Australian resident inheriting a property in Italy

An Australian resident, who is the beneficiary of a deceased estate located in Italy, is required to prepare and file some documents in order to register the property under his/her name.

1. Documents to be prepared in Australia

These are the documents required in order to set out the property registration process in Italy:

• The deceased's death certificate.

• Grant of Probate with the attached Will (if applicable) issued by the Probate Registry.

These documents shall be translated into Italian and legalised by Apostille (issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – DFAT).

Thereafter, those documents shall be filed with a notary in Italy.

In case the deceased left no will, either beneficiary shall make a statutory statement (dichiarazione sostitutiva di atto notorio) affirming who the heirs are.

This statement shall be made in Italian before a notary and shall be legalised by Apostille.

3. Documents and Requirements in Italy

Before registering the property under the name of the beneficiary, stamp duty, registration and cadastral fee shall be paid.

The beneficiaries shall provide:

• their ID card and Italian Tax Ccode (Codice Fiscale).

• The Cadastral Land certificate identifying the asset/s to be transferred.

Upon lodgement of the succession declaration, the beneficiary shall also pay the land registry tax.

Within 90 days after the lodgement, the beneficiary shall also pay the inheritance tax (if due).

Ownership registration under the name of the beneficiaries is generally completed within approximately 30 days by the lodgement of the succession declaration.