The children belong to the first class of heirs and, according to the principles of the legal order of succession, the estate is divided in equal shares amongst the relatives of the same class and degree of kinship, unless the law provides otherwise.

It is also possible to assign property to descendants in equal shares through a will.

In legal succession and inheritance through a will the descendants may be in competition with the surviving spouse, but that has no effect on treating the descendants equally. It is possible that, through a will, the descendants are not treated equally, but each of them is guaranteed a certain share of the inheritance, i.e., the reserved portion of the estate.

According to Art. 1086 of the Civil Code, the reserved portion is the share of the assets of an estate to which forced heirs are entitled by law, even against the will of the deceased as expressed by gifts or instances of disinheritance.