesses and the testator. If the testator did not handwrite or draft the will, there must be six witnesses present in such event.

There are additional requirements needed when drafting and processing a closed will. First, the testator must duly sign the will and seal the documents in an envelope. The envelope that contained the documents will then be delivered at the Notary Public who in turn will draft the writing (notarized) on the envelope. The statement must contain an affirmation that the documents were turned over through a sealed envelope. The testator (or the draftee of the will) must inform the Notary Public as to how many pages were sealed in the envelope and must also specify if there are corrections or annotations in the document. However trivial the changes are, this must be put into writing. The proceedings will then be recorded on the Notary’s book with the signatures of the testator and 3 witnesses affixed on it.

If the will was not drafted or the court deemed that the drafted bill is not valid, there will be the so-called intestate succession that will take place in terms of the giving and dividing of the inheritances.

Here’s how the Civil Code defined the succession on heirs. Usually, the judge grants conjugal property rights to the spouse of the deceased and the remaining properties will then be distributed to the other heirs by affinity.

•    First Degree: composed of the spouse, parents and children
•    Second Degree: grandparents or other legitimate heirs
•    Third Degree: the brothers and sisters of the deceased on the mother’s side.
•    Fourth Degree: nephews or nieces
•    Fifth Degree: the uncles or aunts
•    Sixth Degree: if the progression of the five degrees were passed, then the estate will go to the state. According to the Civil Code, properties left by the deceased will go through the members of Board of Education where the properties of the deceased were located.