Inheritances have become the key for young people to buy a home. In Galicia they are giving them up

The data is shocking. In a country where inheritances and donations have become the ‘key’ that allows thousands of young people to acquire their own homes, something difficult to consider without that family support, in Galicia a curious phenomenon is being recorded: a record of inheritance renunciations. Just last year almost 4,000 people They said ‘no’ to the possibility of receiving the legacy that their parents, grandparents, uncles or any other relative had left them when they died.

Nor is it a new phenomenon Nor is Galicia the only region in which resignations growbut his case is paradigmatic: those 4,000 cases mark a historical maximum. The question is… Why the hell are inheritances rejected?

What has happened? That at a time when inheritances have become the “ticket” that allows many young people take the leap from tenants to owners of their own home, a curious record has just been recorded in Galicia: a historical maximum of heirs renouncing their family legacies.

The data has advanced it Vigo Lighthouse. In 2025, almost 4,000 people in the region said ‘no’ to the assets left to them by their deceased relatives. The media cites statistics from the Notarial College of Galicia, which also shows that the current volume of resignations far exceeds that of a few years ago.

Why do they do it? The big question. As it reflects a recent report of ARAG, Galicia is one of the autonomous communities that offer a more attractive tax framework for inheritances between descendants and spousesat least those that do not exceed one million euros. There are other taxes that come into play, such as municipal capital gains that can be applied to urban properties, but it does not seem that this is the reason that explains the trickle of inheritance renunciations.

What is it then? The reality is that there is no single answer. One of the reasons that most influence resignations is (as ironic as it may sound) the inheritances themselves. Its nature. When we think about them, money accumulated in savings accounts, farms, houses and vehicles comes to mind. The reality is that in many cases legacies are ‘poisoned gifts’.

What does that mean? That legacy properties don’t just add up. They also ‘subtract’, either because they arrive accompanied by unpaid mortgages, loans or guarantees or simply because the value of the inheritance does not compensate for the cost of assuming it. The latter may sound strange, but it can occur in inheritances from uncles to nephews or between brothers. Bonuses aside, if the value of the legacy is not high, it may not be worth paying capital gains, notary and registrar.

Are there more reasons? Yes. Like a good part of Spain, Galicia is a territory in full change: its population tends to concentrate and uninhabited areas increase. In practice, this means that part of the inheritances left in the community are simply rural or forest properties with difficult (or no) access, buildings in ruins and plots reduced to their minimum expression in a land characterized precisely by his smallholding.

In short, properties of low value, off the market and that may even entail liabilities, such as keep them clean to avoid fires.

It is also not unusual for inheritances to include plots whose ownership is fragmented among different family members, sometimes unrelated to each other. Lighthouse explains People also come to the offices of notaries who want to renounce legacies simply because they had no relationship with the deceased or want to avoid family problems that could lead to lawsuits.

Is it just a matter of inheritances? No. Other factors are added to the above, such as the lack of liquidity of the heirs at the time in which they must receive their legacy or simply the increase in inheritances processed in life. In the end, resignations are increasing, but so are agreements between living relatives who anticipate the process to avoid conflicts or benefit from tax advantages.

In the background there is also a purely demographic component: as societies like the Galician one age deaths increasewhich in turn leads to more inheritances and the possibility of increased resignations.

Is it something new? No. Nor does it only happen in Galicia. A quick search in the newspaper archive shows that rejections of inheritances have been increasing for some time and they are not rare in other autonomous communities either. just a year ago The Country revealed that the proportion of rejected inheritances had risen considerably to reach historic highs in the historical series.

Their percentages must be handled with some caution because they are based on statistics in which resignations are equated with renunciants when in reality a legacy can fall on several people who do not accept it. In any case the data of the General Council of Notaries are eloquent: if in 2011 the organization recorded 18,933 resignations (“pure and simple renunciation of inheritance or legitimate”), in 2016 there were already 38,826 and in 2024 (last annual data closed) 54,866. The 2025 results are still partial, but show about 46,300 rejections through October.

Why is it so shocking? Partly because of the context. The General Council of Notaries itself published a report at the end of 2025 which shows that “donations and inheritances” play an increasingly important role in access to housing for new generations. In 2025, the members processed more than 225,300 donationsthe highest figure since at least 2011. Only between 2017 and 2024, coinciding with the rise in prices in the real estate market, housing donations skyrocketed by almost 68%. Inherited properties also increased during the same period, although less, by 20%.

Image | Anna Keibalo (Unsplash)

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