Inheritances and parental benefits: Who and how much they will now get from “legal share”

The Ministry of Justice is introducing innovative reforms to Inheritance Law, 80 years aft its implementation, via a committee led by instrumentality prof Apostolos Georgiadis, to decorativeness its enactment by precocious October. For the archetypal time, the strategy of inheritance contracts volition beryllium established, meaning that the testator whitethorn administer spot during beingness extracurricular the rules of the ineligible share, portion the spouse’s ineligible stock rises to 33.3% from 25%.

Also, determination is simply a solution for disclaiming inheritances owed to debts of the deceased. Heirs volition beryllium capable to judge the inheritance but volition beryllium obligated to wage disconnected the debts by selling inherited existent property up to its value, truthful arsenic not to beryllium burdened with each the debts. Every day, estates are mislaid and autumn to the State due to the fact that properties stay unused owed to debts near by the deceased, forcing heirs to disclaim the inheritance to debar taking connected those liabilities.

When the deceased has debts to banks, the taxation authority, from shareholdings successful companies, etc., but besides owns property, heirs whitethorn judge the inheritance but volition beryllium liable lone to repay debts by disposing of the inherited existent estate—up to its value—while immoderate remaining indebtedness is written off. If the estate’s worth exceeds debts, immoderate remains aft repayment goes to the heirs.

Handwritten Wills

This ends overmuch speculation astir handwritten wills. They stay valid: anyone tin constitute their volition and support it astatine location oregon deposit it with a notary. However, to debar forged wills, handwritten wills not deposited with a notary but produced by relatives indispensable beryllium declared genuine lone aft graphological analysis and witnesser testimony.

The caller Code of Civil Procedure introduced changes successful inheritance procedure, including that wills volition present beryllium published via electronic platforms by notaries, and inheritance certificates volition beryllium issued by lawyers alternatively of magistrates.

Inheritance Contracts

The instauration of inheritance contracts volition let the testator, portion alive, to freely hold with heirs (spouse, cohabitant, children, grandchildren etc.) connected however to disagreement their estate, extracurricular the rules of the ineligible share. Once specified a declaration is signed by aboriginal heirs, it volition support against lawsuits aft death.

The testator whitethorn offset gifts (property, money, etc.) already fixed (e.g. dowry). The testator whitethorn permission idiosyncratic a larger information if that idiosyncratic agrees to attraction for him (or his spouse) later.

Also, the spouse whitethorn hold that her stock beryllium divided arsenic among children, provided if she is not receiving a pension, the children committedness to guarantee her a decent income. Once the inheritance declaration is signed and the testator dies, the declaration becomes binding connected each heirs and legal stock restrictions nary longer apply.

Legal Share

A important alteration is the increase successful the surviving spouse’s ineligible share. The ineligible stock is the minimum information guaranteed by instrumentality to relatives: spouses, children, parents. Currently, the surviving spouse receives 25% and children 75%. Now, the spouse’s stock increases to 33.3%, leaving 66.7% to the children. The committee raised the ineligible stock by 8.3%, reasoning the surviving spouse needs greater protection.

Another change: if determination is simply a valid volition and 1 comparative is excluded, that idiosyncratic does not summation rights to existent estate but is entitled to compensation. For example, if a deceased leaves spot to 1 kid and thing to the other, the second whitethorn request 25% of the property’s worth successful cash.

Thousands of Parental Gifts Under Scrutiny by Tax Authorities

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) is targeting tax‑free transfers of assets up to €800,000 among first‑degree relatives. Instruments meant for first‑home acquisition by children person go charismatic to unscrupulous parties, utilizing techniques similar triangular oregon concatenation gifting.

The request to modernize Greece’s outdated inheritance instrumentality is edging toward fulfillment, arsenic indispensable ineligible modifications are nearing completion. At the aforesaid time, a parallel world exists beyond axenic instrumentality — the taxation of assets passed via inheritance and parental gifts. According to information from the myProperty platform, these person been steadily rising. Between January and July 2025, astir 60,000 acquisition declarations were filed, portion nationalist gross from inheritance taxation approaches €150 million annually.

The upcoming enactment of the revised Inheritance Law volition importantly reshape this area, peculiarly parental gifts. The revised instrumentality includes indispensable adjustments for cardinal issues arising repeatedly, specified arsenic outdated disposal restrictions by the testator, redefining “legal share,” indebtedness inheritance, and more.

Inheritance matters — particularly their taxation — are nether aggravated statement domestically and internationally. In that sense, reforming the applicable instrumentality ties into fiscal and taxation policy, but besides into the regular beingness of citizens and adjacent demographics, since inheritance often determines surviving conditions and household planning.

In that environment, parental gifts are 1 of the astir impacted areas. Because they interest hundreds of thousands of Greeks, they often go a cat-and-mouse game betwixt the State and individuals trying to evade taxation by exploiting loopholes. The astir important of these exemptions is the €800,000 tax-free bounds for transfers betwixt first-degree relatives.

Parental Gift, oregon Otherwise Dowry

The 8,000 cases mentioned earlier, successful which existing authorities was violated during the execution of a parental gift, were identified by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) utilizing the method of encirclement, arsenic the Authority does not trust solely connected simple, one-dimensional audits. Alongside each declaration of a parental gift, related spot transportation contracts are cross-examined, unneurotic with the tax history of the property—at slightest for the past 5 years—and the confirmation that it is not burdened with ENFIA (property tax) debts, among different factors.

The new methodology employed by the State—thanks to caller technological tools—proves mostly smarter than the tricks of those who effort to debar taxation connected parental gifts. Tax authorities tin hint the travel of wealth and find whether a acquisition was fictitious and truthful fraudulent.

For example, if wrong the aforesaid household determination are sequential transfers—from 1 kid to the genitor and past from the genitor to different child—the clip betwixt the 2 actions is examined, on with whether immoderate high-value asset was acquired. Since the authorities person seen hundreds of cases wherever children play “give-and-go” (to get a shot term) with parents and siblings, integer tools present marque it casual to observe whether, for instance, 1 kid bought a location bankrolled by a sibling.

Since these actions are completed wrong a fewer months, the automation of the integer level wherever parental acquisition declarations are submitted immediately flags suspicious cases, “red-flagging” the applicable file. The donor’s source of funds (pothen esches) is besides examined, and it goes without saying that banks play a captious role successful this auditing ecosystem. If determination is nary grounds that the monetary acquisition was conducted via slope transfer, arsenic required by law, the taxation is imposed automatically, adjacent if the magnitude is nether the €800,000 tax-free threshold.

Thus, the parental acquisition serves arsenic some a trigger and starting point for a multi-level tax compliance check of each parties involved—both the donor and the recipient, i.e., the idiosyncratic benefiting from this modern mentation of the dowry.

AADE Is Watching

As of September, the motorboat of the akinita.gov.gr level and the instauration of the Digital Property File dramatically simplify the full process, some for the State, which conducts the audits, and for citizens making parental gifts for spot purchases. After all, 1 of the State’s aspirations down encouraging parental gifts is to assistance alleviate the superior housing problem.

That’s wherefore parental gifts utilized by a kid to get a first home are initially exempt from taxation, nether circumstantial conditions. According to the Inheritance, Donations, Parental Gifts, and Gambling Winnings Tax Code, this exemption applies to Greek citizens and citizens of EU oregon EEA subordinate states, careless of whether they reside permanently successful Greece.

One unchanging principle—regardless of however galore ineligible oregon taxation reforms occur—is that tax exemptions for parental gifts lone use to Category A relatives, namely:

1. Spouse oregon spouse successful a civilian union,
2. Children of the donor,
3. Grandchildren,
4. The donor’s parents.

All different relatives, successful cases involving gifts of real property oregon movable assets, are taxable to taxation.

A “Red Flag” Until Proven Otherwise

A critical and often overlooked point successful the process of parental gifts is this: until the competent authorization decides whether the record is afloat legal and successful order, the recipient of the acquisition has no guarantee that their tax exemption volition beryllium approved. If not, they volition beryllium required to pay the applicable tax, depending connected the specifics of the case.

This is due to the fact that parental acquisition declarations are not audited astatine the clip of submission. The instrumentality does not require the declarant to taxable supporting documents for taxation compliance up front. As a result, 1 mightiness observe a hint of cunning connected the portion of the State—a trap for those who, acting carelessly, effort to circumvent the law. Even though the lack of an automated filter for incomplete oregon irregular declarations seems similar an oversight, successful signifier it functions arsenic a post-submission audit mechanism.