Greece is preparing to introduce sweeping reforms to its inheritance laws, overhauling legislation that has remained largely unchanged since 1946.
The draft bill, set to be presented Tuesday and enter public consultation in November, will revise 135 of the current law’s 326 articles, eliminate 28 articles entirely, and add 17 new provisions.
The changes address modern family structures and economic realities that the 1946 legislation no longer covers. Key reforms include introducing inheritance contracts, increasing spousal shares, recognizing rights for unmarried partners, modifying mandatory heir portions, and adding safeguards for handwritten wills.
Significantly, Greece will permit inheritance contracts for the first time – agreements between individuals and future heirs that are binding on all parties without unilateral revocation rights, except in cases of serious misconduct. Unlike wills, these contracts allow multiple people to jointly dispose of property and enable selection of applicable foreign law.
The reforms also introduce joint wills, allowing multiple people to sign a single testamentary document, previously prohibited under Article 1717 of the Civil Code.
Surviving spouses will receive enhanced rights. When inheriting with one child, spouses receive one third of the estate, up from a quarter. With two or more children, they retain one quarter. When no children or parents exist, surviving spouses become sole heirs, excluding third-degree relatives.
Unmarried partners in long-term relationships gain inheritance rights under specific conditions: Couples must have cohabited for at least three years – waived if they have children – and no spouse or registered civil partner can exist. Partners inherit only when no relatives through the fourth degree survive.
The reforms fundamentally alter mandatory heir portions by converting them from property rights to monetary claims. Instead of automatically acquiring ownership of estate assets, heirs excluded from wills receive only cash compensation.
New safeguards address handwritten wills. When designating non-close relatives as heirs, graphological analysis must verify authenticity. The bill invalidates provisions in wills written by hospital patients that benefit doctors, nurses or administrators, unless those individuals are legal heirs.
Crucially, heirs will no longer be personally liable for estate debts unless they explicitly accept responsibility. Creditors will be satisfied only from estate assets, with a court-appointed liquidator managing the process.
The reforms eliminate the widowhood condition and expand emergency will provisions beyond sea voyages to all situations involving imminent death risk.