Short answer. Five years. Article 1040 requires an action to declare an heir incapable and recover the inheritance, devise, or legacy to be filed within five years from when the disqualified person took possession of it. Any person with an interest in the succession may bring the action, not only the other heirs.
What the law says
The action for a declaration of incapacity and for the recovery of the inheritance, devise or legacy shall be brought within five years from the time the disqualified person took possession thereof.
Civil Code, Article 1040 — Five Years to Declare Incapacity. Read the full provision →
What the law says
It may be brought by any one who may have an interest in the succession.
Civil Code, Article 1040 — Five Years to Declare Incapacity. Read the full provision →
The five-year clock starts at possession, not death
Article 1040 sets a firm deadline measured from a specific event. It provides that the action for a declaration of incapacity and for the recovery of the inheritance, devise or legacy shall be brought within five years from the time the disqualified person took possession thereof. The countdown does not begin when the decedent died or even when the disqualified person was first named an heir; it begins when that person actually took possession of the inheritance, devise, or legacy in question. Missing that five-year window generally forecloses the action entirely.
Who can bring the action
The right to sue is not limited to a narrow class of relatives. The article states that the action may be brought by any one who may have an interest in the succession. This includes anyone whose own share or interest in the estate would be affected by allowing the disqualified person to keep what they received, not only the co-heirs standing to directly inherit the recovered property. The breadth of who can sue reflects that a disqualified heir's possession is a defect in the succession itself, which anyone with a real stake in it can challenge.
Why the deadline is tied to possession
Measuring the period from possession, rather than from death or from when the disqualifying fact occurred, gives interested parties a concrete, observable trigger: once the disqualified person is actually holding and enjoying the inheritance, everyone with an interest in the succession is on notice that something needs to be done if the disqualification is going to be raised. Waiting significantly longer than five years from that point risks the claim being time-barred, regardless of how clear the grounds for disqualification might otherwise be.
What this means if you suspect a disqualified heir
If you believe an heir should be excluded because of a legal ground for incapacity to inherit, act promptly once that person has taken possession of the inheritance, devise, or legacy at issue. The five-year period under Article 1040 runs regardless of whether the other heirs were actively pursuing the matter, so delay in raising the issue, even out of a wish to avoid family conflict, carries the real risk of losing the right to recover the property altogether.