Inheritance and Estate Lawyer in Milan

The firm founded by Avv. Marco Bianucci assists individuals and families in inheritance matters, from reconstructing the estate to settling relations between heirs. We have solid experience with the legal issues raised by substantial estates and with disputes involving real estate, shareholdings, financial assets and property located in more than one country.

We handle the protection of forced heirs, the collation of lifetime gifts, the division of estates and challenges to wills. We act both for people who believe they have been excluded or disadvantaged in a succession and for those who must defend what they received. Every engagement requires us to check the documents, identify the applicable law and distinguish personal expectations from the rights the law actually recognises.

An inheritance dispute is often about much more than the value of the assets: it can reopen family conflicts, call into question choices made many years earlier and damage relationships that continue after a family member’s death. Our task is to deal with these issues with precision, confidentiality and independent judgement, building a solution that protects our client and can actually be implemented.

Whenever the conditions exist, we seek a negotiated settlement of the dispute. Inheritance proceedings can be long, technically complex and expensive: expert reports, bank enquiries, valuations and disputes over individual assets can absorb a significant part of the estate and of the energy of everyone involved.

That is why we prepare the discussion before opening it. We request the necessary documents, reconstruct what each person has received and make proposals based on verifiable values. We favour civil mediation: a regulated setting in which the parties discuss the dispute before an impartial third party, each assisted by their own lawyer, and can consider solutions other than a straightforward clash of claims.

Seeking an agreement requires transparency and good faith. Where assets or documents are concealed, essential information is withheld or reasonable checks are obstructed, we consider going to court; the same applies to a legal disagreement that cannot be overcome or to the urgent need to preserve assets and evidence. Negotiation must not become an indefinite postponement of our client’s protection.

Under Italian law a succession opens at the moment of death, in the place of the deceased’s last domicile (art. 456 of the Civil Code, c.c.). The first questions are who is entitled to take over the deceased’s transferable rights and obligations, which assets and debts form part of the estate, and whether there is a will. This page describes Italian law: where a succession has international elements, we first establish which law applies.

If there is no will, or the will covers only part of the estate, the rules of intestate succession (successione legittima) apply: the law identifies the beneficiaries and their shares, in an order that starts with the spouse and children and ends, if there are no relatives within the sixth degree, with the State (art. 565 c.c.). With one child, the spouse and the child each take half; with two or more children, the spouse takes one third and the children share the rest (art. 581). Where there is a will, we examine its validity and whether it respects the rights the law reserves to close relatives.

Being entitled to inherit is not the same as having accepted the inheritance: acceptance may be express or may result from conduct to which the law gives that meaning. We also distinguish the heir, who takes over the whole estate or a share of it, from the legatee, who receives a specific asset or right: the rules on acquisition and on liability for debts are different.

Lawyer, notary and succession declaration

These are separate tasks, and often all of them are needed: the lawyer advises, negotiates, handles mediation and acts in court; the notary publishes a handwritten will and draws up the deeds for acceptance and division (renunciation and acceptance with benefit of inventory can also be declared at the court registry). The succession declaration (dichiarazione di successione) is a tax filing with the Italian Revenue Agency and does not, on its own, resolve a dispute over who is an heir or who owns the assets. At the initial meeting we define the legal engagement and the coordination with the notary and tax adviser.

Before discussing shares, we need to know the values on which they are calculated. We reconstruct the assets existing at the time of death, the debts, the gifts made during the deceased’s lifetime and any transactions that need closer scrutiny: in more complex successions this work is an essential part of our assistance. In particular we examine:

• purchase and gift deeds;
• bank records, financial transactions and shareholdings;
• receivables, loans and liabilities;
• the management of the assets before and after the death: sums withdrawn, rents collected and expenses incurred by whoever administered them.

A joint account, a bank transfer to a child or a sale between relatives does not by itself reveal the nature of the transaction: it may be a gift, a loan, a repayment or another kind of arrangement, and the source of the funds, the reason for the transfer and the evidence must be checked. Life insurance policies also call for a specific review of the contract, the premiums and the beneficiaries: we do not automatically treat them like the other assets of the estate.

A person who succeeds a bank’s customer may obtain, at their own expense, copies of the records of individual transactions carried out in the previous ten years, within a reasonable time and in any event within ninety days (art. 119 of the Consolidated Banking Act). Where the value of assets is disputed we draw on the technical expertise required: for real estate, businesses and shareholdings, a reasoned valuation allows negotiation on reliable figures.

Italian law reserves part of the estate to certain relatives, the forced heirs (legittimari): the spouse, the children and the descendants who step into their place and, if there are no children, the ascendants (art. 536 c.c.); a civil partner has the same protection. A cohabiting partner does not acquire the spouse’s position in the succession merely by living together. The reserved share (legittima) must be respected; the disposable share is the part the deceased could leave freely, and the size of each depends on the family situation when the succession opens.

To check whether the reserved share has been infringed, the calculation does not stop at the assets left: the remaining estate is taken, debts are deducted and the value of lifetime gifts is added back (art. 556 c.c.). This notional aggregation (riunione fittizia) is a calculation and does not require the gifted assets to be physically returned; the result is compared with what the forced heir has actually received, gifts included.

If the share has been infringed, we seek an agreement restoring it through assets or payments; otherwise we consider the action for reduction (azione di riduzione), which makes the infringing dispositions ineffective against the forced heir, to the extent necessary, in the order and within the time limits laid down by law. An infringing will is not void for that reason alone. For gifted assets later transferred to third parties, Law no. 182/2025, in force since 18 December 2025, changed the rules: a person who acquired the asset from the recipient of the gift is, as a rule, protected, and the forced heir’s remedy becomes a money payment. We therefore never assume that the original asset can be recovered.

Collation (collazione) takes into account, in the division of the estate, what some co-heirs have already received from the deceased by way of gift: where a parent advanced part of their resources to a child, that gift is brought into the division so that the advance does not distort the value of the shares. It applies to children, their descendants and the spouse who inherit (art. 737 c.c.), and to a civil partner.

Both direct and indirect gifts may be relevant, such as a property registered in a child’s name and paid for by the parent with the intention of making a gift: we therefore also examine deeds and transfers going back many years, asking who paid, on what basis and with what evidence. Not all family support is subject to collation: maintenance, education and medical expenses, among others, are excluded (art. 742 c.c.). Collation can take place in kind or by setting the value of the gift against the recipient’s share, and the donor can exempt the recipient only within the limits of the disposable share.

Collation and reduction are separate remedies: the first concerns the division between co-heirs and may apply even where no reserved share has been infringed, the second protects the reserved share. We keep the calculations and claims separate, to avoid duplication or claims based on the wrong remedy.

When several heirs inherit together, the estate is held in co-ownership (comunione ereditaria): each heir owns a share of the whole, not individual assets. Division turns these shares into individual allocations of property, money or shareholdings, according to each heir’s rights and with equalisation payments where needed; any co-heir can ask for it, subject to the limits laid down by law (art. 713 c.c.).

We prepare division plans that take account of values and of practical needs: one heir may want to keep a property, another may need cash, and allocating a high-value asset may require guarantees and a timetable compatible with the equalisation payments. The plan also covers debts, expenses, income, accounts of management and collation; for property deeds we work with the notary.

If mediation does not resolve the disagreement, we act in the court proceedings for division, checking that everyone who must take part has been joined and which issues need to be put to the court. If a property cannot conveniently be divided, the court may allocate it to one or more co-heirs against an equalisation payment or order its sale (art. 720 c.c.): where a sustainable agreement is possible, we try to avoid a court-ordered sale.

A will expresses wishes that the law protects, but it must meet precise requirements. When doubts arise we examine the document and where it came from, the testator’s capacity, the circumstances in which it was made and the content of its provisions: an unwelcome choice does not, by itself, make a will invalid.

A handwritten (holographic) will must be written entirely by hand, dated and signed by the testator: without handwriting or signature it is void, while other defects may make it voidable (arts. 602 and 606 c.c.). We also assess whether the testator lacked the capacity to understand and decide when the will was made and whether their consent was affected by duress or fraud. Old age, an illness or dependence on a relative is not automatically enough: documents, witness evidence and, where useful, medico-legal assessments are needed. Publication of a handwritten will by a notary does not certify that the handwriting is the deceased’s.

Handwriting examination and criminal aspects

Where forgery is suspected, we work with qualified experts in the forensic examination of handwriting and documents. The handwriting examination looks at the script, the signature and the writing movement; where possible the expert works on the original and on authentic comparison samples from around the time the will was made, because a resemblance or a difference between two signatures is not enough. According to the Joint Divisions of the Italian Supreme Court (judgment no. 12307/2015), a person disputing the authenticity of a handwritten will must bring a claim for a declaration that the will is not authentic and prove its grounds.

Forging a handwritten will is also a criminal offence, prosecuted ex officio (arts. 491 and 493-bis of the Criminal Code), as is concealing or destroying a genuine handwritten will (art. 490). Where such evidence emerges, we coordinate the civil claim with the firm’s criminal law practice: a criminal complaint does not, however, return an inheritance share by itself, nor does it replace the civil steps.

We favour mediation because it allows the dispute to be dealt with in a regulated setting, before an organisation – public or private – entered in the Ministry of Justice register and an impartial mediator. In inheritance and division disputes, an attempt at mediation is, as a rule, a precondition for bringing a court claim (art. 5 of Legislative Decree no. 28/2010): what is compulsory is the attempt, not accepting an agreement against one’s interests.

We prepare the meeting by defining the subject of the dispute, the people to involve and the essential documents: wills, gift deeds, statements of assets, valuations and calculations of the shares. The parties attend with their lawyers; the mediator facilitates the discussion and, in the cases provided for, may make a proposal, but does not decide who is right. We work on practical solutions – allocation of assets, equalisation payments, agreed sales, accounts – without promising an outcome or a fixed duration.

The settlement and its tax benefits

Where the requirements of art. 12 of Legislative Decree no. 28/2010 are met, a settlement signed by the parties and their lawyers is directly enforceable; for deeds that must be entered in the property registers, authentication by a notary or another authorised public official is also required.

Mediation also carries its own tax benefits, which concern the procedure and not inheritance tax: exemption from stamp duty and, up to €100,000, from registration tax on the settlement (art. 17; from 1 January 2027 the same exemptions are in art. 191 of the consolidated registration tax act, Legislative Decree no. 123/2025); and tax credits for the mediation body’s fee and, in compulsory mediation, for the lawyer’s fee, up to €600 per party and per procedure, halved if no agreement is reached (art. 20). We check the rules in force at the time of the settlement.

An estate that appears substantial may be burdened by debts, guarantees or disputes. Before you dispose of property, withdraw money or sign agreements, we check whether the step could amount to tacit acceptance (art. 476 c.c.) and what effect it would have on your own assets:

• Unconditional acceptance: the heir is liable for the estate’s debts with their own assets as well.
• Benefit of inventory: keeps the two estates separate and limits liability to the value of the assets received, but requires a formal declaration, an inventory and compliance with time limits and rules of administration (arts. 484 and 490 c.c.).
• Renunciation: must be made in the form required by art. 519 c.c. and covers the whole inheritance; it must be considered before taking any step that could amount to acceptance.

Possession of estate assets triggers time limits much shorter than the ordinary one, and specific rules and court authorisations apply to minors and to people under protective measures. We therefore coordinate any negotiation with the other relatives with the deadlines and the steps needed to keep our client’s options open.

There is no single limitation period for an inheritance. Acceptance, the inventory, tax filings and challenges to a will follow different rules. These are the first deadlines to check:

• Acceptance: the ordinary period is ten years from the opening of the succession, with different starting points in the cases specified by art. 480 of the Civil Code. An interested party can ask the court to set a shorter deadline (art. 481).
• Possession of estate assets: the inventory must be completed within three months of the opening of the succession or of learning of the entitlement to inherit, subject to permitted extensions. If acceptance has not already been declared, the person then has forty days from completion of the inventory to decide; failure to comply results in unconditional heirship (art. 485).
• No possession of estate assets: after declaring acceptance with benefit of inventory, the inventory must be completed within three months, subject to an extension. If the inventory is completed first, acceptance must be declared within forty days of completion; otherwise the right to accept is lost (art. 487).
• Tax declaration: where required, it is ordinarily due within twelve months of the opening of the succession, with different starting points in the statutory cases (art. 31 of Legislative Decree 346/1990, text applicable on 20 October 2026).
• Annulment of a will: five years from implementation of the dispositions for incapacity or formal defects making the will voidable (arts. 591 and 606); for duress, fraud or mistake, five years from knowledge of the relevant ground (art. 624).

Nullity, reduction of dispositions infringing a reserved share and other claims require separate checks: the annulment deadlines do not automatically apply to every challenge. Before the engagement, we establish the dates, the steps already taken and any deadlines set by the court.

We have experience of inheritance matters with an international dimension, including with the support of notarial firms in Milan. A succession may involve people living abroad, different nationalities, property in more than one country, foreign bank accounts or wills made under another legal system: Italian rules do not automatically apply to every aspect of the case.

For successions opened on or after 17 August 2015, Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 uses as its general rule the deceased’s habitual residence at the time of death, both for the applicable law and for jurisdiction, and allows a person to choose, by a disposition in their will, the law of a State whose nationality they hold. It does not apply in Denmark and Ireland, and it may lead to the law of a non-EU country. The European Certificate of Succession allows heirs to prove their status and powers in the participating States.

The Regulation does not harmonise inheritance taxes and does not cover, among other things, matrimonial property regimes. We therefore keep succession law, ownership of the assets, local formalities and tax issues distinct, coordinating lawyers, notaries and advisers in the countries concerned. Meetings can take place in English, at our office or by video call.

We reserve litigation for cases in which a transparent, good-faith discussion is not possible. A court may become essential where there is:

• concealment of assets or documents;
• a refusal to account for the management of the estate;
• a well-founded challenge to the authenticity of the will;
• no way of recognising the shares due, or a legal disagreement that cannot be overcome.

Before taking action we define the claim and the evidence: restoring a reserved share, establishing that a will is not authentic or is invalid, division, restitution and accounts each require a different approach. We explain to the client what can be claimed, the main uncertainties and the foreseeable costs; defending against unfounded claims rests on the same documentary reconstruction.

If assets or evidence risk being dispersed, we consider urgent and interim measures: the mediation requirement does not, as a rule, prevent applications for them or the registration of the court claim. For disputes between co-heirs and for division, jurisdiction lies as a rule with the court of the place where the succession opened (art. 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure): owning property in Milan does not by itself make the Court of Milan competent. Even after proceedings have begun, a settlement remains possible.

At the initial meeting we reconstruct the family relationships, any known testamentary dispositions, the assets and the disputed transactions, and identify urgent matters and deadlines. Please bring what is available:

• the death certificate and the relatives’ details;
• wills and records of their publication;
• purchase and gift deeds;
• bank, property and company records, and documents on debts;
• the succession declaration, if already filed;
• correspondence with co-heirs, banks or creditors.

For suspicious wills we check at once whether the original and comparison samples of handwriting are available. An incomplete set of documents does not prevent us from assessing urgent issues: together we identify what is missing and which expertise is needed – technical experts, valuers, notaries – coordinated by the firm’s lawyers. The meeting takes place at our office at Via Alberto da Giussano 26, Milan, or by video call, in Italian or English, including for clients living abroad; to arrange it you can contact us.

Costs

Before you instruct us, we provide a written estimate (art. 13 of Law no. 247/2012). The value and composition of the estate, the number of people involved, missing documents and the nature of the dispute all affect the work; we distinguish fees, expenses and charges, because mediation, court fees where payable, experts, notarial deeds and taxes are separate items. The fee parameters of Ministerial Decree no. 55/2014 apply in the cases provided for by law and do not amount to a fixed percentage of the estate; if a matter moves from negotiation to litigation, we update the estimate before proceeding.

Choosing an inheritance lawyer

There is no ranking of inheritance lawyers, but there are things you can check. Enrolment in the bar register can be verified on the website of the Milan Bar Association; what also matters is experience in the subject, how clearly rights, alternatives, risks and costs are explained, and willingness to work with the notary and other advisers. At our firm Avv. Marco Bianucci handles inheritance disputes with the team, and at the start of the engagement we tell you who will handle your matter.