Charlotte Oliver's activity

Yes I agree with the first reply, there is no inheritance tax for property passed to children under the threshold of 1 million Euro. If inheritance tax was payable it would be calculated on the catastal value. There will be small property charges imposed which should be less than 500 Euro in total.

Jackie, I believe the Notary advised your father wrongly. On what you have told me I do not think the Italian will is valid. To be a valid Italian holographic will it should have been handwritten, and to be a valid English will it must be signed in the presence of two witnesses. The Codicil will be valid as it has been signed in front of witnesses, but could this document stand on its own as a will? You need to show a copy of this, the will, and the earlier English will to a lawyer or to the Notary to take this further. If there is a a valid will out of these three documents, this must be used both for probate in the UK and for the succession in Italy. However, if there is no valid will at all then the law of intestacy will apply. Alternatvely if the Italian will is not valid it has not revoked the earlier English one so that one could stand. This could mean that your fathers partner has no legal claim at all. The rightful heirs (ie his children ) will have to make the claims and then if you all agree award by way of settlement the share that your father intended to leave to his partner. Charlotte

I assumed that your father had died in the UK. You will only need a Grant of Probate if he left any assets over a certain value in the UK, and you have not mentioned this. If all his property was in Italy you can ask the Notary to "publish" the will and avoid Probate.  The original will should either be handwritten and signed to be valid as an Italian holographic will, or have been signed in the presence of two witnesses to be valid as an English will. Charlotte

  Dear Jackie, The will and codicil should be taken as one document and will. As it is the only will, this will have to be submitted first to probate in the UK. Once you have the Grant of Probate, this and the will should be translated into Italian and fixed with the Apostille. With these documents you can then deposit the "dichiarazione of succession" in Italy, which it is advisable to deal with through a Notary. Perhaps in October you could make contact with a Notary locally and check the documents that will be needed. You will also need an original death certificate, and you will need to apply to the bank to provide you with a formal statement of the funds in the account at the date of death. You have one year from August to finalise this, otherwise you would risk a fine from the Italian tax authorities. Did your father state in his will that he wished his succession to be dealt with by English law? This is a very important point, to avoid any dispute between the heirs. All wills made from now on must include this, from about 2012, the applicable law of succession will be that of a person's residence, not their nationality, if they have not made an express choice in their will. This could potentially mean for your father's partner that she could lose rights to her share to the "legitimate" heirs in Italian law ie the children. Hope this is helpful, Charlotte Oliver      

You can choose whether to put a time limit or not, powers of attorneys can be drafted in many different ways. For example the power to end when the reason for the mandate have ben completed ie the transfer and all necessary relative procedures, or within a fixed time limit, or on formal revocation by you. Charlotte Oliver

Ram I think when you mention the 7 year rule you must be thinking of the potentially exempt transfer rule in English inheritance tax legislation. Under Italian law donations made within, not only within 20 years but within the entire lifetime of the donor are potentially challengeable by the "eredi" after the death. This is the main reason why the UK government do not want to opt-in to the new regulation on EU succession and wills, as they feel there is a risk that British citizens may be unwittingly caught out by this rule. Sarah you would have to pay 10% on the catastal value of the two thirds share (although the catastal value may have been revised upwards since you originally purchased because of new rules on calculating this from the value actually registered for the property). So you cannot assume it will be exactly the amount that your siblings paid.  Your husband can also purchase half of the property. Your brother and sister can sell and you and your husband can purchase shares in the proportion you decide, and this can all be written in one deed of sale. Complicated, but it can be done!

It sounds as though the Notary is probably being careful and may have genuine concerns about the original sale deed, which may mean that you father did not have legal title to his share of your cousins apartment. This may need to be rectified before it can be passed on to you. You can give a power of attorney for both a deed of rectification and for the succession declaration itself. I would suggest this is drawn up by the Notary in Sicily, translated so that it is in a bilingual Italian English text,  and then you can sign it and have it legalized in London. It needs to be fixed with an Apostille at the Foreign and Commonwelath office. You wont need to go to Italy. Charlotte

Dear Sarah, I just replied on the succession law topic page, then realise you had also posted here. It will involve signing another deed of transfer with a Notary Public. GThis does not have to be the ame Notary you used for the purchase. The property could be registered in your sole name. I see from your post here that you do not intend money to change hands but I would not advise this. The deed should preferably be in the form of a real sale or "vendita"  (with evidence of money changing hands ie a copy of a bank transfer which would be attached to the deed of transfer) rather than a donation.  A donation could lead to difficulties with reselling in the future as in Italy any donations made are challengeable by heirs after the death of the donor, so are best avoided. You will need a Notary to advise you on the costs, which will involve their fee (onorario) plus the registration taxes (imposte di registro) which are calculated on the catastal value of the property, plus advise you on the sale price of your brother's share to be declared in the deed. You will not need a market valuation of the property. The purchase price of your brother's half need not be for the real market value but it should be at least the amount they orginally paid for their share.  Both you brother and sister will need to sign the deed of transfer, although they can give power of attorney for this if they cannot come to Italy. Hoping this is helpful let us know if you need any more information to help you make a decision. Charlotte Oliver

Dear Sarah, I just replied on the succession law topic page, then realise you had also posted here. It will involve signing another deed of transfer with a Notary Public, and then the property could be registered in your sole name. I see from your post here that you do not intend money to change hands but I would not advise this. The deed should preferably be in the form of a real sale or "vendita"  (with evidence of money changing hands ie a copy of a bank transfer which would be attached to the deed of transfer) rather than a donation.  A donation could lead to difficulties with reselling in the future as in Italy any donations made are challengeable by heirs after the death of the donor, so are best avoided. You will need a Notary to advise you on the costs, which will involve their fee (onorario) plus the registration taxes (imposte di registro) which are calculated on the catastal value of the property, plus advise you on the sale price of your brother's share to be declared in the deed. You will not need a market valuation of the property. The purchase price of your brother's half need not be for the real market value but it should be at least the amount they orginally paid for their share.  Both you brother and sister will need to sign the deed of transfer, although they can give power of attorney for this if they cannot come to Italy. Hoping this is helpful let us know if you need any more information to help you make a decision. Charlotte Oliver