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Bank account of the deceased: what happens?

Under Italian Law, if the holder of a bank account dies, the heirs inherit his bank deposits, including investments and cash. Only heirs who have accepted the inheritance are entitled to inherit the bank account, even when the acceptance has been made with the benefit of inventory. The first step is to notify the bank […]

Liabilities of the estate

When a person dies, his inheritance may consist either of an estate composed by assets and/or liabilities. The difference between the assets and liabilities of the estate is the value of the estate (on which inheritance tax is paid). However, it may also happen that the deceased leaves only debts with no assets and this puts […]

Inheritance tax in Italy

Under Italian Law, inheritance tax is due over the wealth transfer following to the death of the deceased relative.    The assets and rights transferred constitute the so-called estate (attivo ereditario), while the debts of the deceased constitute the liabilities of the estate (passive ereditario). Inheritance tax applies to the difference between the assets and […]

The “Digital Will” under Italian Law

The Italian Privacy Code, amended by the GDPR, now regulates the digital identity, i.e. the status of social profiles and online accounts after the death of the owner. Article 2-terdecies of the Code introduced the rights to the protection of personal data of deceased people, which may be enjoyed by third subjects having a special […]

Inheritance and non-divisible property

Under Italian Inheritance Law, Article 720 of the Civil Code provides that if there is a non-divisible property, as part of the estate, the Court may use the criterion of the preferential assignment to the holder of the greater quota of inheritance. This principle was recently confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court, which ruled on […]