Last Wills and Testaments – Estates: After approximately 80 years, one of the most awaited reforms to our legal system is approaching the finish line.

The new Inheritance Law is finally ready, after months of thorough public discussion and parliamentary committees’ deliberations. The competent Committee for the Reform of the Law which governs Wills and Estates has completed the drafting of the text, under the guidance of the professor of Civil Law at the Legal Department of Athens and a regular member of the Academy, Apostolos Georgiadis. Well-known legal practitioners of all legal sectors participated in this Committee, namely judges, lawyers, notaries, university professors.

The final text of the reformed Inheritance Law is now in the phase of literary processing for the correction of any grammatical or syntactic errors. This process should be finalized at the beginning of November, whiles the text is scheduled to be delivered to the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, on November 12. At that time, it will become the subject of public consultation and it will be voted by the Parliament at the beginning of 2026.

The Committee has decided that the implementation of the Inheritance Law will take effect at the beginning of the next judicial year, namely on September 16, 2026, thus giving time to the legal world to assimilate the new provisions since the reform touches almost the whole chapter of the Civil Code pertaining to this issue and the changes will be overwhelming on all levels with the introduction of new institutions and the amendment of important provisions.

The Inheritance Law which is valid today (and was adopted in 1946), consists of 326 articles, less than half of which will remain the same, namely 163 articles. 28 articles will be abolished, while 17 new articles will be added, most of which concern the new institution of inheritance contracts. The remaining 135 articles will be radically modified to determine the new way in which the properties will be disposed of after death. Meanwhile, seven articles of the Civil Code and six articles of the Code of Civil Procedure, which are not included in the book of Inheritance Law but concern similar issues, e.g. the inheritance rights of partners, will also be amended.

AMENDED PROVISIONS OF LAW

From the first article of the new Inheritance Law, we can see the significant changes which occur with the introduction of the inheritance contracts. Until now, the introductory article mentioned that “when a person passes away his/her property as a whole (estate) is bequeathed, either according to the law or by testament, to one or more persons (heirs)”. After the adoption of the new law, this article will state that “(…) his/her property (…) is bequeathed either by law or by a provision of last will (testament, inheritance contract due to death) to one or more persons (heirs)”.

Therefore, it becomes clear that these will be the two ways according to which his/her property will be distributed / divided: with last will and testament and inheritance contracts.

The inheritance contract is a completely new institution in the Greek law, but it is already implemented in many European countries: this allows the persons, while still alive, to negotiate and agree with his/her heirs on the shares of the property which each will receive, with all the interested parties signing this contract before a notary.

This new institution will be governed by clear rules, while the testator will be able to choose which law will govern the contract which may not necessarily be the Greek law.

Another significant difference from the testament is that in the same inheritance contract more than one person can dispose of their property while the testament is strictly personal.

The inheritance contract will be binding and cannot be revoked unilaterally, unless one of the heirs commits a serious offence such as felony. It can also be annulled by the court in specific cases (e.g. due to error, deceit or threats).

The inheritance contract also provides the possibility to name someone as an heir if he/she agrees to provide some exchange to the testator. Should the heir not fulfill his end of the bargain, then the testator may withdraw from the contract.

REVERSAL PERTAINING TO PARTNERS

Although all the information seemed to say that the out of marriage partner of the deceased would not have any inheritance right, there was finally a reversal since the new Inheritance Law does not only recognize such rights, but it also includes the possibility that the partner could receive the entire estate.

The requirement for this is that the couple lived permanently together as common law partners for at least three years or without any time limits if they had children together. Of course, this only applies if the deceased had no living spouse or civil union partner, nor does any other relative inherit intestate. In legal terms, the common-law partner inherits only in fifth place of the succession (when there are no relatives up to the fourth degree). In this case, the partner will have to file a relevant application to the court which has jurisdiction over the estate within a specific timeframe.

Independently, however, of whether the partner becomes an heir or not (under the same requirements, living together for three years, etc.), with the new law, he/she is entitled to “the exclusive use of the property which served as their main place of residence, for no consideration, for a year following the death of the deceased”.

More specifically, concerning the family home, if there was a property which served as the main residence of the partner and the deceased, the court could issue a decision giving the exclusive ownership of said property to the partner, if this is deemed the best solution based on the circumstances. The living spouses already have this right, and it will now also extend to civil union partners.

CO-TESTAMENT

The new provision pertaining to the co-testament, namely a testament signed by more than one person, is interesting: this has been explicitly prohibited until now (more specifically it is mentioned that “a testament cannot be drafted by more than one person with the same act”), while now there will be a way to “preserve” the testament which will have legal effects as the new provisions states that “an act in which the last wishes of more than one person are organically intertwined, can apply as an inheritance contract if it is proven that the co-testators wanted to bind their wills”.

HOLOGRAPHIC WILLS

Amongst the provisions which remain unchanged or have minor changes are the provisions which regulate holographic wills (namely, a will which is drafted by a person on his own, without needing any specific structure or notarial authentication). The Committee decided, after thorough discussion and exchange of opinions, to preserve the institution seeing as it is impossible to abolish the more traditional will form. Some restrictions will be instituted however, such as the generalization of the handwriting examination, when the person presenting the will is not a first-degree relative of the testator.

RESTRICTION OF RENUNCIATIONS

“Release” of the heir from the obligation to pay the debts of the deceased

The most significant change in the new Inheritance Law concerns the debts inherited by the heirs, where the law is doing a 180. While the law currently states that “the heir is liable for the obligations of the estate with his/her own personal property”, the new provision will state that “the heir is not personally liable for the obligations of the estate unless he/she declares it”.

This means that for the first time the heirs will not be liable for the debts of the estate and that the creditors will have to be paid only from the properties of the estate. A provision which is expected to create a new different economic environment in which the heirs will be more disinclined to renunciate, since they will not be liable and therefore have nothing to lost from the estate.

As explicitly mentioned in the new law, “the rights and obligations of the estate are automatically separated from the property of the heir and constitute a separate group administered by a court liquidator”.

In fact, the heirs will have the rights to dispose of objects from the estate with the consent of the court even before the liquidation, to reap the fruits of the estate and to dispose of the capital of the estate in order to pay the creditors or for the preservation of the property. However, if he/she exceeds the limitations of the law, he/she will be deemed personally liable.

The court liquidators will be lawyers who are included in a special list and who will call the creditors of the estate within a month from their appointment to present their claims, by publishing them in the newspaper of the capital and the leaflet of court publications.

Once the process is completed, he/she will draft a report within four months which will be filed with the court and which will be notified to the heirs and creditors, who may file objections. The liquidator may, if he/she deems it necessary, sell some or all the inherited property to pay the creditors, even auction an immovable property.

If the amount which is collected does not suffice to pay the creditors, the liquidator will draft a ranking table in order to pay them as equitably as possible. If there is remaining property, it will be divided between the heirs according to their shares.

Reserved shares

Radical changes are made to the principle of reserved shares which applies when there is a will but the children and the surviving spouse of the deceased have been excluded. In this case, these persons receive a percentage of the estate, namely half of what they would be entitled to if there was no will.

Currently, if the estate consists of movable or immovable property, the person who owns a reserved share automatically acquires full ownership of the share which he/she is entitled to.

With the new law, he/she will only be able to claim a monetary compensation by requesting from the heirs to pay him/her the money of the share which he/she is entitled to.

Therefore, his/her percentage remains the same, but the philosophy of the institution changes radically since the Committee is proposing a regulation which favors the non-division of properties in order to limit frustrations during the transactions.

At the same time, the new provision favors the weakening of the institution of the preserved share, as is the tendency in all western societies, which want the true will of the testator to supersede, the way he/she describes it in his/her last will and testament. 

INTESTATE SUCCESSION

How are the shares determined?

There will be amendments in the cases where there is no will or inheritance contract, namely in the case of intestate successions. In this case, the estate is divided in a specific order and percentages which are determined by the law.

Currently, if there is no will, the property devolves to the children of the deceased. If there are no children, it devolves to his/her parents and siblings. If there are no parents or siblings, it devolves to the grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins of the deceased, etc. In all the cases, a percentage always goes to the surviving spouse. If he/she inherits with the children, ¼ of the estate goes to the spouse and ¾ to the children, and in the other cases ½ goes to the spouse.

The new law does not change the order of the intestate succession, although there were thoughts of limiting the shares of the distant relatives. What does change is the percentage that each is entitled to, favoring the surviving spouse, since the spouse will now receive 1/3 of the estate if he/she inherits with one child. If, however, the deceased had two or more children, then the surviving spouse will receive ¼ of the estate as he/she would today.

If the surviving spouse inherits with the parents and siblings of the deceased, he/she will receive ½ of the estate as is currently the case. If, however, they don’t exist, the surviving spouse will receive 100% of the estate, while the relatives which are third in the order of succession (grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) will no longer have any rights.

CONTRACTS FOR RENUNCIATION OF THE ESTATE

Renunciation from future rights

Apart from the new provisions which regulating inheritance contracts, some articles will also be added concerning the a priori renunciation of rights to the estate.

With this provision, someone could renunciate their future inheritance rights which are provided for by law or a testamentary disposition (will, inheritance contract). The renunciation can be complete or partial, with or without consideration, and the relevant contract must be drafted before a notary. If a consideration is agreed upon, this consideration must be paid within a specific timeframe to be determined, otherwise the contract is invalid. Legally, the consideration is considered a donation and will be governed (e.g. taxed) by the relevant provisions of the Civil Code.

When the time comes to divide the property, the renunciator is considered to be predeceased, and if there is a doubt, the renunciation also extends to his/her children. This contract can however be revoked at any time with a new contract provided the two parties agree.

OTHER PROVISIONS

End of properties left to hospitals 

-Another completely new provision concerns the wills which are drafted by people who are hospitalized in hospitals or clinics and leave their properties to doctors, nurses and administrators. More specifically, it mentions that “a holographic will drafted by people who are being cared for in hospitals, clinics, units for senior care and other healthcare facilities during their hospitalization or within three months from discharge, for any reason, is invalid if the property is bequeathed to natural or legal persons to which these facilities belong or which they administer or which are employed there in any capacity, unless they are persons mentioned in the intestate succession (namely, relatives)”.

-Emergency will

The provision pertaining to the drafting of a will in a state of emergency is “modernized” and while before it only applied to sea voyages aboard Greek vessels, it can now be drafted in all cases in which someone is in immediate danger of dying and cannot draft a will “especially in cases of a person being stranded, of an epidemic, a sea voyage or war”. In these cases, a will can be drawn orally, before three witnesses, who will then sign a document.

-Abolishment of the remarriage forfeiture clause

The Committee also decided to abolish the remarriage forfeiture clause, namely the clause according to which someone may leave their property to their spouse under the condition that they do not remarry. This is a clause which applied up until now and is indicative of older social circumstances which this law was called to cover, a law which as mentioned was adopted after World War II.

by Dimitris Damianos – 22/10/2025