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The most recent gift is the first to fall

Last reviewed: September 11, 2026 — VerifiedPoder Judicial

In short

When the decedent gave away more in life than they could, the law does not annul the gifts: it reduces them. Article 1791 says who may ask, in two sentences. The first: only the forced heir may request the reduction of inoficiosas liberalities. The second is the surprising one: the donee, the legatee and the decedent’s creditor may neither request the reduction nor benefit from it. The creditor is shut out twice. They cannot ask, and they do not benefit if someone else asks. Article 1792 fixes the order. First, whatever the decedent provided governs. In what they did not provide for, the liberalities by cause of death are reduced first, pro rata. If that is not enough, the inter vivos liberalities are reduced, from the most recent date back to the most remote, and those of the same date pro rata. Read that slowly: the order for lifetime gifts runs backwards through the calendar. The last one made is the first to fall, and the oldest is the last to be touched. Article 1793 opens two exits. One: the reduction may be avoided by paying in money what the requesting forced heir would be entitled to receive. Whoever got the house may keep the house if they pay. Two: if the one suffering the reduction received several goods, they have the right to determine which of them are subject to the reduction, provided the requested value is covered. The choice is theirs, not the claimant’s. Article 1794 resolves the good that cannot be split: in the reduction of a liberality by cause of death whose object does not admit a comfortable division, the good stays with whoever has a participation exceeding half, and the difference must be paid in money. Note it speaks only of liberalities by cause of death; about an indivisible good gifted in life it says nothing, and neither does this guide. And Article 1795 closes the chapter with a preference, not an order: in the inheritance’s partition, equality among the coheirs is favoured, by forming lots or by adjudicating to each things of the same nature, quality or species.

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What is it?

They are Articles 1791 to 1795 of the Civil Code of 2020: who may request that inoficiosas liberalities be reduced, in what order they fall, how the reduction is carried out, and what happens with a good that cannot be split.

Who can do it?

Only the forced heir may request the reduction. The donee, the legatee and the decedent’s creditor may neither request it nor benefit from it.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Check who may request it

    Article 1791: only the forced heir. The donee, the legatee and the decedent’s creditor may not.

  2. Step 2: The creditor is shut out twice

    The same article says they may not benefit from a reduction requested by someone else, either.

  3. Step 3: First, what the decedent said

    Article 1792: the inoficiosas liberalities are reduced in the order the decedent provided.

  4. Step 4: Then, those by cause of death

    In what was not provided for, the liberalities by cause of death are reduced first, pro rata.

  5. Step 5: Then, lifetime gifts, backwards

    If that is not enough, from the most recent date back to the most remote. The last gift falls first.

  6. Step 6: Those of the same day, pro rata

    The same article resolves it that way for liberalities of the same date.

  7. Step 7: It may be avoided by paying

    Article 1793: by paying in money what the requesting forced heir would be entitled to receive.

  8. Step 8: And the one suffering it chooses what is reduced

    The same article: if they received several goods, they have the right to determine which are subject to the reduction, provided the requested value is covered.

  9. Step 9: The good that cannot be split

    Article 1794, and only for liberalities by cause of death: it stays with whoever has a participation exceeding half, and the difference is paid in money.

  10. Step 10: The closing preference

    Article 1795: in the partition equality is favoured, by lots or by adjudicating things of the same nature, quality or species.

Where to do it

Chapter III does not say before which forum the reduction is requested, with what pleading or at what fee, and it sets no deadline to ask. You will not find any of those four things here, because the Code does not publish them in these articles.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

If the decedent gave away so much in life that the forced heirs are left without their share, the tool is the reduction and only a forced heir can trigger it: Article 1791 expressly excludes the donee, the legatee and the decedent’s creditor, and it excludes the latter even from benefiting from a reduction someone else requests. The order matters far more than it seems. Article 1792 first respects whatever the decedent provided; failing that, it first knocks down legacies and other liberalities by cause of death, pro rata, and only then enters the lifetime gifts, starting with the most recent. If you were gifted something fifteen years ago and someone else two years ago, the two-year-old one falls first. The one suffering the reduction is not obliged to return the thing: Article 1793 lets them pay in money what would be due to the forced heir, and if they received several goods, it is they who choose which are reduced, provided the value is covered. Two gaps this guide does not fill. The Code does not define what makes a liberality inoficiosa, not here nor in any other article. And Article 1794, on the good that does not admit comfortable division, speaks only of liberalities by cause of death: about an indivisible good gifted in life it says nothing, nor does it say what happens if no participation exceeds half. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.

Common mistakes

  • Believing a creditor of the decedent may request the reduction: Article 1791 forbids it, and forbids them benefiting from it too.
  • Thinking the donee may request it to rearrange the split: the same article excludes them.
  • Reducing the oldest gifts first: Article 1792 runs from the most recent date to the most remote.
  • Starting with the lifetime gifts: the liberalities by cause of death fall first, pro rata.
  • Ignoring the order the decedent fixed: Article 1792 puts it ahead of everything else.
  • Believing the good must be returned: Article 1793 allows the reduction to be avoided by paying in money.
  • Thinking the forced heir picks which good is reduced: the one suffering the reduction picks.
  • Applying Article 1794 to a lifetime gift: that article speaks only of liberalities by cause of death.
  • Reading Article 1795 as an obligation to split identical shares: it says equality is favoured.

Frequently asked questions

Who may request that a gift be reduced?

Article 1791 says only the forced heir. The donee, the legatee and the decedent’s creditor may neither request it nor benefit from it.

In what order are the gifts reduced?

First in the order the decedent provided; then those by cause of death pro rata; and then the lifetime ones, from the most recent date back to the most remote.

Must I give back the house I was gifted?

Article 1793 allows the reduction to be avoided by paying in money what the requesting forced heir would be entitled to receive.

And if the good cannot be divided?

Article 1794, for liberalities by cause of death, leaves the good with whoever has a participation exceeding half and orders the difference paid in money.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 11, 2026

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