A relative dies and leaves a house in Italy — often a family home in a Sicilian town that nobody has lived in for years. From abroad the situation can look impossible: no one is sure who owns what, the deeds are decades old, and the heirs are spread across two or three countries. In practice it is a procedure with clear steps and clear deadlines. This guide sets out what those steps are, and where the traps lie.

There is no probate in Italy

This surprises almost every client from a common-law country. Italian law has no probate court, no grant of representation and no executor appointed to administer the estate. At the moment of death the assets pass directly to the heirs, who step into the deceased’s position — including, as a rule, into their debts. What replaces probate is a set of formalities: accepting the inheritance, filing a succession declaration with the tax authority, and updating the land registry. Nothing happens automatically, and nothing expires quietly either: an unclaimed Italian property stays in the deceased’s name until someone deals with it, which is why so many Sicilian houses are still registered to a grandparent.

Which country’s law governs the estate

For deaths from 17 August 2015, EU Regulation 650/2012 applies. The general rule is that the whole estate — movable and immovable, wherever it is — is governed by the law of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at the time of death, not by the law of the country where the house happens to be. The deceased could, however, have chosen in a will the law of their nationality. The Regulation applies universally: an Italian court will use it even where the law it points to is that of a non-EU state.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly. If Italian law governs the succession, the estate is subject to forced heirship: the spouse, the children and, in their absence, the ascendants are entitled to a reserved share that a will cannot take away from them. A will drafted abroad on the assumption of complete freedom of testation may therefore be challenged in part. The Regulation also created the European Certificate of Succession, a document issued in one member state and recognised in the others, which allows an heir to prove their status to an Italian bank, notary or land registry without a separate local procedure.

Accepting — or refusing — the inheritance

Being named an heir does not make you one: you become an heir by accepting. Acceptance can be express, in a written deed, or tacit, by doing something only an heir could legitimately do — collecting rent, selling a piece of furniture, paying a debt of the estate out of its assets. This matters because tacit acceptance is easy to trigger by accident, and once you have accepted outright you answer for the deceased’s debts with your own assets. The right to accept lapses after ten years from the death.

Where the estate’s liabilities are unknown — unpaid taxes, a mortgage, a guarantee given years ago — the safe route is acceptance with benefit of inventory, which keeps the estate separate from your own assets so that you never pay more than you inherit. It has strict time limits, shorter for an heir already in possession of the property, and it is compulsory for minors and protected adults. The alternative is to renounce, by a formal declaration before a notary or a court registrar; renunciation is all or nothing, and the share passes on to the next in line, so in a family it is worth coordinating rather than each heir deciding alone.

The succession declaration and the tax

The dichiarazione di successione must be filed electronically with the Italian Revenue Agency within twelve months of the death. It is a tax return, not an act of acceptance, and it is what allows the land registry records to be updated so that the property finally appears in the heirs’ names.

Italian inheritance tax is far lighter than most foreign clients expect, because of generous allowances per beneficiary:

• Spouse and direct line (children, parents): 4% on the value above €1,000,000 per beneficiary.
• Brothers and sisters: 6% above €100,000 per beneficiary.
• Other relatives up to the fourth degree and relatives by marriage: 6%, with no allowance.
• Everyone else: 8%, with no allowance.

On real property there are two further taxes: mortgage tax at 2% and cadastral tax at 1% of the cadastral value, each with a €200 minimum. If one of the heirs can claim the first-home relief, those two become a flat €200 each — a substantial saving that is often overlooked. For estates opened from 1 January 2025 the tax is self-assessed: the heirs calculate and pay it themselves rather than waiting for an assessment from the Revenue Agency, with instalments available above a modest threshold. Note that the taxable base for a house is its cadastral value, normally well below market value, which is why the bill is usually smaller than the headline rates suggest.

When there are several heirs

Most inherited Sicilian properties end up owned by several people at once, in undivided shares. No co-heir can sell the house on their own: the sale needs all of them, or a court-ordered division. Any co-heir can demand that division at any time, and if agreement proves impossible the court can order the property to be sold and the proceeds shared. There is also a rule foreign clients rarely know: a co-heir who wants to sell their share to an outsider must first offer it to the other co-heirs, who have a right of pre-emption and, if they are bypassed, can take the share back from the buyer. Where one branch of the family lives abroad and another has been using the house for years, these are the provisions that decide the outcome.

The documents, and what they cost you in time

Every heir needs an Italian tax code — free, and obtainable through a consulate or by proxy. Beyond that the file usually needs the death certificate, proof of the family relationship, the will if there is one, the deeds and cadastral records of the property, and a statement of the estate’s assets. Documents issued abroad generally need an apostille and a sworn Italian translation, and it is at this stage that most delays occur, not in the Italian procedure itself. The records on the Italian side — old deeds, cadastral plans, whether a previous succession was ever filed — can be retrieved locally.

One recurring problem deserves a mention: if the succession of an earlier generation was never filed, that one has to be regularised first. It is normally still possible, with late-filing penalties that are modest compared with the value of finally having clear title.

Keeping the house, or selling it

Once the property is yours, the running costs are the ordinary ones: IMU property tax, which is due in full on a second home and is not waived because you live abroad, TARI waste tax, condominium charges if the building has them, and utilities. A non-resident owner who ignores condominium charges can expect an injunction from the building’s administrator, enforceable against the property itself.

If you decide to sell, two things must be in place: the succession declaration and the land registry update, and the property’s planning compliance — the built state must match what the municipal records authorise. Older Sicilian houses frequently contain works carried out decades ago without a permit, or covered by an amnesty application that was never completed, and a buyer’s notary will stop the sale over it. That is worth checking at the start rather than the week before the deed. One piece of good news: a property received by inheritance is not subject to Italian capital gains tax when you sell it, whatever the interval.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to travel to Italy to inherit?

No. The whole procedure can be handled through a power of attorney signed abroad before a notary or an Italian consulate, with the required apostille or legalisation, and consultations can take place by video call.

What happens if the deceased had debts?

An heir who accepts outright answers for the deceased’s debts with their own assets. Accepting with benefit of inventory keeps the two estates separate, so your liability is limited to what you inherit. Renouncing is also possible. The decision should come before you touch anything belonging to the estate, because some acts amount to tacit acceptance.

The succession was never filed and the death was years ago. Is it too late?

Usually not. A late succession declaration can still be filed, with penalties that are generally modest, and earlier generations can be regularised in sequence. The separate ten-year limit on accepting an inheritance is what needs checking first in an old case.

Can one heir force the others to sell?

No co-heir can sell the property alone, but any of them can ask a court to divide the estate. Where a house cannot sensibly be divided, the court can order it sold and the proceeds distributed among the co-heirs.

Related guides: Tax code, power of attorney and bank account · Citizenship by descent · All guides for foreigners ↗

This page is general information, not legal advice on your specific case. Tax rules and thresholds are those in force at the time of writing.