The Compulsory Share and Its Purpose
A will is the primary instrument for distributing an inheritance, yet the law protects certain close relatives regardless of its content: the decedent's children, parents and spouse are entitled, irrespective of the content of the will, to a compulsory share, which must be half of the share that each of them would have received in intestate succession. This means that even a strict will cannot exclude these persons from a minimum participation in the estate — the compulsory share is half of their lawful expectation, and its volume does not shrink because the will disfavours them.
The idea is straightforward: where a will leaves a close relative nothing or very little, the law still limits the testator's freedom and secures a guaranteed minimum for the closest family — and in practice the calculation of that minimum is what most disputes turn on.