Short answer. Not automatically. Under Article 1068 of the Civil Code, expenses your parents spent on a professional or vocational career are not brought to collation unless the parents expressly required it, or unless those expenses cut into the legitime of another compulsory heir.
What the law says
Expenses incurred by the parents in giving their children a professional, vocational or other career shall not be brought to collation unless the parents so provide, or unless they impair the legitime
Civil Code, Article 1068 — Career and Professional Expenses. Read the full provision →
Collation and why it matters
Collation is the process of adding back to the estate — on paper — amounts that a compulsory heir received from the decedent during their lifetime, so that shares can be equalized fairly. Without collation, a child who received hundreds of thousands in education expenses would effectively receive a larger slice of the estate than siblings who did not. The question is whether law school tuition, bar review costs, and living expenses during studies fall into this basket.
The default rule: professional career expenses are not collated
Article 1068 sets the default in your favor: expenses for a professional, vocational or other career are not brought to collation unless the parents expressly said they should be, or unless those expenses ate into the protected share (the legitime) of another heir. This reflects the idea that investing in a child's education is a normal parental duty, not an advance on inheritance. Tuition, professional fees, and related costs are presumed to be gifts of a different character — not the kind that must be returned through the estate.
Two exceptions that can override the default
First, if your parent expressly required that these expenses be collated — whether in a will, a formal statement, or perhaps a clear written instruction — that direction controls. The parent had the power to impose collation, and their choice to do so is respected. Second, if the total amount spent on your career was so large that it impaired the legitime of another compulsory heir — their protected, mandatory share — collation can be demanded even without an express direction. The law does not allow career expenses to shield what is essentially a disproportionate advance.
If collation is required, a deduction applies
Even when collation is required, the amount brought back is reduced. The Civil Code says that "the sum which the child would have spent if he had lived in the house and company of his parents shall be deducted therefrom." In practical terms, this means the education expenses are not collated in full — the ordinary living costs that would have been incurred anyway, regardless of professional training, are subtracted first. Only the net amount above those baseline costs enters the collation calculation.