Legal Definitions - legal portion

Definition: The legal portion, also known as the legitime, is the part of a person's property that their children (and sometimes other heirs) are entitled to receive by law, regardless of what is stated in the person's will.

For example, if a person has three children and they leave their entire estate to their spouse in their will, each child would still be entitled to a portion of the estate as their legal portion.

The legal portion cannot be denied to the children without a valid legal reason. In Roman law, the amount of the legitime was one-fourth of the claimant's share on intestacy.

Overall, the legal portion ensures that children and other heirs are provided for, even if the deceased person did not include them in their will.