Greek succession law for diaspora families: forced heirship, cross-border estates, tax, probate filings and practical estate planning. What you need to know when a Greek estate is involved.
Written by Nadia Karabatsou, Athens Bar Association member & Accredited Mediator · Last updated May 2026
Greek inheritance law is codified in the Greek Civil Code (Articles 1710–2035) and is based on the continental European civil law tradition. It operates on two fundamental principles that distinguish it from common-law systems (such as the UK, Australia, and the United States): forced heirship and universal succession.
In Greece, when a person dies, all of their assets and liabilities pass to their heirs simultaneously and automatically at the moment of death. There is no separate probate process through a court to "open" the estate in the common-law sense. The heirs become owners and debtors of the estate from the date of death — which is both an opportunity (immediate ownership) and a risk (immediate exposure to the deceased's debts).
Greek law protects certain close relatives — spouses and children, primarily — by reserving them a minimum share of the estate (the "compulsory share" or νόμιμη μοίρα) that cannot be excluded by will. The compulsory share is equal to half of what the heir would receive under intestate succession. A Greek will that attempts to leave a compulsory heir with less than their lawful minimum can be challenged in court and the deficiency restored. This has significant implications for estate planning — simply writing a Greek will leaving everything to one person does not necessarily achieve that outcome if compulsory heirs are excluded.
If a person dies without a valid will, the Greek Civil Code sets out the order of succession. Heirs are grouped into classes: first class (children and spouse), second class (parents, siblings), third class (grandparents), and so on. Only if there are no heirs in a higher class do heirs in a lower class inherit. The state inherits as a last resort if no eligible heirs exist.
This is the most urgently time-sensitive aspect of Greek inheritance for diaspora families, and the most commonly missed.
Under Greek tax law, heirs must file a Greek inheritance tax declaration within nine months of the date of death (or 12 months if the deceased or the heirs are resident abroad — the extended deadline for overseas residents is important for diaspora cases). The declaration is filed with the Greek tax authority (AADE) and declares the estate assets and their value for tax purposes.
Penalties for late filing are significant. Interest accrues on any tax due from the date the filing was due. Late-filing penalties are also applied. If the estate includes Greek property that needs to be transferred, sold, or mortgaged, a late or missing inheritance tax declaration and clearance creates a legal block on all of those transactions. We have acted in many cases where an estate was effectively frozen for years because the nine-month (or twelve-month) deadline was missed.
The deadline runs from the date of death. This is not the date you were notified, not the date the will was found, and not the date you engaged a lawyer — it is the date of death. Contact us as soon as possible when a family member with Greek assets passes away.
Extensions beyond the standard deadline are available in limited circumstances — primarily when documentary evidence needed for the declaration is genuinely unavailable — but these must be applied for proactively. Do not assume that difficulty in gathering documents automatically extends the deadline.
Greek law recognises three forms of valid will:
Executed before a Greek notary in the presence of witnesses. The notary records the testator's wishes, reads the will back to the testator, and retains the original. A public will is the most legally secure form — it is authenticated by a state officer, held in a central registry, and very difficult to challenge on formal grounds. We strongly recommend public wills for clients with significant Greek assets. We draft the content in consultation with the client, and the notary handles the formal execution in Greece.
Written entirely by hand by the testator — no typed content, no witnesses, no notary. Must be dated and signed. While legally valid if it meets the formal requirements, holographic wills carry higher risks: they can be lost, concealed, disputed on grounds of authenticity, or contested on the basis of the testator's mental capacity at the time of writing. A holographic will found after a person's death must be "published" by a court before it can be acted upon.
The testator presents a sealed document (containing their wishes, which may be typed) to a notary and three witnesses, declaring it to be their will. The notary records the declaration without reading the contents. A secret will provides privacy combined with notarial authentication. It is less common but legally valid. Like holographic wills, it must be published by court after death.
Foreign wills covering Greek assets: A will executed validly under foreign law (e.g., an Australian or American will) can cover Greek assets — but it must be recognised under Greek private international law. Under EU Succession Regulation No. 650/2012 (which applies within the EU), there are clearer rules for cross-border recognition of EU-country wills. Foreign wills from outside the EU require a more complex recognition procedure. We advise on the most efficient approach for each client's cross-border estate.
Because Greek inheritance operates on universal succession — heirs automatically inherit both assets and debts — accepting a Greek inheritance without caution can expose you to liability for the deceased's debts that exceed the value of the estate assets.
Greek law provides a protective mechanism: acceptance with reservation of benefit (αποδοχή με το ευεργέτημα της απογραφής). Under this procedure, an heir formally accepts the inheritance while limiting their personal liability to the value of the estate assets — they cannot be required to pay estate debts from their own personal funds beyond the inherited estate.
We routinely recommend acceptance with reservation of benefit in all diaspora cases. Many Greek estates include undisclosed debts — tax debts, ENFIA arrears, contractual liabilities, or bank debts — that are not apparent from the documents the family holds. The reservation protects you completely from exposure to debts you did not know about and could not have known about.
The reservation of benefit must be declared within the same deadline as the inheritance acceptance. It is filed at the relevant court or notary, and once granted, it establishes a formal inventory of the estate. Managing the estate properly after acceptance with reservation requires procedural discipline — we guide clients through the entire process.
An alternative option is to formally renounce the inheritance entirely — if the estate is clearly insolvent or if the heir simply does not want the complexity of a Greek estate. Renunciation is also time-limited and must be formal to be legally effective.
Most of our inheritance clients face a cross-border estate: the deceased held Greek property and was resident in Australia, the US, Canada, or the UK. The assets and heirs are spread across jurisdictions. This creates complexity in both the applicable law and the procedural steps required.
For estates within the European Union, EU Succession Regulation No. 650/2012 provides a coordinating framework. In general, the regulation applies the succession law of the country where the deceased was habitually resident at death. A Greek-origin person who was habitually resident in Germany at death would ordinarily have their entire estate governed by German succession law — including their Greek property — unless they made a choice-of-law declaration in their will selecting Greek law as the governing law.
This choice-of-law mechanism is highly significant for diaspora clients who wish to ensure their Greek property is governed by Greek law (which they understand and have planned around), rather than the law of their country of residence. We advise on this at the estate planning stage.
For deceased persons habitually resident outside the EU, Greek private international law applies to their Greek-sited property. Greek courts and authorities apply Greek succession law to the Greek-sited assets (including Greek real estate) regardless of the law of the deceased's country of residence. The practical result is that heirs must comply with both the foreign probate process (in the deceased's country of residence) and the Greek tax filing and succession procedure (for the Greek assets).
We coordinate with foreign counsel and foreign courts to ensure the Greek and overseas processes align, using instruments such as the European Certificate of Succession and Greek court-issued declarations of heirship.
Greek inheritance tax rates vary significantly depending on the relationship between the deceased and the heir. The tax is applied to the net value of the inherited Greek assets (assets minus qualifying debts and deductions) after applicable exemptions.
Lowest tax rates. Exemption threshold: €150,000 per heir (for children) or €400,000 for surviving spouse. Above the exemption: 1% on the first €150,000 above threshold, rising to 10% on amounts above €600,000. For most diaspora family estates involving a home left to children, the effective tax is low or nil.
Moderate rates. No personal exemption. Tax rates: 5% on the first €300,000, rising to 15% on amounts above €600,000.
Highest rates. No exemption. Tax rates: 20% on the first €300,000, rising to 40% on amounts above €600,000. Estates left to non-relatives (partners, friends, carers) face the steepest tax burden and most benefit from estate planning and advance legal structuring.
Inheritance tax is assessed on the basis of the objective value assigned to the property by the tax authority (which may differ from market value) or on the market value if higher. We review the tax calculation and advise on any available deductions or objections before the declaration is filed.
Many diaspora families discover they are dealing with an estate that was never properly administered when a previous family member died. The property was simply left in the deceased's name — no inheritance declaration was filed, no title transfer occurred. Now, decades later, that property is still registered in a grandfather's or grandmother's name, and several generations of heirs may have emerged. These "frozen" estates require a systematic untangling: identifying all legal heirs, recovering documents, filing belated declarations (with penalties), and clearing title through the courts or Land Registry. We handle these cases routinely.
Older Greek properties — particularly those in rural areas or on islands — were not always formally registered in the land registry system. In areas now incorporated into the National Cadastre, the ownership data may be "unknown" or contested. Establishing and registering title requires a combination of historic document research, cadastral proceedings, and sometimes court applications.
When a Greek property is inherited by multiple siblings — some in Greece, some abroad — the co-ownership situation can quickly become unmanageable if the siblings disagree on what to do with the property. Greek law gives any co-owner the right to demand partition of the common property, through a court if necessary. We work to achieve negotiated solutions before the dispute reaches litigation — the mediation route is significantly cheaper and faster.
Once a Greek property is registered in a new owner's name, the annual ENFIA tax bill is issued to that person. When inheritance is delayed or disputed, ENFIA bills may accumulate in the deceased's name (accruing penalties and interest) or start arriving for heirs who don't realise they need to respond. We regularise the ENFIA position as part of the estate administration process.
Heirs who wish to sell an inherited Greek property — particularly to a foreign buyer or a Golden Visa applicant — often discover at the sale stage that the property has title problems that must be resolved first. Rushed due diligence before an impending sale can be more expensive than a planned approach. We advise estate clients on the title position early so that problems can be resolved before a buyer is found, not after.
Nadia Karabatsou is an accredited mediator as well as a practising lawyer. This dual qualification is directly relevant to inheritance disputes, which are among the most emotionally charged and practically complex disputes we encounter.
Greek law provides for mediation as a formal alternative dispute resolution mechanism, recognised by Law 4640/2019. Mediation is voluntary, confidential, and without prejudice. A mediated settlement has the force of a notarial deed — it is enforceable without further court proceedings.
In our experience, the majority of family estate disputes can be resolved through mediation in a fraction of the time and cost of litigation. The median inheritance court case in Greece takes 3–7 years to reach a final judgment. A mediated settlement typically takes 2–6 sessions over 2–4 months. The financial and emotional cost difference is enormous.
We offer mediation services for inheritance disputes where all parties (or their lawyers) are willing to participate. Even where not all parties are initially willing, a request to mediate often shifts the dynamic. We explore mediation as an option in every contentious estate case before advising any party to commence or continue litigation.
Notify us as soon as possible. The 9-month (or 12-month for overseas residents) filing deadline runs from the date of death, not from when you engage a lawyer. Early engagement gives us time to gather documents properly rather than rushing at the deadline.
We identify all Greek assets (property, bank accounts, company shares, vehicles), compile the list of legal heirs, and request the documents needed: death certificate (translated and apostilled), heirs' identity documents, Greek property documents, and any existing will. We search the national will registry (central notarial archive) to confirm whether a will exists.
Each heir formally accepts or renounces the inheritance. We recommend acceptance with reservation of benefit as the default approach for diaspora heirs with limited knowledge of the estate's liabilities. The declaration is filed before a Greek notary or court within the deadline.
The inheritance tax declaration is filed with the relevant tax authority office (AADE). The declaration lists all estate assets and their values, all heirs and their shares, and calculates the inheritance tax due. Inheritance tax is paid at the time of filing (or in instalments where permitted).
Following payment of inheritance tax and issuance of the tax clearance certificate, we prepare the heirship acceptance deed (notarial deed formally registering the inheritance). This deed is filed at the Cadastre/Land Registry to transfer the registered title from the deceased to the heirs.
The property is registered in the heirs' names for ENFIA purposes. If the heirs wish to sell, the property is now available with a clean, registered title. If the heirs wish to retain and rent the property, we assist with lease management. If siblings disagree on the outcome, we move to mediation or — as a last resort — court-ordered partition proceedings.
Our inheritance service covers the full process from death to clean registered title — acceptance declarations, tax filings, document recovery, cross-border coordination and mediation. Handled in English, from anywhere in the world.
This guide is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. Greek inheritance law is complex and every estate is different. For advice specific to your situation, book a free 20-minute consultation with Nadia Karabatsou.
The filing deadline runs from the date of death. Contact us early to protect the estate and the heirs.