Short answer. Yes. The Civil Code deems an inheritance accepted if the heir sells, donates or assigns his right — and it says so expressly whether the transfer was to a stranger or to a co-heir. Selling your share is an act only an heir could perform, so acceptance follows from the sale itself.
What the law says
If the heirs sells, donates, or assigns his right to a stranger, or to his co-heirs, or to any of them
Civil Code, Article 1050 — When an Inheritance Is Deemed Accepted. Read the full provision →
What the law says
A tacit acceptance is one resulting from acts by which the intention to accept is necessarily implied, or which one would have no right to do except in the capacity of an heir.
Civil Code, Article 1049 — Express and Tacit Acceptance. Read the full provision →
Acceptance does not require a document
People assume they have accepted an inheritance only if they signed something saying so. The Code is broader: acceptance may be express or tacit, and while an express acceptance must be made in a public or private document, a tacit one is inferred from conduct. The test is conduct from which the intention to accept is necessarily implied, or which one would have no right to do except in the capacity of an heir. Selling a hereditary share is the textbook example — nobody but an heir could sell it.
Selling to a sibling is not an exception
The obvious argument is that transferring to a co-heir keeps everything inside the estate and is really a way of stepping aside. The article forecloses it by naming the case: the sale, donation or assignment counts whether to a stranger, or to his co-heirs, or to any of them. Selecting one sibling rather than another is itself a disposition of a right you could only dispose of as an heir, and it is treated as acceptance regardless of who ends up with the property.
The renunciation traps in the same article
The same provision catches two arrangements that look like giving up. An inheritance is deemed accepted if the heir renounces it, even gratuitously, for the benefit of one or more of his co-heirs, and equally if he renounces it for a price in favour of all the co-heirs indiscriminately. There is one narrow escape: a gratuitous renunciation in favour of all the co-heirs upon whom the portion would devolve by accretion is not deemed acceptance. Directing where your share goes is the thing that converts a renunciation into an acceptance.
Why it matters that you accepted
Acceptance is not a formality. Once accepted, the share is yours and can no longer be repudiated, and the consequences of being an heir attach — including exposure to the estate's obligations in the manner the Code provides. Preservation and provisional administration are different: those do not imply acceptance where the title or capacity of an heir has not been assumed. Get the deed you signed reviewed for what it actually transferred, and take advice before signing anything further in the settlement.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1049 — Express and Tacit Acceptance
- Civil Code, Article 1050 — When an Inheritance Is Deemed Accepted