How to Make a Will in the State of Mexico

When someone dies without a will, the law decides who inherits their house, their savings account or their car, and in what order. That order may leave out people they wanted to include, such as a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law or a close friend. There will also be no executor chosen by that person, and no guardian named for their minor children in case no one is left to exercise parental authority (patria potestad).

In the State of Mexico, a will (testamento) is a strictly personal, revocable, free and formal act. Through it, a person disposes of their assets and rights for after their death. Because it is a formal act, form matters: a will made without the legal formalities may be legally nonexistent or void.

Every September, Mexico's Ministry of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación) promotes the national campaign "Septiembre, Mes del Testamento" (September, Will Month), in which participating notaries offer preferential fees. Costs and conditions are confirmed with each notary's office. In any month, the appointment is more productive when the key decisions have already been made.

This article follows the Civil Code of the State of Mexico (Código Civil del Estado de México). If you live or own assets in another state, such as Mexico City, review which rules apply to your situation.

What happens if someone dies without a will in the State of Mexico?

When there is no will, or the existing will is declared nonexistent or void, intestate succession (sucesión legítima) opens. The law then determines who inherits and in what order.

The people entitled to inherit are descendants, the spouse, ascendants, collateral relatives up to the fourth degree and the cohabiting partner (concubina or concubinario). If there are none, the State of Mexico's Integral Family Development System (DIF) inherits. Closer relatives exclude more distant ones, unless the law provides otherwise.

Kinship by marriage (parentesco por afinidad), meaning the relationship with a spouse's relatives, does not create inheritance rights. A daughter-in-law, a son-in-law or a spouse's children who were not adopted are left out of intestate succession. The same applies to friends or to an association you want to support. If you want to leave them something, you need to do it through a will.

A will may cover the whole estate or only part of it. Whatever it does not cover will pass under the intestate succession rules. For how an inheritance is handled after a death, with or without a will, see our article on how to claim an inheritance in Mexico.

Who can make a will, and which forms does the code recognize?

Anyone the law does not expressly prohibit may make a will. Persons under sixteen and those who are not of sound mind cannot.

Because a will is a strictly personal act, each person expresses their own wishes. As a general rule, the choice of heirs or legatees, and the amounts they receive, cannot be left to someone else's discretion.

The code distinguishes between ordinary and special wills. The ordinary forms are the open public will (testamento público abierto) and the simplified public will (testamento público simplificado), and both are executed before a notary. The special forms are military wills, maritime wills and wills made abroad.

The Civil Code of the State of Mexico does not list the holographic will (ológrafo) or the closed public will (público cerrado) among its forms. Other codes do include them, such as the Federal Civil Code. A document signed at home, a letter or a message does not match any of the forms in the state code. The law treats a will made without the prescribed forms as void.

The simplified public will is executed before a notary in the deed recording the purchase or regularization of a home, or in a later act. It is available when the property's price or appraised value does not exceed twenty-five times the daily value of the Unit of Measure and Update (UMA) multiplied by a year. For property regularization, the amount does not matter.

This form is designed around that home. For example, the law allows the legatees to claim delivery of the property. If there are other assets to plan for, ask the notary whether an open public will is also needed.

What should you decide before meeting the notary?

The notary drafts the clauses according to the testator's wishes. Those wishes need to be clear by the time of the appointment. These are the decisions most worth preparing:

Heirs and shares. If you name several heirs without stating each one's share, they will inherit in equal parts.
Legacies. A specific asset, such as an apartment or a car, can be left as a legacy. A person who receives a specific, identified asset is treated as a legatee.
Substitutes. You can name substitutes for heirs and legatees in case they die before you, cannot inherit or do not accept. If an heir drops out and there is no substitute, that share passes under intestate succession.
Executor (albacea). You can appoint one or more executors. If you do not, or the appointee does not serve, the heirs elect one by majority vote.
Guardian for minor children. A parent exercising parental authority can appoint a guardian for their children in the will. That appointment operates when no one is left to exercise parental authority: the other parent, the grandparents or other relatives, in the order the code sets.
Support. The will must provide support (alimentos) for the persons the code recognizes as support creditors (acreedores alimentarios).

A will that fails to provide the required support is considered inofficious (inoficioso). The person left out is entitled to receive support, and the rest of the will stands insofar as it does not impair that right.

Those who may be entitled to support include minor children, adult children who are studying, and relatives with disabilities or older adult relatives. It may also include a spouse or cohabiting partner who mainly performed unpaid household work, or who is unable to work. In each case, the requirements set by the code apply.

It also helps to review the marital property regime. Under community property (sociedad conyugal), common assets belong to both spouses in the proportion set in their marital agreements. Without such agreements, assets acquired during the marriage belong to both spouses in equal parts. Each spouse's will disposes of that spouse's own share.

If there are assets in another state or country, mention them from the first conversation. They may call for a review of other rules or additional procedures.

How is an open public will executed?

The testator states their wishes to the notary clearly and unequivocally. The notary drafts the clauses, reads them aloud and invites the testator to read them as well. If the testator agrees, the testator, the notary and, where applicable, the witnesses and interpreter sign. Everything takes place in a single act.

As a general rule, two witnesses appear. However, the testator may choose to execute the will before the notary alone, and the deed records that choice. Witnesses are required when the testator cannot sign or does not know how, is deaf or blind, or cannot read. A testator who cannot sign places a fingerprint, and one of the witnesses signs on their behalf.

Among others, the notary's employees, persons under sixteen, and heirs and legatees or their descendants, ascendants, spouses, cohabiting partners or siblings cannot act as witnesses. In addition, the notary and the witnesses involved cannot inherit under that will. The same incapacity extends to their spouses, cohabiting partners, descendants, ascendants and siblings.

If the testator does not speak Spanish and the notary does not speak the testator's language, an interpreter chosen by the testator also takes part. The testator must also be identified before the notary. In urgent cases, if the testator cannot be identified at that moment, the notary records that fact and notes the testator's distinguishing features. For the will to be valid, the testator must then be identified within a period of three days.

Before the appointment, ask the notary's office which documents it will require. Bring the full names of the people you plan to name and a clear description of any assets you want to leave as legacies.

Within ten business days after execution, notice must be given to the General Archive of Notaries (Archivo General de Notarías) for registration. The archive then forwards the report to the National Registry of Will Notices (Registro Nacional de Avisos de Testamento). When a succession is processed, reports are requested from the relevant authorities or archives to find out whether the person made a will.

Which assets follow their own rules even with a will?

Some assets and rights have their own mechanism for naming who receives them. Review them together with the will so that they do not point in different directions.

Bank deposits. The holder of deposit accounts must designate beneficiaries and may change them at any time. On the holder's death, the bank pays the amount to the persons expressly designated in writing, in the stated proportions. If there are no beneficiaries, the amount is delivered under general law.
Life insurance. The beneficiary clause gives the beneficiary a right of their own, enforceable directly against the insurer. The insurer is released if it pays according to the most recent beneficiary designation made under the policy.
Ejido rights. An ejido member (ejidatario) names successors in a succession list deposited with the National Agrarian Registry (Registro Agrario Nacional) or formalized before a public attesting officer (fedatario público). If there are several lists, the most recent one prevails. Without a list, the law sets an order of preference.

Other financial products may have their own designation rules. List your accounts, policies and rights, and confirm who appears as beneficiary on each one.

When should you review or change your will?

A will is revocable, and any waiver of the power to revoke it is void. A later will revokes an earlier one unless the testator states otherwise. In practice, changing a will means executing a new one before a notary.

Review it when something important changes in your life or your assets:

marriage, divorce, or the start or end of a cohabiting relationship;
the birth or adoption of children;
the purchase, sale or regularization of real estate;
the death or withdrawal of an heir, legatee or executor;
a change of residence or new assets in another state or country.

A provision in favor of someone who dies before the testator lapses. Reviewing the will in time lets you name substitutes or reallocate that share.

Questions before making your will

Can I include in my will the assets I own with my husband or wife?
How can I leave my house, my car or another specific asset to the person I choose?
What happens if I die while my children still depend on me financially?
Who will replace an heir or legatee who dies before me or does not accept?
Who will be executor, and who could replace that person?
If I have minor children, whom would I name as guardian in case no one is left to exercise parental authority?
Do the beneficiary designations on my accounts, insurance or ejido rights match my wishes?
Can I include in my will the assets I own outside Mexico?

With these questions answered, the notary knows which wishes the clauses must reflect. Any that remain open are worth reviewing before the appointment, especially if they involve support, community property or assets outside the State of Mexico.

Official sources

State rules come from the current text of the Civil Code of the State of Mexico. The definition of a will, the appointment of heirs by a third party and testamentary capacity appear in Articles 6.12, 6.13, 6.18 and 6.19. Partial disposition and intestate succession correspond to Articles 6.3, 6.142, 6.143, 6.144, 6.145 and 6.146. Kinship by marriage is defined in Article 4.119. Shares, legacies, substitutes and lapse were reviewed under Articles 6.1, 6.66, 6.67, 6.99 and 6.117; the executor, under Articles 6.205 and 6.206. The duty to provide support and the inofficious will appear in Articles 6.60, 6.61 and 6.62, read with Articles 4.127, 4.130, 4.131, 4.132 and 4.133. Testamentary guardianship rests on Article 4.244. The order for exercising parental authority appears in Article 4.204, and the purpose of guardianship in Article 4.229. Ownership of community property is governed by Article 4.29. The forms of wills and their nullity correspond to Articles 6.109, 6.112, 6.119, 6.120 and 6.121. Execution of the open public will, witnesses, interpreters, identification and registration notice appear in Articles 6.29, 6.122, 6.123, 6.125, 6.125 Bis, 6.126, 6.127, 6.128, 6.129 and 6.135. The simplified public will is governed by Articles 6.136, 6.137 and 6.139, and revocation by Articles 6.114 and 6.115. The comparison with federal forms used Article 1500 of the Federal Civil Code. Beneficiaries of bank deposits are governed by Article 56 of the Credit Institutions Law. Beneficiaries of personal insurance are governed by Articles 175 and 177 of the Insurance Contract Law. The succession list for ejido rights appears in Articles 17 and 18 of the Agrarian Law. The annual campaign is described on the official site of the Ministry of the Interior.

This content is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Decisions about a will depend on the family, the assets, the marital property regime, where the assets are located and the rules in effect when the will is executed.