Accepting or renouncing an inheritance

Do You Automatically Become an Heir?

Not necessarily.

Where Italian succession law applies, death opens the succession and identifies the persons called to inherit, but the inheritance is acquired through acceptance. Until acceptance occurs, the person called to the inheritance (chiamato all'eredità) has not yet acquired the status of heir.

Before making decisions concerning inherited property, it is often advisable to understand both the assets and the liabilities that form part of the estate.

This is particularly important where the deceased owned property in several countries or where the financial situation of the estate is not yet fully known.

The First Step Is Understanding the Estate

Before deciding whether to accept or renounce an inheritance, it is sensible to establish what the estate actually contains.

An international estate may include:

• real estate located in different countries;
• bank accounts;
• investments;
• business interests;
• debts and liabilities;
• tax obligations;
• digital assets.

Only after obtaining a reasonably complete picture of the estate can an informed decision usually be made.

For this reason, professional advice is often sought before any formal declaration is made.

Accepting an Inheritance

In many cases, heirs decide to accept the inheritance because they intend to retain the family assets and continue administering the estate.

Acceptance confirms the heir's legal position and allows the succession to proceed in accordance with the applicable law.

Under Italian law, acceptance may be express or tacit.

Express acceptance results from a written declaration by which the person called to inherit accepts the inheritance or assumes the status of heir. Tacit acceptance arises when that person performs an act that necessarily presupposes the intention to accept and that could not be performed except in the capacity of heir.

As a general rule, the right to accept an inheritance governed by Italian law is subject to a ten-year limitation period running from the opening of the succession. An interested person may also ask the court to set a shorter period within which the person called to inherit must declare whether they accept; if that period expires without a declaration, the right to accept is lost.

Can You Lose the Right to Choose?

Yes.

Apart from the ordinary limitation period, a person's conduct and, in particular, possession of hereditary assets may determine important legal consequences even if no formal declaration has yet been made.

For example, disposing of an inherited asset may constitute tacit acceptance where the act necessarily presupposes the status of heir.

A person who is in possession of hereditary assets is also subject to special inventory deadlines. As a general rule, the inventory must be completed within three months from the opening of the succession or from knowledge of the devolution, subject to extensions permitted by law; otherwise the person is treated as a pure and simple heir.

Once pure and simple acceptance has occurred, the right to renounce the inheritance is no longer available. For this reason, inherited assets should not be disposed of before the legal consequences have been assessed.

Acceptance with the Benefit of Inventory

International families sometimes discover that the financial situation of the deceased is uncertain.

The estate may include loans, unpaid taxes, guarantees or other liabilities that are not immediately apparent.

Italian law offers an important form of protection known as acceptance with the benefit of inventory.

This procedure allows the heir, under the conditions established by law, to keep the inherited assets legally separate from his or her own personal assets.

In practical terms, this may protect the heir from becoming personally responsible beyond the value of the inherited estate.

Acceptance with the benefit of inventory is a formal procedure governed by precise statutory rules. A person not in possession of hereditary assets may make the declaration while the right to accept remains available, but once the declaration has been made the inventory must generally be completed within the following three months, subject to extensions permitted by law. If the inventory is completed before the declaration, the person called to inherit normally has forty days from completion of the inventory to accept or renounce. The applicable deadlines must be examined carefully in the individual case. Failure to comply with the statutory deadlines may result in loss of the benefit of inventory and acquisition of the inheritance as a pure and simple heir.

Renouncing an Inheritance

Accepting an inheritance is not the only available option.

A person called to a succession governed by Italian law may renounce the inheritance. The renunciation must be made by a formal declaration received by a Notary or by the clerk of the court for the district in which the succession opened and entered in the succession register; an informal statement is not sufficient.

Renunciation means that the person is treated, in principle, as though he or she had never become an heir.

This solution may be appropriate for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes the estate contains significant liabilities.

Sometimes personal or family considerations lead the person to decline the inheritance.

In other situations, renunciation may simplify the succession for the remaining heirs.

Because renunciation may have important legal consequences for other family members and may affect the distribution of the estate, it should never be undertaken without fully understanding its effects.

What About Children and Vulnerable Persons?

Special rules apply where the person entitled to inherit is a minor or another individual whose interests require legal protection.

Italian law contains specific safeguards designed to protect vulnerable heirs.

Minors and interdicted persons may accept an inheritance governed by Italian law only with the benefit of inventory. Specific assisted rules apply to emancipated minors and incapacitated persons, while the position of a beneficiary of support administration depends upon the terms of the protective measure. Acceptance or renunciation may also require authorisation by the competent authority; under current procedural law, in appropriate cases the authorisation may be granted by a Notary.

International families should therefore seek advice at an early stage whenever minors or protected persons are involved in the succession.

Can You Change Your Mind?

Acceptance, once validly made, is irrevocable.

Renunciation is different. Until the right to accept has become time-barred, a person who has renounced may subsequently accept if the inheritance has not already been acquired by another person called to inherit.

Any later acceptance remains without prejudice to rights already acquired by third parties.

For this reason, decisions concerning the inheritance should not be taken hastily or under the assumption that they can always be changed later.

International Successions Require Even Greater Care

When assets are located in more than one country, deciding whether to accept or renounce an inheritance may become significantly more complex.

In a cross-border estate, the first question is which law governs the succession. Under Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012, that law governs, among other matters, the powers of heirs and the effects of acceptance or renunciation, while the Regulation also contains specific rules concerning the formal validity of declarations made in another State.

The Italian rules described in this guide therefore apply where Italian law governs the relevant succession issue; taxation and procedural formalities may nevertheless be governed by different rules.

Documents prepared abroad may need to be recognised, translated, legalised or accompanied by an apostille before they can be used in Italy.

For this reason, international heirs should normally evaluate the estate as a whole rather than considering only the Italian assets.

A coordinated legal strategy often avoids inconsistencies between different jurisdictions and makes the administration of the estate considerably more efficient.

The Role of the Italian Notary

The Italian notary assists heirs in understanding the legal consequences of accepting or renouncing an inheritance before any formal decision is taken.

Where appropriate, the Notary may advise on the requirements and consequences of acceptance with the benefit of inventory, receive the formal declarations permitted by law, coordinate the documentation required for international estates and ensure that the chosen course of action is assessed within the broader legal framework governing the succession.

For international families, the objective is not simply to complete a legal formality, but to ensure that one of the most important decisions following the death of a relative is taken with full knowledge of its legal and practical consequences.

Whether acceptance, acceptance with the benefit of inventory or renunciation is the most appropriate course of action depends upon the law governing the succession, the composition of the estate, the position of the individual heir and the specific circumstances of each international succession. A careful legal assessment at an early stage is often the best way to protect both the heirs and the estate itself.