Inheritance blocked in Registry: what happens when two heirs have the same name

Key data

A judicial hereditary partition can be paralyzed in the Property Registry if all links in the hereditary chain are not correctly identified. That is exactly what the Resolution of 11 June 2026 from the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith, published on 22 October 2026, establishes.

The case arises from a deed of allocation of property in which the partition notebook prepared by the judicial partition counter appointed in a judicial inheritance division proceeding was recorded. The interim registrar of Alicante no. 1 issued a negative qualification and refused to carry out the registration for two specific and documented reasons.

What does this resolution establish?

The DGSJFP analyzes the two defects that motivated the registrar's negative qualification. Both revolve around the identification of heirs and the principle of successive title:

Article 1006 of the Civil Code regulates the right of transmission: if an heir dies after the deceased but before accepting or rejecting the inheritance, his right passes to his own heirs. To register in the Registry, you must identify who those transmissory heirs are, and this requires the notarial deed of declaration of heirs ab intestato when there is no will to prove it.

The principle of successive title requires that each transmission be perfectly chained: you cannot register something in someone's name if the previous registry holder is not correctly identified in the chain.

Economic and operational impact

A registry blockade of this type has very concrete economic and practical consequences for heirs:

• Paralysis of sale or mortgage of the property: without registration, the heir to whom the property is allocated cannot transfer or encumber the property with full guarantees against third parties.
• Additional processing costs: obtaining a declaration of heirs ab intestato deed before a notary involves notarial fees, processing time (usually several weeks) and the need to locate and have all heirs of the transmissory heir appear.
• Prolongation of judicial proceedings: if the partition was already carried out judicially, remedying the defects may require new actions before the court or before a notary, with associated procedural costs.
• Risk of prescription or expiration of rights: while the property is not registered in the heir's name, his legal position against third parties is weaker.

The total cost of remediation—notarial fees, registry fees, possible additional procedural costs and time—can easily exceed several thousand euros, not counting lost profits if the inheritance includes a property that was intended to be sold or rented.

Who does it affect?

• Heirs in judicial inheritance division proceedings where one of the co-heirs has died before completing the partition.
• Transmissory heirs (children, spouse or other heirs of a deceased heir) who must prove their status to register in the Registry.
• Families with homonymy among members (same name and surnames in different children or relatives), especially common in previous generations.
• Judicial partition counters who prepare partition notebooks without previously verifying the registry identity of all heirs.
• Notaries and lawyers who record or process hereditary allocation deeds.
• Legatees and their descendants when the will contains designations with incomplete names or that do not match the Civil Registry.

Practical example

Let's take the specific case of this resolution: the deceased has two children, both registered in the Civil Registry as A. G. Z., one born in 1957 and the other in 1962. Both die after the mother. The judicial partition counter allocates the property and it is elevated to a public deed.

When the notary or heir presents the deed at the Alicante Property Registry no. 1, the registrar detects that it cannot be determined, with only the documentation provided, which of the two homonymous children each part of the inheritance corresponds to, nor who are the heirs of the son who died in 1962 who must exercise the right of transmission under article 1006 CC.

Result: negative qualification. The registration remains suspended until the notarial deed of declaration of heirs ab intestato of the son who died in 1962 is provided, identifying his transmissory heirs, and the discrepancy between the name "G." that appears in the will and the Civil Registry is clarified.

Without those documents, even though the judicial partition is final, the property cannot be registered in the name of the heirs to whom it is allocated.

What should heirs do now?

1. Verify the registry identity of all heirs before starting the partition: request Civil Registry certificates proving the full name, date of birth and filiation of each heir, especially if there is homonymy.
2. Check that the will matches the Civil Registry data: any discrepancy between the name in the will and the name registered in the Civil Registry must be resolved with supporting documentation before presenting the deed at the Property Registry.
3. Process the declaration of heirs ab intestato deed if any heir has died: when a co-heir dies after the deceased but before completing the partition, his own heirs must prove their status through a notarial deed. This process must be completed before presenting the allocation deed.
4. Include in the partition notebook the complete identification of the transmissory heirs: the judicial partition counter must expressly reflect who the transmissory heirs under article 1006 CC are and provide the documentation proving it.
5. Consult with a lawyer specializing in succession and registry law before presenting the deed, to detect possible identification defects that could result in a negative qualification.

Official source

Consult complete regulation in official source

Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-22011