Leave a Legacy

You can leave all or a part of your property or assets for humanitarian purposes. It is possible to bequeath personal as well as real property (a house, a car, art works, intellectual property rights, insurance contract or money). Bequeathed donations are not subjected to tax (some exceptions may apply according to the laws of your country). For detailed information see the website How to draft a will. The legislation related to the last will is quite complex, therefore it is advised to consult a notary in order to make sure that your property will be handled according to your wishes.

We suggest that you discuss with us in advance and agree on how to make the best of your donation. We want to hear about your wishes and we will respect them. The easiest way is to contact us and arrange a personal meeting.

You can ask any notary to draft a will for you. For this service (drafting and archiving the document in the Central evidence of wills) you will be asked to pay a fee of 1,800 CZK (excl. VAT), which does not depend on the value of your property. The notary can also simply archive a will that you can draft in a number of ways explained below. The fee for such a service is 1,100 CZK (excl. VAT).

If the testator has not made a will, the Civil Code determines six so-called ‘inheritance groups’, each specified according to how close the family connection is to the testator. The first group is next of kin (children and spouse), with subsequent ones including distant relatives, such as grandparents, uncles or nieces. To put it simply, if you do not have a next of kin, your property will be inherited by more distant relatives.

Step-children and cousins do not belong to any of the inheritance groups, according to Czech law. They can only inherit as a so-called cohabiting person (a person living with the testator in a common household for at least a year before testator’s passing and therefore taking care of the household, or being a dependent of the testator, as stated in the new Civil Code). The cohabiting person belongs to the 2nd and 3rd inheritance group, therefore they can inherit only if the testator has no children.  

Yes, the testator must not omit the so-called ‘heirs apparent’ in his/her will. If heirs apparent are omitted, the will is valid, however, they (i.e. the testator’s descendants) must still receive their legitimate share: Underage descendants shall receive at least ¾ and adult descendants at least a half of what their legitimate share is. The case when a testator legally disinherits his/her descendants is an exception to this rule (reasons for disinheritance are listed here).

Yes, it is possible to include a declaration in a will or a will contract, where the testator defines the way how his/her bequeathed property is to be used. If its formulation is in compliance with the law, understandable and not a demonstration of one’s arbitrary behaviour, the declaration is valid and claimable. For example, if an heir is given an instruction, its execution can be claimed by the person in whose favour the order is given, or a person determined in the document.

A mutual will of more testators is not valid, according to Czech law. If, for example, a married couple wants to make a will, each partner has to do so separately.

If a testator has a spouse, he/she should not forget, when writing a will, that the property of married couples is (usually) owned jointly by both spouses as community property. The implications for the inheritance rights in this case are such that, within the framework of inheritance proceedings, community property is divided first, with the testator’s spouse usually inheriting half of the testator’s property. Only then, the inheritance proceeding of the rest of the property, which is classified as testator’s separate property, takes place (though, at the same time, this part can also be inherited by the spouse).

The property of those who die without heirs and without leaving a will pass to the state.