Can You Disinherit a Child in Mauritius?

If you want to know whether you can disinherit a child in Mauritius, the short answer is: not completely, in most cases. Mauritian succession law reserves part of an estate for children, and a will that tries to remove that share can be cut back after death. What you can control is the other part of the estate, known as the available portion (quotité disponible).

This page explains what the law prevents, how the available portion works in practice, and where a trust fits in. It is general information, not advice on your own family.

What the law forbids

The Civil Code treats a parent's estate in two parts. One part is the reserved portion (réserve héréditaire), which passes to the children as of right. The other is the available portion, which the parent may leave to anyone: a spouse, a friend, a charity, one favoured child.

A clause in a will that says "my son receives nothing" does not remove his reserved portion. It is usually treated as ineffective to that extent. The child does not lose the right simply because the will is silent or hostile.

Three consequences follow:

• A will cannot lawfully strip a child of the reserved portion because of estrangement, disapproval or a past dispute.
• The size of the reserved portion depends on how many children survive the parent, so it cannot be fixed in advance without knowing the family.
• The rules apply to the estate as a whole, not only to what the will mentions. Lifetime gifts can be brought back into the calculation.

The full mechanism of the reserved portion is covered on the forced heirship page, so it is not repeated here. If you are trying to understand who inherits when no will exists, see who inherits when there is no will.

Excluding an heir from a will: what actually works

Searches such as "exclude heir from will Mauritius" or "cut out child inheritance" usually assume a will can do more than it can. The table sets out what is generally possible and what is not.

Two points deserve emphasis. First, "unworthiness" (indignité) is a legal concept with strict grounds; a family quarrel is not enough. Second, a child may waive their own rights, but only in the form and at the time the law allows. A parent cannot waive on a child's behalf.

How the available portion works

The available portion is what remains after the reserved portion is set aside. Its size depends on the number of children. The more children there are, the larger the reserved portion and the smaller the available portion.

In practice, planning around a difficult relationship means using the available portion with care:

1. Work out who the reserved heirs are, including any children born outside marriage. Their position is set out under inheritance rights of children born outside marriage.
2. Take into account the position of a surviving spouse, which interacts with the children's rights (see surviving spouse inheritance rights).
3. Check the matrimonial regime, because it decides what belongs to the estate in the first place (see matrimonial regimes and your family assets).
4. Only then decide how to use the available portion in a will.

A parent who skips step 1 or 3 often leaves a will that looks decisive and later proves partly unenforceable.

What a trust can and cannot change

A trust is sometimes presented as the way around the reserved portion. The reality is more limited, and the answer depends on who the settlor is and what is in the estate.

What the Trusts Act 2001 says

Under section 8 of the Trusts Act 2001, a settlor can also be a trustee, a beneficiary, a protector or an enforcer, but cannot be the sole beneficiary of the trust they create. The same section provides that the transfer made by a settlor who is not a Mauritian citizen cannot be set aside under the succession rules of that settlor's domicile or nationality.

The Foundations Act 2012 (sections 3 and 4) contains an equivalent protection for the transfer of a non-citizen founder.

What this does not mean

These provisions are specific. They do not say that any trust defeats the reserved portion for every settlor and every asset. In particular:

• The protection is framed around non-citizen settlors. A Mauritian citizen should not assume the same result.
• It addresses claims based on the settlor's home succession rules. It does not remove every other ground of challenge, such as a sham or an unlawful purpose (see sham trusts: when a court sets them aside).
• Real estate in Mauritius is a particular sensitivity. A foreign trust is not enforceable in Mauritius where it would apply directly to immovable property situated there, according to section 60 of the Trusts Act 2001.
• A trust must be genuine. If the settlor keeps so much control that the trustee is only a name, a court may disregard it (see how much control a settlor can keep).

Whether a given trust would withstand a claim by a child depends on the settlor's nationality and domicile, the assets, the timing and the terms. That requires an analysis by a qualified adviser.

Making the trust irrevocable, and why that matters

Under section 11 of the Trusts Act 2001, a trust is presumed irrevocable by the settlor unless it expressly provides otherwise. For a parent, this has a practical effect: assets moved into the trust no longer belong to the estate in the ordinary way, but the settlor also cannot take them back on a whim.

A revocable trust is likely to be looked at more closely in a family dispute, because the settlor kept the power to undo the transfer. The trade-offs are discussed in revocable vs irrevocable trust.

Ways to reduce a child's share lawfully

Without cutting a child out, some families use legitimate tools to shape how much a child receives and in what form.

• Use the available portion to benefit others, in a will drawn up with Mauritian advice.
• A spendthrift or protective trust. Section 18 of the Trusts Act 2001 recognises trusts in which a beneficiary's interest may be restricted from transfer, or suspended on the beneficiary's insolvency or the seizure of their assets. This protects an heir who struggles with money; it does not remove an heir. See spendthrift trusts for heirs who cannot manage money.
• A life interest. A child can receive income for life while the capital passes onward, subject to the same legal limits (see life interest trust).
• A letter of wishes. It guides the trustee on how to use discretion but does not bind the trustee or override the law (see letter of wishes).

When a child may be excluded or limited in specific cases

Families often ask about particular situations rather than the general rule.

A child who has been estranged

Estrangement alone does not remove inheritance rights. The law looks at the relationship, not the history of the feelings.

A child with serious financial or personal difficulties

This is where a protective structure is most useful. A trust can hold the child's share and pay it out under controlled terms. See also a trust for a child with disabilities if the concern is care rather than conduct.

A blended family

Children from different relationships raise priority questions. A trust for a blended family describes how families sometimes balance a new spouse and earlier children.

Practical checklist before you act

• List all children, including those born outside marriage
• Confirm your nationality and your domicile
• Identify the assets that are in Mauritius and those abroad
• Establish your matrimonial regime
• Find out which lifetime gifts have already been made
• Ask an adviser whether a trust is suitable, and for which assets
• Update your will after the structure is in place