In Spain, elderly people are rising up to deny children inheritance rights
It is often said that “the truth is seen in adversity”. During covid-19, elderly people especially need the care of their children. For those adult children who ignore their parents, more and more Spanish elderly are beginning to use legal channels to deprive them of their property inheritance rights.
The Sunday Telegraph in the United Kingdom reported on the 14th from a number of elderly assistance agencies in Spain that many elderly people were heartbroken by their children’s neglect of greetings and care during pandemic. They are now consulting lawyers on how to cancel their inheritance rights.
Marcel Cornella, the head of an elderly support agency in Fuenlabrada, on the outskirts of Madrid, said: “Our motto is’If they don’t look at you, don’t leave anything.'”
Cornella said that he can receive 220 calls from elderly people in the next month asking how to cancel children’s inheritance rights, the number is five times the average before the pandemic.
In most cases, the children of these elderly people have neglected the elderly for a long time. The pandemic only further strengthens the elderly’s idea of redistributing property. For example, although an 81-year-old lady has advanced cancer, her daughter has never cared about her for 18 months.
According to Spanish law, most regions require the elderly to explain why they cancel their children’s inheritance rights, such as domestic violence. In fact, the judge will consider the mental harm suffered by the elderly in the judgment. For example, the children are left alone for a long time. The evidence includes screenshots of the mobile phones of both parties on special days such as Christmas to prove whether the two parties are in regular contact.
Francisco Rubiales, a lawyer working in Madrid, said that more and more elderly people are considering cancelling their children’s inheritance rights during coronavirus pandemic. “I can receive up to 500 such calls a month.”
