The will is a legal document that expresses individual’s (de cuius) wishes about how properties shall be distributed after the death. According to the Italian Law, the will is the legal tool through which the heir will replace the deceased in every legal relationship with any legal or natural person.

Italian Law introduces different types of will:

– Testamento Olografo: This type of will is written in the hand of the testator. In the Italian Jurisdiction, the signature and the whole body of the will must be in the handwriting of the testator. This type of will does not require witnesses and I can be kept by a solicitor, the Public Notary or the testator himself;

– Testamento Segreto: This is the least frequent type of will in Italy. Its peculiarity is given by the fact that its content is unknown to both the notary and witnesses;

– Testamento Pubblico: This document requires the presence of two witnesses while testator’s last wills are hand-written by the notary itself.

In the context of the testamento olografo, the Italian Law set three requirements:

– The autography of the body of the document;

– The date in which the document has been drafted;

– The autography of the signature.

The autography entails the handwriting of the testament. Therefore, in order to draft a handwritten testament, the testator is unable to use any mechanic or electronic means because the authenticity of the document lies in the handwriting of the document. The date is also paramount because it constitutes evidence of testator’s mental capacities. Last, the autography of the signature is the evidence of authorship of the document.

During the drafting of the Italian will, the testator shall be careful about the so-called “forced heirship”. According to the forced heirship, the Italian Law put some restrictions on the disposal possibilities of the testator.