810 Can a trust own Italian property

Trusts in Italy are called "fondazioni", that is as much as I can help.
I have been given the name of a company of international lawyers, you might try to contact them:

Giambrone & Law
International Law Practice

Tel: (0044) 208 301 8671
Fax: (0044) 208 301 8149

Good luck!

Paola

[QUOTE=Licciana]Does anyone know if Italian law recognises trusts as we do in the UK? If so could a trust be set up to own an Italian property for the beneficiaries of the trust?

I'm trying to avoid UK inheritance tax applying to our Italian property, but don't know if it will be legal in Italy.[/QUOTE]

Yes you can
Even if trusts are an english legal invention, they are now allowed by the italian law and by the courts.

That's great news. Thanks to you both for your responses.

suggest you look at the first question and answer in yesterday's Sunday Times Money section.It's more about capital gains than inheritance tax but still worth reading as CGT is something to be concerned about as much as IHT. Perhaps you should be considering an UK Trust rather than an Italian one if you live in the UK?

Yes, I was thinking of a UK trust, but I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the legal entity would have to work similarly in both territories. I understand that the rules of taxation are different and I'll need to investigate whether such a move would cause an increase in tax on the Italian end.

Would an Italian recognised trust get round Italian inheritance rules?

[QUOTE=Licciana]Yes, I was thinking of a UK trust, but I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the legal entity would have to work similarly in both territories. I understand that the rules of taxation are different and I'll need to investigate whether such a move would cause an increase in tax on the Italian end.

Would an Italian recognised trust get round Italian inheritance rules?[/QUOTE]

The inheritance rules are the english rules if the trust is a trust submitted to the english law (you can do it)

Hello

we came across to the same problem when we decided to buy our house in Abruzzo and, as my husband is a sole trader, we were wondering whether it would have been tax effective to buy via an English trust.

As Paola suggested before, we also used Giambrone & Law (info@giambronelaw.co.uk or 0208 301 8671) which have a dedicated Real Estate Department who also solves problems about Tax and Inheritance.

You could also try Studio Pini (studiopini.co.uk) or John Howell (don't know the website) and compare their fees before instructing any specific firm!

Just make sure that, whoever solicitor you appoint, they are qualified also as Avvocati so that they are fluent with Italian case law about trusts and tax.

Regards

Laura

I cannot believe that any country will allow you to use foreign law to sidestep their own civil code or legal system. The Trustee Act, 1925 is a minefield even in UK. I would be interested to know if there are any stated cases of this in Italy. Fondazioni has its own restrictions and does not appear to be widely used.

[QUOTE=cardi]I cannot believe that any country will allow you to use foreign law to sidestep their own civil code or legal system. The Trustee Act, 1925 is a minefield even in UK. I would be interested to know if there are any stated cases of this in Italy. Fondazioni has its own restrictions and does not appear to be widely used.[/QUOTE]

Even if it could be hard to belive, you can.
In 1989 Italy enacted a Law that has ratified the The Hague Convention of 1st July 1985 about trusts.
Article 6 of the Convention, establishes that the person who found a trust can choose the national law under which the trust will be regulated.

After some strong doubts in the beginning, (after all is a sort of legal "transplant", with possible reject crisis) now trusts are becoming more and more familiar and used, even to transfer propreties.
Many findings have been issued about the possibilities to inscribe the trust in the land register (conservatoria) too.
Last cases are about the possibility to establish a trust in a divorce procedure, (Tribunale Milano 23.2.2005) or in a bankruptcy procedure (Tribunale Parma 3.3.2005).

Since it is an almost "alien" procedure, I agree that trust could be a minefield, so there is theorically no problem to do it in Italy, but I think that is necessary to be careful

There is a usefull link too:
[url]www.il-trust-in-italia.it[/url]