A guide to the steps to take if you inherit a property in Italy
Each year a number of people with Italian heritage unexpectedly find that they have inherited a property from a distant Italian relative, sometimes, from someone they barely know and have never met. The situation can arise if a person names you as a beneficiary in their will or if there is no will, the strict laws of succession in Italy, often described as forced heirship, where the deceased’s estate automatically passes to the relatives in strict order of succession dependant on the proximity between the deceased and the beneficiary within the family. If a person has outlived their immediate family then more distant relatives must be sought.