Overview
- All recognized children—marital, extramarital, and adopted—are forced heirs with equal shares under the Civil Code, according to the Ministry of Justice’s public defender Fernando Vílchez Chávarri.
- A child’s status must be proven with a birth certificate, a court ruling, or an official registry entry to be included in the estate.
- Intestate succession applies when there is no will or when a will is null, expired, or insufficient, as outlined in Article 815 of the Civil Code.
- In intestate cases, a notary orders notices in El Peruano and a national newspaper for 10 days to surface potential heirs born outside marriage.
- If conflicts arise, the notary refers the matter to the judiciary for a petition of inheritance or expansion of succession, and the right to a forced share cannot be curtailed by arbitrary exclusion.