3972 Inhertiance laws in Italy

Oh, yes!

I reckon you should get proper advice on this but belive that the children are 'second' behind the partner (or is it the other way around!!?!)

It's all very different from the UK, though so you'd best to get [b]proper[/b] advice! If that means paying a few hunderd Euros now, that's better than years of heartache for your family.

I think, you will find that in Italian Law the property is left in percentages to direct family. Your partner gets 50% and the remaining 50% shared equally between the children. It doesn't automatically all go to your partner, the percentages may not be exactly right but along those lines. I can't remember where I read the infomation, maybe on here if you try a search but you need to get a will notarised I believe.

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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Your property in Italy will subject to Italian inheritance law because the laws of succession applying to property will be the law where the property is situated[/SIZE][/FONT].[/SIZE][/FONT]
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In Italy [I]successione[/I] defines the statutory rules of inheritance governing the allocation of a deceased person’s estate. Inheritance can either be by will or without a will. In both cases, Italian law prevents the exclusion of [I]eredi legitimi[/I] (legitimate heirs) from hereditary succession, with the exception of situations described in article 463 of the Italian Civil Code.

Legitimate heirs are therefore entitled to their share ([I]quota di leggitima[/I]) of the inheritance. Legitimate heirs include the surviving spouse, children, or in the absence of children, close relatives.

When you eventually buy a property in Italy it will be best to seek legal advice on how best to structure your purchase because there are provisions that enable you to manage succession in accordance with the laws of the country where you are habitually resident.

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Charles is correct.

In Italy there are these laws of succession however it is possible to be exempt from them if you are not a citizen, which clearly you are not.

Italy has enough trouble attracting inward investment without taxing the inheritances or investments of persons who want to buy holiday homes or other assets.

My understanding is that an advocato will need to exempt you from the laws of succession and there is a mechanism for doing this but you will need assistance irrepsective of the provisions of your UK will.

All the best, and perhaps you can let the forum know how you get on.

[QUOTE=Trish]Hi ,
I am trying to find out about the Italian inheritance laws.
We have will made out in England that state that if either partner dies all our estate will go to the other and if we both die will be shared between our three children does that will stand in Italy if we by a property ?.We do not intend to reside in Italy but use the property for holidays.Also do we have to have a will made in Italian that reflects our wishes?[/QUOTE]

Trish, there are a lot of threads about your question (i.e. [url]www.italymag.co.uk/forums/legal/2110-uk-wil[/url])
Here's a response of mine from one of these:

"The inheritance law of a foreign citizen is his national law.
This is what establishes italian diritto internazionale privato (private international law).

"L. 31-5-1995 n. 218
Riforma del sistema italiano di diritto internazionale privato.
Pubblicata nella Gazz. Uff. 3 giugno 1995, n. 128, S.O.
Capo VII - Successioni
46. Successione per causa di morte.

1. La successione per causa di morte è regolata dalla legge nazionale del soggetto della cui eredità si tratta, al momento della morte.
"Inheritance is regulated by the national law of person whose legacy is dealt about, at the moment of the death" (sorry for the translation).

2. Il soggetto della cui eredità si tratta può sottoporre, con dichiarazione espressa in forma testamentaria, l'intera successione alla legge dello Stato in cui risiede. La scelta non ha effetto se al momento della morte il dichiarante non risiedeva più in tale Stato. Nell'ipotesi di successione di un cittadino italiano, la scelta non pregiudica i diritti che la legge italiana attribuisce ai legittimari residenti in Italia al momento della morte della persona della cui successione si tratta

So the point is not italian law, but english law, that I totally ignore.

Anyway, just as hypotesis, let's consider a uk citizen who owns an house in Italy:
- if the english law establishes that assets inherited abroad are regulated by the law of the country where they are situed, there could be a "ping pong" situation.
The italian law "sends" the ball to UK (the national law of deceased person)
The uk law "sends" the ball back (the national law of the country where the house is): so in this case the inheritance of the house would be regulated by the italian law, [B]not because of the italian rules, but because of the english rules[/B].

Now the question is: what happens if I'm english and I die without will (intestate) ?
According the italian law, my inheritance should follow the english law, unless the "ping pong" situation I've hypotesized.
What if I die with a will ?
It's not a matter of italian of english will, because, for the italian law

Art. 48. Forma del testamento.
1. Il testamento è valido, quanto alla forma, se è considerato tale dalla legge dello Stato nel quale il testatore ha disposto, ovvero dalla legge dello Stato di cui il testatore, al momento del testamento o della morte, era cittadino o dalla legge dello Stato in cui aveva il domicilio o la residenza.

"a will is valid if it is considered so by the law of the Country whose the deceased was citizen" (sorry again for the translation)

So an english will is as good as an italian will.
Not legal, but practical reasons might suggest an italian will: you don't need a (legal) translation of it, do not need to deposit it before a notary etc.

Just to avoid any hypotesis of legal ping pong, my advice is to establish, in the will (italian or english, it doesn't matter) that you want to regulate your inheritance with the law of the country where you live (this is allowed by the italian law, it's written above in italian)."

Italian rules are different from common law rules, as Charles stressed.
Just to be clear, a will like the one you've already done in England would be void in Italy, because it is not allowed to leave your estate to a person and after his\her death to another person.

You better ask for legal advice. Remember that in Italy the experts in this fields are the notaries.