Many foreigners who own property in Italy are surprised by one rule. In Italy, you cannot leave everything to whoever you want. If you have a spouse or children, the law reserves part of your estate for them. Your will cannot take it away.

This rule is called forced heirship. In Italian it is called “legittima”, and the protected family members are called “legittimari”. In this article we call them forced heirs.

Below we explain who the forced heirs are, how much they are entitled to, what happens if a will ignores them, and when Italian forced heirship applies to a foreigner.

What forced heirship means

Under Italian law, your estate is divided into two parts.

The first part is reserved for your forced heirs. The second part is the disposable share (“quota disponibile”). You can leave the disposable share to anyone you like: a friend, a partner, a charity, one of your children.

The reserved part is not a recommendation. If your will gives it to someone else, your forced heirs can go to court and get it back.

This is very different from the United States. In almost every US state, you can leave your children nothing at all. In Italy, you cannot, unless the heir is found “unworthy” (“indegno”) by a court. This applies only in very serious cases listed by the law, for example if the heir tried to kill you or forged your will (Article 463 of the Civil Code).

Who are the forced heirs in Italy (eredi legittimi)

Article 536 of the Italian Civil Code lists three groups: your spouse, your children and your ascendants (parents and grandparents).

Adopted children have the same rights as other children. If one of your children has died before you, his or her own children take that child’s place.

Your parents are forced heirs only if you have no children. A partner in an Italian civil union (“unione civile”) has the same rights as a spouse.

Some people are not forced heirs, even if they are very close to you. Brothers and sisters are not. Nieces and nephews are not. An unmarried partner is not, even after decades together. A divorced spouse is not. A separated spouse keeps the rights of a spouse, unless a final judgment held him or her responsible for the separation (Article 548).

Here is an example. Paul has lived with Laura for twenty years, but they never married. Paul has two adult sons. If Paul dies without a will, Laura inherits nothing. If Paul writes a will in her favor, Laura can receive only the disposable share. The rest is reserved for the two sons.

How much each forced heir is entitled to in Italy

The surviving spouse has one more right. He or she can keep living in the family home and use the furniture in it, if the home belonged to the deceased or to both spouses (Article 540). This right applies even when the spouse shares the inheritance with others.

Let’s see how this works with numbers. Michael is married to Susan and has two children. His whole estate is worth €400,000. Susan is entitled to at least one quarter, so €100,000. The two children are entitled to one half together, so €100,000 each. Michael can freely leave only the remaining quarter, €100,000, for example to his brother.

A typical situation
Robert, an American citizen, owns a house in Tuscany. He has two children from his first marriage and has remarried. His US will leaves everything to his second wife, Karen. When Robert dies, his children discover that Italian law may give them a reserved share of the Italian house. Karen, who thought the house was hers, now has to deal with them. A will drafted with Italian forced heirship rules in mind, and a clear choice of law, could have avoided the conflict.

Gifts (donations) made during your life also count

Many people think they can avoid forced heirship by giving their assets away while they are alive. It does not work that way.

To calculate the reserved shares, Italian law takes what you own when you die, subtracts your debts and then adds back the gifts you made during your life (Article 556).

For example, ten years before his death, a father gives his son an apartment in Rome worth €300,000. When he dies, he leaves another €100,000, all to the son. The shares are calculated on €400,000. With two children, they are entitled to two thirds together, so about €133,000 each. The daughter received nothing, so she can claim her share.

A reform in force since 18 December 2025 (Law 182/2025) changed what happens when the gifted property has been sold. In most cases, a forced heir can no longer take back a donated house from a third party who paid for it. Instead, the forced heir has a claim for money against the person who received the gift. This makes houses that came from a gift much easier to sell and buy.

What happens if your will ignores the forced heirs

The will is not void. It stays valid and it can be applied as written.

But the forced heirs who were left out, or who received less than their share, can go to court. The legal action is called “azione di riduzione” (Article 554). The judge reduces the gifts in the will until the forced heir receives the reserved share.

There is a time limit of ten years. According to the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione, Sezioni Unite, judgment no. 20644/2004), the ten years start when the heir named in the will accepts the inheritance.

If no forced heir takes action, the will is applied as it is. In practice, families often settle without going to court: for example, the heir named in the will pays the excluded child his or her share. But until the ten years have passed, the risk of a lawsuit remains.

Does Italian forced heirship apply to foreigners?

Not always. Italy applies the EU Succession Regulation no. 650/2012, also to citizens of countries outside the EU, such as Americans. The general rule is that the law of your last habitual residence decides who inherits (Article 21).

If you live in Italy, Italian law applies to your whole estate, including the forced heirship rules. This applies to everything you own, in Italy and abroad.

If you live in the United States and own a house in Italy, the starting point is the law of your US state. But many US states apply the law of the place where real estate is located. The Italian court can follow that referral (Article 34 of the Regulation). The result is that Italian law, with its forced heirship rules, may end up applying to your Italian house.

There is a way to avoid this. In your will, you can choose the law of your nationality to govern your whole estate (Article 22). With that choice, the referral to Italian law no longer applies. A US citizen can choose US law. A person with both US and Italian citizenship, as many of our iure sanguinis clients have, can choose either one.

The choice must be made with care. It must be clear, it must be in a will, and it must work together with your other wills. We explain this in more detail in our article Is your US will valid in Italy?.

How to plan around forced heirship

Forced heirship cannot be ignored, but it can be planned for.

If you live in Italy, first check whether you can and want to choose the law of your nationality in your will. If you live abroad and own property in Italy, check what law your heirs will face when the time comes.

Use the disposable share. It is yours to leave to anyone, and it is often enough to protect a partner or a friend.

Think before making large gifts during your life. They are counted when the shares are calculated, and they can lead to disputes between children.

Finally, if you have a will abroad, make sure it works together with an Italian will, or with the rules that will apply in Italy. The European Commission’s e-Justice page on succession in Italy has a general overview of the Italian rules.

Every family is different, and the numbers change a lot depending on who survives you. If you own property in Italy, a short consultation can show you who your forced heirs are, how much they would receive and what you can still decide yourself.

FAQ