Personal and Family Law
Our services cover all aspects of notarial work relating to private law.
The proclamation and entry into force of the Andorran Constitution in 1993 has caused repercussions throughout the Andorran legal system, significantly in the area of civil law that encompasses personal and family law. The constitutional text has, in effect, enabled new forms of family and new forms of personal and family relationships to emerge, which diverge from the archetypal family that was still predominant in the Principality of Andorra before the Constitution. This was rooted in customs that had persisted for centuries and reflected ways of organising family, social and economic life that had clearly begun to fade in recent
decades.
This is why, once the Constitution was in force, Andorran legislators soon displayed an interest in initiating reforms in personal and family law. They gradually adapted traditional Andorran law to the principles that inspire the constitutional text and to the social reality of growing diversity among Andorran families. This legislation and its implementing regulations have contributed decisively to aligning personal and family law with the countries that are sociologically and culturally closest to the Principality of Andorra.
Law 30/2022, of July 21, 2002, on Personal and Family Law, takes a qualitative leap in this process by bringing together all the civil regulations relating to individuals and family into one body of law, through codification, and embodying what would fill a book on these matters in a civil code. This type of legislative exercise helps to improve the systematic order of the subject matter and facilitates consultation by interested parties, and is the ideal opportunity to harmonize the presentation of the regulated subject matter and complete its content. The formulation of a new legal text not only closes gaps and amends the inevitable imbalances produced by the successive accumulation of laws, but also implements some of the international conventions that Andorra has signed. The Qualified Law on Personal and Family Law is largely an orderly compilation of all the relevant regulations currently in force, but also represents a step forward in the process of adapting personal and family law to developments in Andorran society. This has been a deliberate choice, the result of a desire to preserve inherited law as a faithful expression of Andorran legal tradition, wherever possible, while improving it technically and respectfully adapting it to social change.
The Our services cover all aspects of notarial work relating to private law
Inheritance
Under the current specific legislation in the Principality of Andorra, the following procedures
can be carried out:
Wills and codicils
A will or testament is a legal document that is unilateral, deeply personal and revocable. In it, the testator names one or more heirs and, where appropriate, orders legacies and other provisions for after their death. It can also name, change or cancel the beneficiaries of a life insurance, pension plan or similar savings and retirement instruments. This can also be done in a codicil. The will and the notarial codicil can be open (drafted by the notary) or closed (written and sealed by the testator).
A codicil must be executed with the same formalities as a will. It can be used to dispose of assets included in the inheritance, to supplement or partially alter a will or, in the absence of a will, arrange provisions for heirs. Heirs cannot be designated or excluded, or a previous designation revoked. A sole executor cannot be appointed, nor substitutions made or conditions imposed, except on legatees.
Inheritance Agreements
Irrevocable inheritance instruments for assigning equity to an individual. In inheritance agreements, provisions can be made in the same range and on the same terms as in wills, stating the specific care or business purpose.
Its potential as a method for transferring family-owned businesses should be considered, as these are typical of the economic fabric of the Principality of Andorra.
Inheritance
The inheritance process for the assets, rights and obligations of the deceased that are not cancelled on death and are passed on to the heirs, relates especially to:
- Acceptance: declaration of the unilateral will of a person named in an inheritance, agreeing to be a beneficiary and to acquire the assets and rights and assume the obligations of the deceased that are not cancelled on death. The inheritance can be accepted unconditionally or under benefit of inventory.
- Repudiation: declaration of the unilateral will of a person named in an inheritance, expressing their wish to formally renounce it before a notary.
- Declaration: a public deed in which the person named in an inheritance formally accepts it and a list is made of the assets, rights and obligations that comprise it.
- Distribution: the acquisition of exclusive ownership of the inherited assets and rights on transferral to the person who has accepted an inheritance.
Estate Partition
In the case of a community of heirs, where the inheritance has to be divided between the heirs and the community of heirs ceases to exist.
Each heir acquires exclusive ownership of the assets distributed to him. Partition can be arranged by the deceased, the partitioner or by judicial or arbitral agreement.
Contracts and donations
Under the current specific legislation in the Principality of Andorra, the following procedures
can be carried out:
01.
Sales
Contracts in which one person undertakes to transfer ownership of an asset, which can be movable assets, such as stocks and shares, or real estate, to another in exchange for a price.
02.
Donations
Unilateral transfers of any kind of asset or right, free of charge.
03.
Loans
Personal and with or without a mortgage. Documents in which the creditor declares receipt of the loan, and cancellations of mortgages. The borrower always chooses the notary.
04.
Exchanges
Contracts in which two parties undertake to exchange ownership of their respective assets or rights.
05.
Leases
Contracts in which one person undertakes to convey the use of an asset to another for a specific period of time, in return for payment of rent or a price.
06.
Purchase option
A legal transaction that grants the option holder the right to purchase an asset or security at a predetermined price and before a fixed deadline.
07.
Creation of real (in rem) rights
Usufruct, use, occupancy, easements, surface rights, ground rents.
08.
Real estate legal modifications
Declaration of new build; creation of horizontal property regime; aggregation, grouping, division and segregation of properties.
Contact
If you have any queries or would like further information, please complete the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Phone: +376 801 000
Location
The notary’s office is located in an office and building that are accessible to people with reduced mobility. Furthermore, it is located in an area of Andorra la Vella with several adjacent public car parks.
Prat de la Creu street 36, 2n
AD500 Andorra la Vella, Principat d’Andorra
Opening hours
From Monday to Thursday
From 09:00 h to 13:00 h
From 15:00 h to 18:00 h
Fridays
From 09:00 h to 15:00 h
