Short answer. No. Article 863 of the Civil Code limits a fideicommissary substitution to one degree from the first heir originally instituted. A will cannot require property to travel through two successive transmissions — it can only go from the first heir to one second heir, and no further.
What the law says
such substitution does not go beyond one degree from the heir originally instituted
Civil Code, Article 863 — Fideicommissary Substitution. Read the full provision →
The one-degree limit explained
A fideicommissary substitution allows a testator to say: 'I leave this property to my son, who must preserve it and eventually pass it to my grandchild.' That is one transmission — from the first heir to one second heir. Article 863 caps the chain right there. A testator cannot add a third link — requiring the grandchild, in turn, to pass the property on to a great-grandchild. The substitution may not go beyond one degree from the heir originally instituted. Any provision that attempts to extend the chain further is invalid to that extent.
Why the law draws this line
The one-degree rule exists to prevent property from being locked up indefinitely across generations. If a testator could require successive transmissions through three or four generations, land and assets could be encumbered for decades, preventing the heirs who actually hold them from managing, selling, or otherwise using them freely. The Civil Code recognizes the testator's right to designate how an inheritance is passed once — but not to control the property's destiny through an unbroken chain of successive trustees. One transmission is enough; two is already too many.
What the first heir is legally obligated to do
The first heir (called the fiduciary) is not a mere trustee with no rights. They receive the inheritance and are entitled to use it, enjoy its fruits, and manage it — but they are bound to preserve it and transmit it to the second heir. Their rights are real but limited. They cannot simply dispose of the property as if there were no second heir, and they cannot hand it on to someone other than the person designated. Their role is that of a responsible holder, not a free owner, for as long as the obligation lasts.
What happens if the will tries to impose two degrees
If a will purports to require a first heir to pass property to a second heir, who must in turn pass it to a third, the second part of that arrangement — the requirement that the second heir also transmit the property — is not valid under Article 863. The second heir receives the property free of any fideicommissary obligation to pass it further. The second transmission simply falls away. The property reaches the second heir, and from that point it belongs to them without the burden the testator tried to impose.