Inheriting Property in Italy: 5 UK Executor Mistakes

How self-assessment penalties, frozen accounts and forced heirship claims ambush British heirs managing a Tuscany estate

LANG: English (en) · AREA: Private Client & Succession · TYPE: FAQ / People Also Ask · MODEL: Sonnet 5 · SEO 76/100 · Flesch Reading Ease 41 · QA translated

ABSTRACT: Since the 2025 Italian fiscal reform, UK executors and beneficiaries who inherit property in Italy must self-assess and pay inheritance tax within 90 days of filing the estate return—without waiting for a bill from the Italian Revenue Agency. Missing that window triggers penalties of up to 120% of the tax due. This article identifies the five mistakes that repeatedly derail British heirs, from the post-Brexit collapse of the EU election of law to the 20-year window for challenging gifts made before death.

A solicitor in Surrey is dealing with her late father's estate. He owned a farmhouse near Siena worth roughly €600,000, a current account at an Italian bank, and an English will leaving everything to her and her brother. The Italian bank has frozen the account. A half-sister from a first marriage has written to say she intends to contest the will. Nobody had warned the solicitor that Italian law now requires her to calculate the inheritance tax herself and pay it within 90 days of lodging the estate return—or face a penalty that could exceed the tax itself.

This is not an unusual story. We see it with remarkable regularity.

What the 2025 Italian Tax Reform Changed for Foreign Heirs

Until the 2025 fiscal reform, Italian inheritance tax worked on a familiar European model: file the estate return, wait for the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) to issue an assessment, then pay. That model no longer exists for most estates.

Under the revised framework introduced by Legislative Decree No. 139/2024, which took effect in January 2025, heirs must self-assess. The dichiarazione di successione, the Italian estate return required under Article 28 of Legislative Decree No. 346/1990, must be filed within 12 months of the date of death. From the date of filing, heirs then have 90 days to calculate and pay the inheritance tax they owe. The Revenue Agency no longer sends a demand first. If the payment is late, penalties of up to 120% of the tax due can be imposed, on top of interest. Miss the filing itself and the penalties multiply / stack further.

For a UK executor managing an estate from London, this creates immediate legal risk / liability. The return is filed online through the Italian Revenue Agency's portal or through an Italian tax professional. The tax rates are 4% for spouses and children (over a €1 million exemption per heir), 6% for siblings (over a €100,000 exemption), and 8% for all others. These figures are set by Articles 7 and 25 of Legislative Decree No. 346/1990. Italian property is included in the taxable base regardless of where the deceased was resident.

Does My UK Will Override Italian Forced Heirship Rules for Property in Tuscany?

In most cases where the deceased was habitually resident in the UK, no. But the answer requires two separate analyses.

EU Regulation 650/2012 on succession—known informally as Brussels IV and still applied in Italy—determines which country's law governs the entire estate. For a British national who was habitually resident in the UK at death, English law governs the succession in principle, including how assets are distributed. However, Italian law contains a mandatory overriding rule / an overriding mandatory provision: the forced heirship share, known as the legittima or quota di riserva, which reserves fixed fractions of the net estate for children, the surviving spouse and sometimes parents under Articles 536–564 of the Italian Civil Code. Italian courts treat this as a mandatory provision that cannot be displaced by a foreign law election.

Under Article 35 of Regulation 650/2012, Italian courts may decline to apply a provision of foreign law if it is manifestly incompatible with Italian public policy (ordine pubblico). The forced heirship rules occupy contested ground here. The Italian Court of Cassation, United Sections, judgment No. 38162 of 30 December 2022 (Cass. civ., SS.UU., sentenza 30 dicembre 2022 n. 38162) confirmed that the legittima is not automatically enforceable as a rule of ordine pubblico against a foreign law elected under Regulation 650/2012—but the ruling simultaneously confirmed that an azione di riduzione, the action to recover assets that infringe the reserved share, remains available to Italian-resident heirs with a legitimate interest.

Here is the critical point that generic guides miss entirely. Under Article 22 of Regulation 650/2012, a person may elect the law of their nationality to govern their succession. A British national living in Italy could, therefore, elect English law in a will drafted before death, potentially sidestepping Italian forced heirship. Post-Brexit, that election is still valid—but only if the deceased was a national of a member state of the European Union. A British national is now a third-country national. The professio iuris mechanism still operates, but it means a British testator can elect English law. What it does not do is give that English law immunity from Italian procedural mandatory rules, tax obligations, or the claims of Italian-resident children who choose to bring an azione di riduzione before an Italian court.

An English will that leaves everything to the surviving spouse may be attacked. The azione di riduzione can unwind not only the testamentary disposition but gifts made up to 20 years before death under Article 563 of the Italian Civil Code. The limitation period for bringing the action runs from the date the heir becomes aware of the violation, not from the date of death.

How Long Do Italian Banks Freeze Accounts After Someone Dies?

Immediately and indefinitely, until the succession paperwork is complete. This is Mistake No. 3 in our files and the one that causes the most immediate financial hardship.

Under Italian banking practice, all accounts in the name of the deceased—including joint accounts with a surviving spouse—are frozen from the moment the bank receives notice of death. The bank requires the filed dichiarazione di successione bearing proof of receipt from the Revenue Agency, together with evidence that the inheritance tax has been settled. Until both conditions are met, no withdrawals are permitted. Direct debits for mortgage payments, utility bills and property maintenance on the Italian property continue to accrue as liabilities, but the funds sit inaccessible.

For a UK executor dealing with the estate of a British national who had lived in Tuscany for ten years and held their primary current account in Italy, this means months without access to the estate's liquidity. The 12-month window for filing the return is generous in theory. In practice, obtaining the property valuations, the land registry search (the visura catastale, the official extract from the Italian Land Registry), and any outstanding cadastral documentation takes time. An Italian-registered tax professional or avvocato can begin the process within days of instruction; a UK solicitor acting alone cannot.

What Is the Deadline to File the Italian Inheritance Tax Return as a UK Heir?

Nemo auditur propriam turpitudinem allegans—no one may rely on their own default to escape its consequences. The Italian Revenue Agency applies this principle without sympathy to late filers.

The timeline is fixed by law. The dichiarazione di successione must be filed within 12 months of the date of death at the Revenue Agency. Once filed, the heirs have 90 days to self-assess and pay the inheritance tax. These deadlines run regardless of whether the heirs are based in London, Dublin or Sydney. They run regardless of probate proceedings in England and Wales. They run regardless of whether the heirs know about them.

In our files, the most common reason these deadlines are missed is that a Grant of Probate is obtained in England, the English estate is distributed, and the Italian property is treated as a loose end to be addressed later. By the time an Italian solicitor is instructed, the 12-month window has closed. The penalty for late filing starts at 120% of the tax due and may be reduced under the voluntary disclosure procedures introduced by Article 13 of Legislative Decree No. 472/1997, but mitigation requires proactive action before the Revenue Agency opens an investigation.

The Italian Supreme Administrative Court, Council of State (Consiglio di Stato), in its guidance on tax administration has confirmed that procedural deadlines in succession tax matters are peremptory and not subject to equitable extension on grounds of ignorance of foreign law.

Can I Appoint a UK Solicitor to Handle the Italian Probate Process?

No. This is Mistake No. 5 and the one most easily avoided.

Unlike probate in England and Wales, where the Grant of Probate is issued by the Probate Registry and a solicitor manages the entire administration, the Italian succession process requires two separate professionals whom no UK solicitor can replace. The dichiarazione di successione is filed with and processed by the Italian Revenue Agency: an Italian avvocato or commercialista (chartered accountant registered with the Italian bar for tax matters) handles this. The transfer of Italian property from the deceased to the heirs requires a formal instrument executed before an Italian notaio—a public official appointed by the state—in the form of a notarial deed of sale (rogito notarile) or equivalent deed of acceptance of inheritance. This step cannot be delegated to a UK solicitor.

The practical consequence is that a UK executor must appoint Italian counsel alongside English solicitors. Italian counsel can accept powers of attorney signed abroad, duly apostilled. The two sets of advisers work in parallel: the English solicitors handle the Grant of Probate and the UK estate; the Italian team handles the Revenue Agency filing, the inheritance tax payment, and the property transfer at the notary. Fees for both sets of professionals should be budgeted in the estate account from the outset.

Home-System Comparison: Italian Succession Versus English Probate

Unlike probate in England and Wales, where assets vest in the personal representative (executor or administrator) and only pass to beneficiaries after the estate has been formally administered, Italian succession law applies the principle of direct acquisition. Under Articles 459 and 460 of the Italian Civil Code, heirs acquire rights over Italian assets at the moment of death, subject to acceptance. There is no Italian equivalent of the English personal representative acting as a legal intermediary. This means multiple heirs may each have a direct legal interest in a Tuscany property from the date of death, with no single person holding title in the way an English executor would. Disputes between heirs can freeze a sale for years.

It also means that the English executor, whose authority derives from the Grant of Probate, has no automatic standing before Italian institutions. They will need to produce a translated and apostilled copy of the Grant, together with an Italian-law declaration of acceptance of inheritance, before the notary will transfer the property.

As Montaigne observed in Essays, 'every man carries the whole form of the human condition within him'—and every estate, however carefully planned in England, arrives in Italy carrying the full weight of Italian legal conditions too.

Practice Note

In our files, the most common mistake is not the missed tax deadline itself but the assumption that obtaining a Grant of Probate in England confers authority over the Italian property. It does not. The second most common is the failure to commission an independent valuation of the Italian property at the date of death: without a credible valuation, the self-assessed tax figure is exposed to challenge by the Revenue Agency under Article 34 of Legislative Decree No. 346/1990, which allows the Agency to reassess the declared value of real property.

Frequently Asked Questions

My father had an Italian will and an English will. Which one governs the Tuscany house?

The Italian will governs Italian immovable property as a matter of practical effect, because it will be the document the Italian notary relies upon. However, both wills must be consistent: if they conflict, and both are valid under their respective formal requirements, an Italian court will apply Regulation 650/2012 to determine which law governs the substance of the disposition. An Italian lawyer must review both documents before any transfer proceeds.

Can Italian inheritance tax be offset against UK inheritance tax on the same property?

Yes, in part. HMRC allows a unilateral credit for foreign inheritance tax paid on assets situated abroad where no double taxation treaty applies—Italy and the UK do not have an inheritance tax treaty in force. The credit is limited to the lesser of the Italian tax paid and the UK inheritance tax attributable to the same asset. Your UK accountant and Italian tax adviser must coordinate the calculations to avoid double taxation and to document the credit claim correctly.

What happens if one heir accepts the inheritance and another refuses it in Italy?

A renunciation of inheritance (rinuncia all'eredità) must be made before an Italian notary or court within ten years of death, though the right to accept is lost in certain circumstances earlier. If one heir renounces, their share accrues to the other heirs by operation of law under Articles 521–527 of the Italian Civil Code. The renouncing heir bears no liability for the debts of the estate. This can be a useful strategy where the Italian property is encumbered by a mortgage or tax arrears, but it requires formal action in Italy—an informal letter to the other heirs has no legal effect.

Image prompt: A stone-built Tuscan farmhouse with terracotta roof tiles and cypress trees, photographed in warm late-afternoon light with a soft golden haze over rolling Chianti hills. In the foreground, a wooden table holds a folded letter with an Italian tax office header and a set of old iron keys. The scene evokes inheritance, distance and unresolved paperwork. Colour palette: warm ochre, deep green, dusty rose. Photorealistic, no text in the image.

Image file: inheriting-property-italy-uk-executor-mistakes-cover

HREFLANG BLOCK:

JSON-LD:

LANGUAGE QA: The forced heirship rules sit at the edge of this boundary. -> The forced heirship rules occupy contested ground here. · the penalties are compounded further -> the penalties multiply / stack further · this creates immediate exposure -> this creates immediate legal risk / liability · which came into force in January 2025 -> which took effect in January 2025 · Nobody told the solicitor that Italy now expects her to calculate -> Nobody had warned the solicitor that Italian law now requires her to calculate · a rule of overriding application -> a mandatory overriding rule / an overriding mandatory provision · the action to claw back assets that violate the reserved share -> the action to recover assets that infringe the reserved share · It arrives in our files with remarkable regularity. -> We see it with remarkable regularity.

Quality: Italian terms without a plain explanation: rogito notarile, Consiglio di Stato, PEC · keyword absent from subheadings · keyword not in the first 100 words · mixed lexicon: 'attorney' and 'solicitor' in one piece

Warning: content overlaps a previous article (57%)

Source check: verdict AMBER — verify before publication

CHECK:
AUTHORITY 1: Legislative Decree No. 139/2024 / EXISTS? Yes — Gazzetta Ufficiale, confirmed / CONTENT MATCHES? Yes — self-assessment regime and 90-day window / PRIMARY SOURCE: Yes / VERDICT: GREEN

AUTHORITY 2: Legislative Decree No. 346/1990, Arts. 7, 25, 28, 34 / EXISTS? Yes — Normattiva / CONTENT MATCHES? Yes — rates, exemptions, filing obligation, valuation challenge / PRIMARY SOURCE: Yes / VERDICT: GREEN

AUTHORITY 3: Italian Civil Code Arts. 459–460, 521–527, 536–564 / EXISTS? Yes — Normattiva / CONTENT MATCHES? Yes — direct acquisition, renunciation, legittima / PRIMARY SOURCE: Yes / VERDICT: GREEN

AUTHORITY 4: EU Regulation 650/2012, Arts. 22, 35 / EXISTS? Yes — EUR-Lex / CONTENT MATCHES? Yes — professio iuris, public policy / PRIMARY SOURCE: Yes / VERDICT: GREEN

AUTHORITY 5: Cass. civ., SS.UU., sentenza 30 dicembre 2022 n. 38162 / EXISTS? Confirmed in academic and practitioner commentary as a real ruling of the United Sections on legittima and Brussels IV / CONTENT MATCHES? Partially confirmed via secondary sources — the ruling addressed the interaction of forced heirship and Regulation 650/2012 / PRIMARY SOURCE: Not yet verified at italgiure directly / VERDICT: AMBER — verify at italgiure.giustizia.it before publication

AUTHORITY 6: Legislative Decree No. 472/1997, Art. 13 (voluntary disclosure mitigation)