Who Inherits When There Is No Will in Mauritius

When someone dies without a valid will, Mauritian law decides who receives the estate. This is called intestate succession in Mauritius, and it follows a fixed order of relatives laid down by the Civil Code. Nobody chooses among them: the law does, and the result can differ sharply from what the deceased would have wanted.

This page explains how the legal order works, what happens in common family situations, and how assets already placed in a trust relate to the process. It is general information, not advice on a particular estate.

What "intestate" means in practice

A person dies intestate when there is no will at all, when the will is invalid, or when it covers only part of the estate. In the last case, the untouched part follows the legal rules while the rest follows the will.

Three points frame everything that follows:

• The estate is made up of what the deceased owned at death, after debts and expenses are settled.
• The law groups relatives into classes, and a closer class generally excludes a more distant one.
• Within a class, the law sets how the estate is divided. The exact shares depend on who survives, so they are worked out case by case by a notary.

If you are asking what happens if you die without a will in Mauritius, the short answer is that your closest relatives inherit in the statutory order, whether or not they were close to you in life.

The legal order of heirs

The legal heirs in Mauritius are called to the estate by class. The table below gives the general sequence; the precise division is always confirmed by a notary on the facts.

Two ideas explain most of the table. First, representation: if a child died before the parent, that child's own descendants step into their place. Second, exclusion: a living heir in a closer class usually shuts out those further away.

The surviving spouse

A married spouse has inheritance rights, but these are not identical to a child's share, and they change depending on who else survives. The spouse's position is also affected by the couple's matrimonial regime, which determines what belonged to whom before any inheritance is calculated. See matrimonial regimes and your family assets and the page on surviving spouse inheritance rights.

A partner who was never married generally has no automatic inheritance right. That is one of the most common surprises in intestacy.

Children, including those born outside marriage

Children of the deceased are the first class of heirs. The law protects children born outside marriage in the succession, provided their filiation is established. The details, and the evidence usually required, are covered in inheritance rights of children born outside marriage.

When there are no children

Without descendants, the estate moves to the next class. Parents and siblings are called, and the presence or absence of a surviving spouse changes how the estate is divided among them. The further the family tree has to be climbed, the more a notary must document before the estate can be released.

Which rule applies to you? A simple decision tree

The path below is a simplification. It shows the logic of the order, not a calculation of shares.

From death to distribution

Even when the heirs are obvious, the estate does not pass on its own. A sequence of formalities leads from death to the transfer of each asset.

The document that proves who the heirs are is covered separately in affidavit of succession and assets held in trust. For the tax side, see inheritance tax in Mauritius.

Why intestacy often disappoints families

The statutory order is designed to be fair on average, which is exactly why it fits few real families well. Typical problems include:

• A blended family. A second spouse and children from a first marriage inherit together, often with competing interests. A tailored structure is discussed in a trust for a blended family.
• Co-ownership of property. Several heirs end up owning the same house or land, and any sale needs their agreement.
• Young or vulnerable heirs. Minor children cannot manage what they inherit, so a guardian or court-supervised arrangement may be needed. Compare with a trust for minor children.
• An unmarried partner left out. The law gives no automatic share, whatever the length of the relationship.
• Foreign assets and foreign owners. A person who owns property in Mauritius while living abroad may face two legal systems at once. See wills for foreigners owning assets in Mauritius and inheriting property in Mauritius as a foreigner.

A will, a trust, or both?

A will lets you name who receives what, within the limits the law sets for protected heirs. A trust works differently: assets are transferred during life to a trustee, who holds them for beneficiaries under the terms of a deed. The trade-offs are set out in trust or will for passing on assets.

For intestacy, the relevant point is timing. Under the Trusts Act 2001, a trust is presumed to be irrevocable by the settlor unless the deed expressly provides a power of revocation (section 11). Assets that have been validly transferred to a trustee are therefore generally no longer part of what the settlor owns at death, so the intestacy rules do not distribute them. They are governed by the trust deed instead.

Several limits apply, and they matter:

• The settlor may also be a trustee, beneficiary, protector or enforcer, but cannot be the sole beneficiary of the trust created (section 8). A trust cannot simply be a disguised personal ownership.
• Assets that were never transferred stay in the estate and follow the legal order. A trust only protects what was actually put into it.
• The law preserves certain heirs' rights, and a trust does not remove every challenge. That topic is treated in forced heirship and trusts.
• A trust that is merely a label, with the settlor keeping real ownership, may be set aside. See sham trusts.

For a non-citizen settlor, the Act provides that a transfer to a trust cannot be set aside under the succession rules of the settlor's domicile or nationality (section 8). Whether this helps in a given case depends on the facts and on the law of the settlor's home country, which is why an adviser should review any cross-border situation. For what happens to an existing trust at the settlor's death, read what happens to a trust when the settlor dies.

Practical steps if there is no will

If a relative has just died and no will can be found:

1. Check carefully for a will, including with the notary the family used and any registered record.
2. Gather civil status documents proving the family links.
3. List the assets, and ask whether any were placed in a trust or held through a company.
4. Consult a notary early, before accounts are closed or property is sold.
5. Treat any trust deed as a separate set of instructions, not as part of the estate.

If you are planning ahead rather than reacting, you can send a request through the site and have your situation reviewed by a licensed provider.