A collation can be characterised in the most general way as an institute that leads to the taking into account of gratuitous performance from the testator's estate when determining inheritance shares or compulsory portions. The aim of collation with respect to a compulsory portion is primarily to equalise the position of the individual forced heirs.
However, collation with respect to a compulsory portion may also extend the testator's freedom of disposition, which is particularly evident in cases where there is only one non-nominal heir. The main focus of this articleis to answer the questions of what all can be subject to collation with respect to a compulsory portion and to what extend the testator can influence this.