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Inheritance and Succession in Informal Settlements of Latin American Cities: A Mexican Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Erika D. Grajeda  and
Peter M. Ward
Erika D. Grajeda
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
Peter M. Ward
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
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Abstract

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Latin American urban areas often comprise large low-income former shantytown areas that originated as illegal land captures and that have been consolidated through self-build over thirty years or more. Today most of the original households still live in their homes, often alongside adult children (and grandchildren). As part of the Latin American Housing Network study (www.lahn.utexas.org), this article reports on survey research for Mexico and describes the stability and nature of these shared arrangements and the considerable asset value now represented by these properties. Although these properties are often considered patrimonio para los hijos, many consolidator pioneers are aging, so that the issue of property inheritance has become salient, especially for second-generation adult children and their families. However, fewer than 10 percent of owners have wills, and most will die intestate, often having made verbal inheritance arrangements regarding their “estate.” This augurs the rise of a new round of informality of property holding that bears little relation to the national and state legal provisions that actually govern inheritance succession, whether through wills or via intestacy provisions. The article describes the various legal codes that prevail in Mexico relating to marriage and acquisition and assigning of property upon death, and it offers several case scenarios of interfamilial and intragenerational conflict, especially insofar as these relate to gender and social constructions of inheritance rights among the poor.

Resumo

Resumo

Las urbes latinoamericanas suelen contener áreas masivas de asentamientos de origen informal ya consolidados dado los esfuerzos de autoconstrucción y autogestión de sus habitantes en un transcurso de más de treinta años. Hoy en día la gran mayoría de los hogares fundadores o pioneros permanecen en estos asentamientos, y en muchos casos, con sus hijas e hijos adultos y sus respectivas familias. Como parte de la Red Latinoamericana de Vivienda, este artículo presenta los principales hallazgos relativos a la estabilidad residencial e índole de arreglos intergeneracionales de convivencia en México y Bogotá, como también datos sobre el valor actual de estos inmuebles que en muchos casos alcanzan a US$45.000 o más. Si bien se ha considerado que la vivienda es un “patrimonio para los hijos”, hoy en día muchos de los dueños originales (pioneros) se encuentran en edad avanzada, tanto que el tema de la sucesión y herencia se ha convertido en un tema fundamental para las segundas generaciones y sus familias. Sin embargo, menos del 10 por ciento de los propietarios cuentan con un testamento y por lo tanto, la mayoría muere intestado, optando en su lugar por una serie de arreglos sucesorios orales e informales. Se muestra que una nueva ronda de informalidad está surgiendo a raíz de estos arreglos informales que se encuentran fuera de las provisiones legales de la sucesión. Este artículo describe las normas legales que regulan la sucesión en México como lo es la propiedad marital y leyes sucesorias, y presenta también una serie de casos de conflictos familiares e intergeneracionales que subrayan temas de género en cuestiones de herencia en asentamientos de índole informal.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 47 , Issue S1: Special Issue , 2012 , pp. 139 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Latin American Studies Association

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