intestate

The Chilean Civil Code, enacted in 1855, has undergone significant reforms to expand rights and promote equality. In 2022, through Law No. 21,400, Chile legalized same-sex marriage, granting same-sex couples the same marital and family rights as opposite-sex couples, including adoption rights. The Civil Code also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, reaffirming the principle of equality before the law.

This case established that a wife’s dower is not an asset of her husband’s estate. After Mr. Dixon died intestate, his widow claimed that she held title to real property that had been conveyed to her as a deed of gift from her husband. The executor, appointed by the county, argued that the property was an asset of the estate because the right of dower accrues only after the death of the husband.

The appellant sued to establish co-residence with the deceased, a man with whom she lived for more than five years but never married. The claim was related to the fact that the man died without a will, so inheritance defaulted to take place in order of precedence according to Ukrainian legislation. Without establishing co-residence, the appellant had no legal right to inherit at all, but establishing co-residence with the deceased would give her the opportunity to inherit the property as a fourth-line heir, as she lived with the deceased for at least five years.

The appellant sought to set aside a lower court’s decision and remove his deceased paternal grandmother’s estate executors. The lower court found that the appellant had no locus standi to bring forth the application as he was not the lawful beneficiary of his grandmother’s estate—he was born out of wedlock and his father predeceased his now deceased paternal grandmother. Therefore, the appellant had no right of inheritance intestate.

This case established a precedent for property rights of a widow when her husband dies intestate. On appeal, the Supreme Court excluded from probate ten acres of land to which Ms. Williams claimed title. Ms. Williams’ husband died intestate and the executor of his estate, appointed by the Probate Court, included all real and personal property from the marriage in determining the assets of the estate. Ms. Williams claimed that she held title to ten acres of property that her husband had purchased through a third party, with title vesting in the wife.