Inheritance shares calculator (Romania)

When a person dies without a will, the law decides who inherits and in what proportions. The rules are in Codul civil, art. 964-983, and apply in the same way before a notary or in court. The calculator above shows you the exact fractions for the family situation you describe, assuming that everyone called to inherit accepts the inheritance.

Who inherits, and in what order?

Art. 964 Codul civil groups the relatives of the deceased into four classes: class I, the descendants, that is the children and their own descendants; class II, the parents (privileged ascendants) together with the brothers, sisters and their descendants (privileged collaterals); class III, the grandparents and great-grandparents (ordinary ascendants); class IV, the ordinary collaterals up to the fourth degree, that is uncles, aunts, first cousins and the brothers or sisters of the grandparents. A closer class excludes the next one: as long as there is even one child, the parents and the brothers and sisters of the deceased receive nothing. Within a class, relatives of a closer degree exclude those of a more remote degree, and relatives of the same degree share equally.

The surviving spouse does not belong to any class: the spouse inherits alongside any of them (art. 971 Codul civil). The spouse's share is deducted first, and the rest is divided between the relatives in the class called to inherit.

What share does the surviving spouse take?

The spouse's share depends on the relatives the spouse inherits alongside, under art. 972 alin. (1) Codul civil:

An example: with an estate of 400,000 lei, a spouse inheriting alongside two children takes 1/4, that is 100,000 lei, and each child takes 3/8, that is 150,000 lei. If the deceased had no children but had both parents and two brothers or sisters, the spouse takes 1/3, each parent 1/6 and each brother or sister 1/6 (art. 977 and art. 978 Codul civil).

How is the estate divided between children?

The children share their part equally: the whole estate when there is no surviving spouse, or 3/4 when they inherit alongside the spouse (art. 975 Codul civil). If a child died before the parent, that child's own children step into their place by representation and divide per stirpes exactly the share their parent would have taken (art. 966 and art. 968 Codul civil). For example, where the deceased leaves one living child and one predeceased child who left two children, the living child takes 1/2 and each grandchild 1/4, not 1/3 each.

Similar rules apply in class II: a single parent inheriting alongside brothers and sisters takes 1/4 and the brothers and sisters 3/4; two parents take 1/2 together (art. 978 Codul civil). Between siblings the split is equal, with one nuance for siblings from different marriages or relationships: their share is divided between the maternal and the paternal line (art. 981 Codul civil). The calculator covers the case where all the siblings are of the same type; mixed cases need a separate analysis.

What is the reserved portion?

Even when there is a will, the law protects certain heirs: the surviving spouse, the descendants and the parents of the deceased are forced heirs (moștenitori rezervatari), under art. 1.087 Codul civil. The reserved portion (rezervă succesorală) of each is half of the share they would have taken by law without the will or the gifts (art. 1.088 Codul civil). A child who would have taken 1/2 of the estate as an heir at law keeps at least 1/4, whatever the will says. This calculator shows only the intestate shares; working out the reserved portion and the disposable portion depends on the gifts made during the deceased's lifetime and needs a concrete review of the file.

The result assumes pure intestate succession: no will, no renunciation of the inheritance, no unworthiness to inherit (nedemnitate) and no successive inheritances. If your situation includes any of these, or if the heirs cannot agree on the division, write to me and I will look at your case. For the cost of a court partition of the estate, use the partition section of the stamp duty calculator.