While you still can choose: three documents that keep your family out of disputes

What the numbers show

About 26,000 people die in Latvia every year, but only about 3,000 make a will before a notary [1][2]. In the great majority of inheritance cases, then, it is the law that decides, not the person.

The numbers tell one story: for every two marriages there is one divorce, yet fewer than one couple in ten signs a marriage contract. Every year a court restricts the legal capacity of more than 500 people and the orphan's court appoints a guardian, even though since 2013 the law has let people make that choice themselves, in advance.

The Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries calls these three documents the most important ones in every person's personal archive [3]. This article shows why, and what each of them means in real life.

1. A will: so that relatives do not have to fight

The situation. A father dies at 68. He leaves a flat in Riga, a summer house and two children: a daughter who lived with him for the last five years and looked after him, and a son who lives in England and has been home twice. There is no will. The law treats both children as equal heirs, and the flat the daughter lives in now belongs to both of them, half each. The son wants his share in cash. The daughter does not have that kind of money. A conversation begins that ends in court.

What happens without a will. Without a will, the statutory heirs inherit in the order set by law: first the spouse and the children. The spouse receives a child's share if there are fewer than four children, and a quarter if there are four or more (Civil Law, Sections 392 and 393) [5]. The law does not know which child cared for the parent and which did not. That is not the law's fault. The law simply fills the gap the person left.

What the law says about wills.

• Any adult may make a will, as may minors from the age of 16 regarding their free property. A person under guardianship may also make one (CL Section 420) [5].
• The testator may freely dispose of all their property, but those entitled to a compulsory share (the spouse and descendants) must be left that share. It is a claim for money, not a right to a particular item (CL Sections 422 and 423) [5]. In other words, the flat can be left to the daughter, and the son keeps the right to claim his share in money, but not half of the flat.
• A public will is made before a notary or the orphan's court, with the testator present in person (CL Sections 433 and 434) [5].
• A private will is written and signed by the testator by hand (CL Section 446). It can be deposited with a notary, and it then has the force of a public will (CL Sections 438 and 439) [5].
• Public and deposited wills are entered in the Register of Public Wills, kept by the Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries (Notariate Law, Section 249.¹) [6]. So such a will does not get lost or "accidentally" destroyed.

An alternative. If you want the heir to know and be able to rely on it, there is the inheritance contract (CL Sections 639 and 640). It cannot be revoked unilaterally, and a later will does not cancel it [5]. 78% of notaries' clients do not know this option exists [3].

The takeaway. A will is not about death. It is about leaving clarity behind, not a dispute.

2. A lasting power of attorney: if tomorrow you can no longer decide for yourself

The situation. A 42-year-old business owner falls into a coma after a car accident. The mortgage, the company account and the family car are in his name. His wife cannot pay the loan instalment from his account, cannot sign company documents and cannot even get full information from the bank. The bank is doing the right thing: without a power of attorney it is not allowed to. The only way is through a court and the orphan's court, which takes months.

What happens without one. Only a court can restrict legal capacity, and only to the extent that a person cannot understand the meaning of their actions or control them (CL Section 358.¹) [5]. The orphan's court then appoints a guardian. In 2024 this happened to 502 people, and orphan's courts supervised 3,818 guardianship cases [4]. The guardian is chosen by an authority, not by the person, and the process is public, long and emotionally hard on the family.

An ordinary power of attorney does not help here. An ordinary power of attorney can be presented, but once the principal can no longer understand their actions its validity becomes disputed, and many institutions no longer accept it. That is exactly why a new instrument was added to the Civil Law in 2013.

What the law says.

• With a lasting power of attorney, the principal instructs the attorney to manage their affairs if, because of health problems or other reasons, they become unable to understand the meaning of their actions and control them (CL Section 2317.¹) [7].
• The contract is made as a notarial deed, with both parties present in person, and is entered in the register of lasting powers of attorney (CL Section 2317.²; Notariate Law, Section 45.¹) [7][6].
• The contract takes effect on the day it is signed, but the attorney may start acting only once it has been established and registered, in the procedure set by a special law, that the principal is temporarily or permanently unable to understand their actions (CL Section 2317.³) [7]. That condition is established by a commission of doctors under the Medical Treatment Law [8].
• If the attorney fails to perform their duties or acts against the principal's interests, a court may suspend their rights (CL Section 2317.⁴). The authority may not be delegated further (CL Section 2317.⁶) [7].
• If the person regains the ability to decide, the attorney's authority stops; the power also ends in the general cases, for example on revocation or death (CL Sections 2317.⁵ and 2312) [7].

Who it is for. Not only older people. The Council of Sworn Notaries gives exactly the example of a coma after an accident, when an adult child or spouse can use the accounts to pay for treatment or support the children [3]. Almost 40,000 powers of attorney are issued in Latvia each year, yet the lasting power of attorney is still rare [3].

The takeaway. A power of attorney you sign while healthy is the only one that works when you are ill.

3. A marriage contract: agree while there is still something to talk about

The situation. Before the wedding she buys a flat with a mortgage. After the wedding the loan is paid from the joint account and the renovation is done together, but the property stays in her name. Meanwhile he starts a business and guarantees the company's loan. Eight years later they divorce. He says: "Half the flat is mine, I paid for it." She says: "The flat is mine, and your debts are yours." Both are right and both are wrong. In case of doubt the law presumes that property acquired jointly belongs to both in equal shares (CL Section 89) [5], and after eight years it is almost impossible to prove what was "acquired jointly".

Why now. A marriage contract can be made before the marriage or during it (CL Section 114) [5]. In practice, though, it can only be made while both can still talk calmly. If you cannot agree about money while the relationship is good, you will not manage it in the middle of a dispute. So a marriage contract is not a sign of distrust. It is proof that you can talk openly about money.

What the law says.

• Without a contract, the statutory property regime applies: each keeps their pre-marital property, while property acquired during the marriage jointly or with both spouses' means is joint property (CL Section 89) [5].
• In the contract you can choose separation of all property or community of all property (CL Section 116). Under separation, each spouse acquires property independently during the marriage and deals with it independently of the other (CL Section 117) [5].
• The contract is made before a notary, with both present in person; representatives are not allowed (CL Section 115) [5].
• For the contract to bind third parties, such as a bank or a creditor, it must be entered in the register of spouses' property relations, and for real estate also in the Land Register (CL Section 115) [5]. The register is kept by the Register of Enterprises [9].
• The contract does not change inheritance rights: the surviving spouse inherits regardless of the property regime (CL Section 392) [5].

What practice shows. The number of marriage contracts is growing: 897 in 2014, 1,160 in 2016 [3]. Separation of property is the most common choice, and more and more often the reason is one spouse's business or large loans, so that the debts do not touch the other's property [3]. Still, against 10,457 marriages in 2025 [1], that is fewer than one couple in ten.

The takeaway. A marriage contract does not protect against divorce. It protects against divorce turning into a war.

The three documents at a glance

All three are made before a notary, all three are registered, and all three can be changed while you are of sound mind.

Conclusions

All three documents solve the same problem: they put your decision in place at a moment when you can no longer make it yourself. A will speaks after your death, a lasting power of attorney speaks while you are alive but unable to decide, and a marriage contract speaks when emotions no longer allow a calm conversation.

The numbers show that only a minority in Latvia use these documents: about 3,000 wills before notaries against 26,000 deaths, about 1,000 marriage contracts against 10,000 marriages, and hundreds of guardianship cases a year that could have been covered by a lasting power of attorney. That means that in the great majority of families the most important decisions are made by the law, a court or the orphan's court.

What to do this week

1. Write down on a sheet of paper who you want to leave your property to and why. That is the draft of your will.
2. Choose one person you would trust with your accounts and decisions if tomorrow you could not decide yourself. Talk to them.
3. If you are married or about to be, discuss one question with your partner: what belongs to whom, and what happens to debts.
4. Book an appointment with a notary. All three documents can be done in one or two visits.

How LexAI helps here. Before going to the notary it is worth understanding your own situation: what the law provides if there is no document, what the compulsory share is, how a loan affects the spouses' property. LexAI prepares an opinion with the specific section, the date of the version and a link to likumi.lv, and says honestly where you need a notary or a lawyer. Registration at lexai.lv is free, and the first time the author helps you personally.

Author: Ivars Bajārs, lawyer, creator of LexAI. This article is information, not individual legal advice. Legal provisions checked on likumi.lv on 17 October 2026. Translated from the Latvian original.

References

Statistics

1. Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Information release "Demography 2025" and press release on population change (in Latvian). Deaths 26,109; marriages 10,457; divorces 5,111 (2025, provisional).
2. Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries. "Wills and timely transfer of property" (in Latvian): about 3,000 wills a year before notaries.
3. Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries. "The three most important documents every person should have in their personal archive" (in Latvian): 30% growth in public wills; 78% unaware of the inheritance contract; marriage contracts 897 (2014), 1,029 (2015), 1,160 (2016); almost 40,000 powers of attorney a year.
4. State Inspectorate for Protection of Children's Rights. Analytical report on the work of orphan's courts in 2024 (in Latvian): 3,818 guardianship cases; guardians appointed for 502 persons.

Legal provisions (checked on likumi.lv on 17.10.2026)

5. Civil Law. Part One. Family Law: Sections 89, 114–117, 358.¹. Part Two. Inheritance Law: Sections 392, 393, 420–423, 433, 434, 438, 439, 446, 639, 640.
6. Notariate Law: Section 45.¹ (register of lasting powers of attorney), Section 249.¹ (Register of Public Wills).
7. Civil Law. Part Four. Law of Obligations: Sections 2312, 2317.¹–2317.⁷ (lasting power of attorney, in force since 01.07.2013).
8. Saeima. "The Medical Treatment Law will include rules essential for implementing lasting powers of attorney" (in Latvian): opinion of a commission of doctors on the inability to understand and control one's actions.
9. Law "On the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia": the register of spouses' property relations is kept by the Register of Enterprises.

A note on the data. There is no single record of all wills in Latvia, because private wills can be kept at home. The Council of Sworn Notaries' figures on marriage contracts cover 2014–2016; the author found no newer public data. The CSB data for 2025 are provisional.