Inheritance and Succession Law
Pozzi-Castronovo Law Firm provides contentious and non-contentious legal advice and representation in matters concerning inheritance, succession, intergenerational transfers of wealth and the protection of the rights of heirs, legatees and forced heirs.
The Firm’s work encompasses succession planning, the drafting and interpretation of testamentary dispositions, the identification and reconstruction of the estate, the management of relationships between co-heirs and the resolution of disputes arising following the opening of a succession. Before accepting an inheritance, the Firm assists the person entitled to inherit in assessing the assets and liabilities comprising the estate, including real property, bank and financial accounts, corporate shareholdings, lifetime gifts, outstanding debts and contractual relationships that remain effective following the deceased’s death.
This preliminary assessment enables the prospective heir to make an informed decision as to whether to accept the inheritance unconditionally, accept it subject to the benefit of inventory or disclaim it, taking into account the legal and financial effects of each option, the applicable time limits and the potential consequences for both estate creditors and the heir’s personal creditors.
The Firm also provides assistance in proceedings seeking the judicial determination of a deadline for acceptance, in the preparation of an inventory, in applications for the separation of the deceased’s assets from those of the heir, and in matters concerning unclaimed estates and the appointment of an estate administrator. In testamentary matters, the Firm advises on the preparation of clear and legally valid dispositions that accurately reflect the testator’s intentions while complying with the statutory protections afforded to forced heirs.
The Firm reviews holographic, public and secret wills, appointments of heirs, legacies, substitutions, conditions, obligations and dispositions in favour of specific beneficiaries, as well as clauses that may give rise to questions of interpretation or enforceability. The validity of a will may also be examined in relation to formal defects, testamentary incapacity, mistake, duress, fraud, unworthiness to inherit, forgery, alteration of the document or inconsistency between the terms of the will and the testator’s actual intentions.
Where the authenticity of a holographic will or another document relevant to the succession is disputed, the legal analysis may be coordinated with forensic handwriting experts and party-appointed technical consultants in order to assess the characteristics of the handwriting, the authorship of the signature and the evidential value of the available findings. Particular attention is paid to the rights of forced heirs, namely those persons to whom Italian law reserves a mandatory share of the estate.
The Firm reconstructs the notional estate by considering the assets owned by the deceased at the time of death, the estate’s liabilities and any lifetime gifts made by the deceased, in order to establish whether testamentary dispositions or gifts have infringed the reserved share. Where the relevant legal requirements are met, assistance is provided in bringing an action for reduction and any consequential restitution claims, as well as in matters concerning legacies in substitution for or on account of the reserved share, the imputation of lifetime benefits and the restoration of succession rights. The Firm also assists heirs in identifying and recovering estate assets through the examination of the deceased’s banking relationships, transactions completed before death, registered ownership arrangements and transfers capable of affecting the rights of successors. Contentious work includes actions to establish heirship, inheritance recovery claims, proceedings for the restitution of estate assets, challenges to disclaimers, disputes over testamentary dispositions and claims concerning direct, indirect or concealed gifts. A further area of assistance concerns the administration and dissolution of the hereditary community.
The Firm advises co-heirs on the determination of their respective shares, the preparation of the estate inventory, the valuation of assets, the bringing of lifetime gifts into hotchpot, the allocation of estate debts and liabilities, the exercise of statutory rights of pre-emption and redemption, and the negotiation of an agreed distribution that takes account of the nature and practical divisibility of the estate assets. Where an agreement cannot be reached, the Firm provides representation in judicial partition proceedings, including the formation of individual lots, the allocation of assets, the determination of equalisation payments and, where necessary, the sale of property that cannot conveniently be divided.
The Firm’s services also extend to the planning of transfers of personal, real estate and business assets through the coordinated use of wills, gifts, family business agreements, corporate arrangements and other instruments recognised by law. In successions involving businesses or corporate interests, the Firm examines the consequences of the death of an owner or shareholder for business continuity, corporate governance, the rights of the remaining shareholders and the entry of heirs into the ownership structure, with particular regard to the applicable articles of association, shareholders’ agreements and other existing contractual arrangements.
The Firm also handles cross-border successions involving a deceased person, heirs or assets connected with different jurisdictions. In such cases, legal assistance includes determining the competent authority and applicable law, reviewing any choice of national law made by the deceased, obtaining recognition or enforcement of foreign instruments and decisions, and applying for or using a European Certificate of Succession under Regulation (EU) No 650/2012.
The Firm conducts a preliminary assessment of the relevant documents, the composition of the estate, the legal positions of the interested parties and the available negotiated solutions. Where consistent with the protection of the client’s rights, priority is given to an agreed resolution of the dispute; where an appropriate settlement cannot be reached, the Firm provides representation and defence in the resulting judicial proceedings.
