Intestate succession: what to do when the deed is still in a deceased relative’s name

Intestate succession is the proceeding that names the legal heirs of someone who died without a will and transfers the estate, including the house, into their names. In Querétaro it can be handled before a notary, with no court case, when every heir is of legal age and all agree (Code of Civil Procedure of Querétaro, art. 914); if there is a minor heir or a dispute, it goes before a judge. An heir who lives in the United States does not need to travel: they can sign a power of attorney at a Mexican consulate and be represented in Mexico.

This guide follows Querétaro law, where the firm is based. If the property is in another state, that state’s civil code and code of civil procedure apply, with their own articles and requirements.

What is intestate succession?

It is the proceeding followed when someone dies without a will. Its purpose is twofold: to formally recognize the legitimate heirs and to award them the deceased’s assets according to the law. If there were a will, the proceeding would be testamentary; without one, the law determines who inherits and in what proportion.

The most common case: the deed is in the deceased’s name

This is the situation we see most. The family “has” the house and has lived in it for years, but the deed is still in the name of the parent or grandparent who passed away. Until that is corrected, the property cannot be safely sold, mortgaged or inherited: legally, it still belongs to the estate, not to the heirs.

Succession is precisely the means to re-deed the property in the heirs’ names and close that open door. It matters even more when part of the family lives abroad: the longer the deed stays in the deceased’s name, the more signatures, documents and heirs the file can end up needing.

Who inherits when there is no will?

Under the Civil Code of the State of Querétaro, those entitled to inherit without a will are the descendants, the spouse, the ascendants, collateral relatives up to the fourth degree and, under conditions the code sets, the surviving partner (art. 1481). Closer relatives exclude more distant ones (art. 1483). In practice:

• Children inherit first and split the estate in equal shares (art. 1486).
• A surviving spouse who inherits alongside children receives the share of one child only if he or she has no property of their own, or property worth less than that share; in the second case, only enough to make up the difference (arts. 1503-1504). When the estate consists of a single property, the surviving spouse has a lifelong, non-transferable right to use it (usufructo vitalicio, art. 1503).
• With no descendants and no spouse, the parents inherit in equal parts (art. 1494).
• Siblings and other collateral relatives up to the fourth degree follow, in the order and proportions set from art. 1506 onward.

A worked example: a house in Querétaro, one heir in Texas

Take a typical case, presented as an illustration rather than a real client. A widowed mother dies in Querétaro without a will. The house is deeded in her name. She has three adult children: two live in Querétaro and one lives in Texas. The three agree on how to divide the house.

1. Shares. With no spouse and three children, each child inherits one third (Civil Code of Querétaro, art. 1486).

2. Route. All three heirs are adults and there is no dispute, so the succession can be handled before a notary (Code of Civil Procedure of Querétaro, art. 914). Descendants are among the relatives allowed to file an intestate succession before a notary (art. 915).

3. What the notary checks first. Before proceeding, the notary obtains reports from the General Archive of Notaries, the Public Registry of Property and Commerce and the National Registry of Will Notices confirming whether a will exists, and the heirs must prove their kinship with the deceased (art. 915).

4. Documents to gather. The mother’s death certificate (art. 915), proof that each child is her child (their birth certificates), the deed of the house and the heirs’ IDs.

5. How the sibling in Texas signs. Under the Mexican Foreign Service Act, consular office heads perform notarial functions for acts executed abroad that take effect in Mexico, and their certification is valid throughout the country on the same footing as a Mexico City notary’s (art. 44, section IV). In practice, the sibling books an appointment at the Mexican consulate (the Houston consulate takes appointments through citas.sre.gob.mx), brings a valid ID such as a passport, matrícula consular, voter ID or a Texas driver’s license, and grants a power of attorney in favor of a sibling or a trusted person in Querétaro. The Houston consulate lists special powers and general powers among its services and quotes 5 to 10 business days to issue them. Ask the notary handling the succession what type of power and what wording they need before booking.

6. Opening before the notary. The heirs (one of them through the power of attorney) and the executor appear before the notary with the death certificate to accept the inheritance, recognize each other’s rights, and have the executor accept the role and commit to drawing up the inventory (art. 915). They declare, under oath, that they are the only people entitled to the estate.

7. Statutory deadlines.

• The notary publishes those declarations twice in a newspaper with wide circulation in the State, with seven business days between the first and the second notice. The applicant pays for the notices (art. 915).
• The executor has 30 days, counted from the last notice, to draw up the inventory of the estate (art. 915). Once the heirs agree with it, it is filed with the notary to be notarized (art. 916).
• The executor then prepares the partition plan and, with the heirs’ approval, delivers it to the notary within seven days; the notary drafts the adjudication deed for signature, and the inventory and the adjudication may go in a single instrument (art. 917).

8. If something changes. If any claimant to the estate or any creditor objects at any point, the notary suspends the procedure and sends a certified copy of the file to the Superior Court of Justice, which forwards it to the competent judge (art. 917). The same happens from the outset if one of the heirs is a minor, because art. 914 requires all heirs to be of legal age.

Stages of intestate succession

Although every case is different, the proceeding usually goes through four stages:

1. Filing the succession. The proceeding begins before the competent judge or notary, and death and kinship are evidenced.
2. Recognition of heirs and appointment of an executor. The heirs are recognized and an executor is appointed to represent the estate.
3. Inventory and appraisal. The assets that make up the estate are identified and valued, with special attention to the property.
4. Adjudication and deeding. The property is awarded to the heirs and deeded in their name.

What is the executor and what do they do?

The executor is the person in charge of representing and administering the estate until it concludes: promoting the proceeding, safeguarding the assets, drawing up the inventory and, finally, delivering and adjudicating the estate to the heirs. They are not the “owner” of the assets: they are an administrator with legal responsibilities toward the heirs. In the notarial route, the executor is either the one already appointed or one named at the moment the heirs appear before the notary (art. 915).

Before a judge or a notary?

There are two routes in Querétaro:

• Before a notary. Available when all heirs are of legal age, any incapacitated heir is legally represented and there is no dispute (art. 914). This is the route in the example above.
• Before a judge. When there is a minor heir, a dispute among heirs or an objection from a creditor, the proceeding goes through the court (arts. 914 and 917).

A case that started in court can move to a notary later: if all heirs are adults and were already recognized as heirs by the judge, the rest of the succession can continue before a notary with a certified copy of the court file (art. 918).

How much does it cost and how long does it take?

Notary fees in Querétaro are set by law, not by each notary. Article 164 of the Notary Law of the State of Querétaro sets, for successions:

• For the deed recording the start of the succession: 30 times the daily general minimum wage in force in the area (the law abbreviates it VSMGZ).
• For the adjudication deed: the fees of art. 147 of the same law, calculated on the value of the assets adjudicated.
• For handling the succession (opening and acceptance of the inheritance, inventory and appraisal, and the partition plan): 7.5 per thousand of the value of the inventoried assets.
• For drawing up and notarizing the inventory and the partition plan: 5 per thousand of the value of the inventoried assets.

The minimum wage used is the one in force on the date the instrument is signed (art. 145), and every notary must display a table with these fees converted into pesos (art. 144). The two newspaper notices are a separate cost, paid by the applicant (CPC art. 915).

On timing, the law fixes the minimum intervals listed in the example: seven business days between notices, 30 days for the inventory after the last notice and seven days to deliver the partition plan. The total depends on how quickly the documents and the reports on the existence of a will come back, and on whether anyone objects.

The next step

Request a certified copy of the death certificate if you do not already have one, and locate the deed of the house. If the deed also needs fixing, see our title deed regularization service; for the succession itself, our probate and intestate succession service covers the whole process. Then send us, by WhatsApp, the state where the property is, the list of heirs and which of them live in the United States. With that we can tell you whether the notarial route applies, which documents each heir needs, and what the heir abroad must sign at the consulate.

If you’d like us to review your specific case, message us on WhatsApp and we’ll clearly tell you your options.