If the testator excludes his or her descendant or spouse from the succession by testamentary disposition, the descendant or spouse may claim the compulsory portion from the heir designated by the testator (section 2303 of the Civil Code). The legal heir is therefore not completely excluded from a share in the inheritance, but the compulsory share that can be claimed from the heir is reduced to half of the share of the inheritance actually intended by law. If a child's share of the inheritance would therefore comprise half of the inheritance under the law, his or her compulsory share is assessed at one quarter.
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