MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Javier Díaz de León, Monica Ramos and Martín Cortina, Díaz de León Abogados
immediate access to funds for their ordinary living expenses or in the case of an emergency. The tax burden arising from co-ownership accounts may be separately agreed by the parties under a sepa - rate tax liability agreement. • Investment portfolio – The level of risk in relation to financial assets owned by family members is decreased in many circumstances when consid - ering the age of the respective client. The idea is that the investment portfolio is reduced to financial instruments that provide liquidity and value con - servation to benefit the account holder. This is an effective measure that is offered and designed by the family and private bankers. • Family committees – The integration of family investment committees is another instrument to avoid wrong investments, financial scams, and frauds on business decisions that may affect, reduce or terminate the estate of the family mem - bers due to lack of knowledge, physical and mental condition, or personal decisions (pressure, extor - tion, absence, etc). 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Mexico eliminated the distinction between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” children. All children, regardless of whether they were born within or outside marriage, enjoy the same inheritance and filiation rights. There is no concept in the Mexican legal system analogous to the common law concept of “illegitimate child” with restrictive effects in succession matters. Adopted Children The adoptee acquires the civil status of child of the adoptive parent(s), legal ties with the family of origin are extinguished (except for matrimonial impedi - ments), and the adopted child inherits on the same terms as any other descendant. Mexico does not rec - ognise simple (partial) adoption; all adoptions granted under the current law produce full effects for all legal purposes. Posthumous Children A child born within 300 days following the dissolution of the marriage (by death, annulment or divorce) is
presumed to be the child of the deceased spouse. This 300-day period, equivalent to the maximum legally recognised gestation period, establishes the presumption of paternity with respect to posthumous children. Accordingly, a child conceived before the decedent’s death but born thereafter has full capac - ity to inherit, both under a will and through intestate succession, provided the child is born alive. Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Mexico does not have a federal law on assisted reproduction. The legal framework is mostly adopted pursuant to the State Laws. For example: Tabasco and Sinaloa expressly regulate surrogacy in their civil legislation; Queretaro, Coahuila and San Luis Potosi expressly prohibit surrogacy; and other states have no specific regulation, which does not constitute a prohibition but creates significant legal uncertainty for the family. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ruled that Mexi - can individuals have a constitutional right to assisted reproduction because the Federal Constitution pro - vides Mexican residents with the freedom to decide on the number of children they have and their per - sonal family environment. Additionally, the Supreme Court stated that same-sex marriages are protected under Articles 1 and 4 of the Federal Constitution, and Articles 1 and 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights confer rights to have access to assisted reproduction. The Supreme Court has recently decided another landmark case, stating that, given the lack of a legal framework regulating surrogacy in the City of Mexico, a voluntary jurisdiction proceeding is the appropriate mechanism for submission of the surrogacy agree - ment (previously ratified by all parties before a notary public) to the Family Court for approval and to request the civil registration of children conceived under this
method. Filiation
In accordance with the Supreme Court’s criteria, filiation is determined based on procreational intent (intended parents), not solely on the genetic link or the fact of childbirth. In practice, a voluntary jurisdic -
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