The Civil Code of Seychelles came into operation on 1 July 2021, leaves articles 914 to 930 vacant and gives article 913 a different job, so the reserved portion is gone. Where a person dies testate, article 913 now lets a court order provision for a dependant the will fails to provide for. Wills executed earlier keep the old law.
For most of its legal history Seychelles told a testator how much of their estate they were allowed to give away. The share that was left over belonged to the children by operation of law, and no will could reach it. That is no longer the rule. In the Civil Code of Seychelles now in force, the articles that carried it are printed as vacant, and the protection they gave has been replaced by something a court has to be asked for.
Key Takeaways
- The Civil Code of Seychelles came into operation on 1 July 2021 by statutory instrument.
- Articles 914 to 930 are vacant in it and article 913 does a different job, so the reserved portion is gone.
- The new article 913 lets a dependent partner, child or parent apply to the court for provision out of a succession where the deceased left a will.
- A will executed before 1 July 2021 is still governed by the law that applied when it was made.
- Inheriting immovable property in Seychelles as a non-Seychellois is an exception to the sanction requirement rather than an application for one.
What the old rule actually said
The repealed Civil Code, which the Seychelles Registration Division still publishes, stated the position as a limit on generosity rather than as an entitlement. Its article 913 provided that a gift during life or by will shall not exceed one half of the property of the donor if he leaves at death one child, one third if he leaves two children, and one fourth if he leaves three or more children.
That is the disposable portion. The reserve is its arithmetic complement.
| Children surviving | Disposable | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| One | One half | One half |
| Two | One third | Two thirds |
| Three or more | One quarter | Three quarters |
Article 914 added that "children" there included descendants of any degree, counted in the place of the child they represent.
There was a second reserve for the generation above, stated the same way round. Where there was no child, article 915-2 capped gifts during life or by will at one half of the property where the deceased left ascendants in both the paternal and maternal lines, and three quarters where they left ascendants in one line only. So that reserve was one half and one quarter respectively, shrinking as the protected generation did.
A whole chapter of machinery ran off those fractions: gifts made during life were brought back into the calculation, dispositions exceeding the disposable portion were liable to be cut down, and a donee had to restore income on the excess. None of it survives.
What is in its place
The Civil Code of Seychelles Act, 2020 was assented to on 23 November 2020 and published in the Official Gazette supplement of 4 January 2021. In the Code it enacts, articles 914 to 930 appear as a single line: vacant.
Article 913 itself is reused for something else. Where a person dies having made a will that does not make adequate provision for the maintenance of a person the article names, the court may on application make such provision out of the succession as it thinks fit. Those who may apply are the survivor of a qualifying relationship, and children and parents who were wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for maintenance at the time of the death. A third party may apply for them, and the court may treat one application as made on behalf of all who could apply.
Provision may be made by lump sum or by periodical or other payment, and the incidence of any payment ordered falls rateably on the whole succession.
Four differences are worth naming plainly. The old share was automatic; the new one has to be applied for. The old share was a fraction; the new one is whatever the court thinks fit. The old share belonged to children regardless of need; the new one belongs to people who were actually dependent. And it reached only descendants and ascendants, where the new claim includes the survivor of a qualifying relationship.
The date that decides which regime a family is under
Neither of the two obvious answers is the right one. It is not decided by when the person died, and it is not decided by when the estate is administered.
The Code came into operation on 1 July 2021, appointed by the Civil Code of Seychelles Act, 2020 (Commencement) Notice, 2021, made on 24 June 2021. Then section 9(3) of the Civil Code of Seychelles (Consequence of Enactment) Act, 2021 provides that all wills and marital property contracts executed before the commencement of that Act shall be governed by the enactments and the rules of construction and law which would have applied to them if the Act had not been passed.
Two Acts and one date, and the second Act joins them itself. Section 9(3) is keyed to the commencement of the Consequence of Enactment Act rather than of the Code, and section 2 of that same Act provides that it shall come into operation on the same date that the Civil Code of Seychelles Act, 2020 comes into operation. So the date the Minister appointed for the Code is the date the transitional rule turns on as well.
So a will signed in Victoria, Mahé, in 2015 is read under the reserved-portion rules, and one signed in 2022 is not, whatever year the testator dies in.
A further provision points the same way. The Civil Code of Seychelles (Amendment) Act, 2021 inserted a new section 3A providing that the repeal of the old Code does not affect its previous operation, or anything duly done under it, or any right, interest, privilege, obligation or liability acquired or accrued under it, and that no loss of a right occurring before commencement is revived by the new Act.
Where the succession opens, and who holds it
Three articles set the frame for anybody dealing with an estate from abroad.
Article 718 provides that a succession opens on death, and that it opens at the place of the deceased's last domicile. Domicile rather than residence, nationality or the location of the assets.
Article 721 then decides who holds the estate while it is being wound up, and it turns on one fact. Where a succession includes immovable property, the succession vests in an executor. Where it includes no immovable property, it vests as of right in the people entitled under article 731, subject to the duty to discharge all the debts of the succession. So whether there is a house in it changes the machinery, not merely the value.
Article 720 covers the case where there are no heirs at all: the Curator of Vacant Estates takes possession, and an unclaimed estate is deemed held on behalf of the Republic a year after the vesting order.
Who takes when there is no will
Article 731 provides that the succession devolves upon the descendants, the ascendants, the collateral relatives and the surviving partner to a qualifying relationship. Article 732 adds a principle that matters for an estate spread across two countries: in regulating the order of succession the law considers neither the nature nor the origin of the property.
Where an estate passes to ascendants or collaterals, article 733 divides it into two equal parts, one for the paternal line and one for the maternal, with relatives of the full blood taking in both lines.
Article 726 excludes some people entirely: a person convicted of the murder or attempted murder of the deceased, and a person convicted of an intentional criminal act that led to their death, are unworthy to succeed, testate or intestate. Article 727 makes such an heir return the property and any income enjoyed from it.
Owning what you inherit
One further statute is worth knowing about before assuming a foreign beneficiary can simply be handed a title.
The Immovable Property (Transfer Restriction) Act, in the consolidation the Registration Division publishes, provides that a non-Seychellois may not purchase or acquire by any means whatsoever, whether for valuable consideration or not, any immovable property in Seychelles or any right in it, without first obtaining the sanction of the Minister. The prohibition is drawn as widely as it could be, and it carves out two things by name: acquisition by way of succession, and acquisition under a court order settling matrimonial property in a divorce.
Inheriting is on the right side of that line. Selling afterwards, and anything that looks like a purchase arranged through an intermediary, is what the Act is written to catch.
What this guide does not settle
Whether Seychelles law governs a particular estate at all is a conflict-of-laws question turning on domicile and on the assets, and article 718 supplies only the starting point. How money from a Seychellois estate is treated once it reaches Australia is a question of Australian law and of a person's own circumstances; the guide to finding an accountant covers how to find somebody qualified to answer it. The property statute cited here carries its own consolidation date, and any statute should be checked in its current form.
Where to look next
The Seychellois rupee to Australian dollar page carries the live reference rate, and the reverse pair covers money going the other way. For the mechanics of moving a distribution once it has been agreed, how international transfers work covers the route, and understanding transfer fees covers what is taken along it.
Sources
- Government of Seychelles, Civil Code of Seychelles Act, 2020 - the enacting Act and the Code in its schedule: article 913 on provision for dependants, the vacant articles 914 to 930, article 718 on where a succession opens, 720 and 721 on vesting, 726 and 727 on unworthiness, and 731 to 734 on the order of succession
- Government of Seychelles, Civil Code of Seychelles Act, 2020 (Commencement) Notice, 2021 - S.I. 44 of 2021, made 24 June 2021, appointing 1 July 2021 as the date the Act came into operation
- Government of Seychelles, Civil Code of Seychelles (Consequence of Enactment) Act, 2021 - section 2, under which the Act commences on the same date as the Civil Code Act, section 9(3) preserving the old law for wills executed before that commencement, and the repeals made alongside it
- Seychelles Registration Division, Civil Code of Seychelles (Amendment) Act, 2021 - Act 25 of 2021, which inserts the new section 3A preserving rights accrued under the repealed Code, and whose amendments do not touch articles 913 to 930
- Seychelles Registration Division, Civil Code of Seychelles (Cap 33) - the repealed Code, including old article 913 on the disposable portion, article 914 on descendants, and article 915-2 capping gifts where ascendants survive
- Seychelles Registration Division, Immovable Property (Transfer Restriction) Act (Cap 95) - section 3(1) restricting acquisition by a non-Seychellois without the Minister's sanction, and the exception for acquisition by way of succession
General information about how another country's succession law is written. Not legal advice, not financial advice, and not a statement about any particular estate. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.
Common questions
Does Seychelles still reserve a share of an estate for children?
Not under the Civil Code that took effect on 1 July 2021. In that Code articles 914 to 930 are printed as vacant and article 913 is given a different job, so the chapter that fixed the disposable portion by the number of children is gone. What stands in its place, where the deceased left a will, is a discretionary application to the court by a dependant, which is a different mechanism with a different test.
What was the old rule?
The repealed Code stated it as a ceiling on giving rather than as a floor for children. A gift during life or by will could not exceed one half of the donor's property where one child survived, one third where two survived, and one quarter where three or more survived. The remainder was the reserve, and no testamentary provision could reach it.
Who can bring the new claim?
Article 913 opens with a person who dies testate, so it is a claim against a will. Within that it names the survivor of a qualifying relationship, and children and parents of the deceased who were wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for maintenance at the time of death. The court may make such provision out of the succession as it thinks fit, by lump sum or periodical payment, and the incidence falls rateably on the whole succession.
Which rule applies to a will made years ago?
The old one. Section 9(3) of the Civil Code of Seychelles (Consequence of Enactment) Act, 2021 provides that all wills executed before the commencement of the Act are governed by the enactments and rules of construction and law that would have applied had the Act not been passed. The date on the document decides it.
Does a foreign heir need permission to inherit land in Seychelles?
Not to inherit it. The Immovable Property (Transfer Restriction) Act bars a non-Seychellois from acquiring immovable property in Seychelles without the Minister's sanction, and then carves out acquisition by way of succession, alongside a court order settling matrimonial property in a divorce. Buying is the restricted act; succeeding is named as the exception.