Division of the estate (partition of inheritance)

Division of the estate distributes the assets among the heirs and ends their community of ownership. Every heir may demand division at any time unless bound by contract or statute to maintain the community.

Agreement is the ideal route: a written partition contract joined by all heirs allocates the assets bindingly. Failing agreement, any heir may bring a partition action before the civil court of peace, which forms lots by grouping assets where possible and orders sale where it is not. Special rules on allocating the family home and agricultural enterprises to the surviving spouse or a particular heir are reserved.

In the division, heirs are liable to one another under the rules of sale by operation of law. Equalisation of lifetime advances the deceased made to some heirs also forms part of the division, and this accounting is the main source of disputes in practice.