I should say my only living near relative is my sister. I do have cousins in both the United States and Norway.

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Depending on how much risk you would like to avoid, and annoyance for whoever administers the estate:
(1) have a will drawn up by an attorney in the US, wherever you live. Put the house in Italy in the will as going to whoever. (2) Talk to a lawyer in Italy about the issue next time you are there. (3) keep copies of the will with your US lawyer (which is where I take it most of your estate will be) and let any heirs know that the lawyer has a copy. You should consider estate planning meeting to determine if it makes sense to put assets into trust now and appoint a trustee who will have the will as well. Sort of a long way to -- go talk to an estate planning lawyer in the US. If you own houses and have other assets, it is well worth your while and rather inexpensive.

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Thank you, bogart2. At the moment I have no will, but at this point in my life I need to make one. In the US I rent an apartment and own no other property besides bank and investment accounts. I intend to leave those to my sister and the house in Italy to my friend who sold it to me or else one of my cousins in Norway. An American friend who owns a house in Italy and is, like me, on a Schengen tourist basis, suggested that I talk with the notaio who conducted the house sale and determine what needs to be done. I am in Italy right now so can talk with whomever. Do I need to consult an avvocato, or can the notaio write a codicil to the atto di vendita to cover this? Also, does it make a difference if the erede is Italian or in some other country (Norway)? Thanks for any information you can provide!

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I am not competent to give advice re who exactly to talk with in Italy. Am not licensed there. That the estate will be international makes it out of the ordinary. So use a US lawyer and the corresponding person in Italy, with both having copies of the same will. Resist the temptation to use Zoom or the like.

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Thank you, bogart2, for your advice. I wasn't intending to use any online services, only those local (in Marsica). I guess I need to talk with whomever may be relevant and find out what is the appropriate thing to do. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! :-)

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Hello Almare, This subject came up when we retired here and bought a house...it seems if we left the house the our daughter she would incur huge tax repercussions..we were encouraged to put the house in her name and we are considered "usefrutta" (I know odd) and are in control of the house until our demise. Italian legal advice is your best bet but do consider the tax ramifications to your beneficiary...they might not be able to afford to accept the inheritance and making it official before you pass might be helpful. I've heard the inheritance tax can be as high as 50% the value of the property. Good luck and may you have many happy years yet.

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Thank you, codybrandy, for your advice. I will look into those things you mentioned. :-)

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I am British but buying in Italy. We were advised to make put the Italian property under our UK will with a note that all possessions in Italy to be treated under UK regulations, which I'd legal between the UK and Italy (nothing to do with the EU). We have an Italian qualified lawyer based In the UK who is also UK qualified. I am sure you can find a similar lawyer in us who's is Italian and US qualified.

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Thank you, LyndaPlatts, very interesting information. I'll look into that. :-)

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It is possible make a Uk will registered in Italy see below

http://www.italianlawfirm.co.uk/consulenze-legali/wills-drawn-up-in-a-foreign-language-how-to-make-a-valid-english-will-in-italy/

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Thank you, PMBLEX, but I am from the US, not the UK, I do not have residence status in Italy, and most of what I will leave is in the US. Only the house is in Italy.

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I did find some more info online, on the site of an Italian legal firm: http://www.studiolegalemetta.com/en/italian-inheritance-taxes/. It appears that the inheritance rate for non-family members is 8% plus some additional fees. Now I need to find out if the catastal value of the house will increase once I have done all the renovations!

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Perhaps this is a bit off topic but just before our family made the permanent move to Italy, we met with a lawyer to draw up a will. We own property in Texas and Italy, and have investments that we want transferred to our son. As well as assign care for him if we passed while he was a minor. The attorney advised us to have the will drawn up in Italy to cover all assets. That "technically" our Texas will was only good if we remained Texas residents. It may or may not be recognized by another state or country. According to him, a will needs to be drawn where you have residency to ensure it be legally recognized. Maybe his interpretation was too literal. I wouldn't know.

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Thanks, marchelive. I will be remaining a US resident as I don't have the requisite permanent income to become a resident of Italy. My problem is that I would want to leave my US assets to my sister, who is a US resident, and the house in Italy to either a cousin in Norway or a friend in Italy. As I mentioned in my original post, I have no other close relatives than my sister, and she has zero interest in Italy. I'll contact a lawyer once I get back to NJ (I'm in Italy now) and see what needs to be done. :-)

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It is the same case Us or Uk; you can make an Us will and registered in Italy: I am an Italian lawyer used to deal with this cases, if you need help

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Hi PMBLEX,

I just spoke with a notary recommended by the Boston Consulate. One of the topics we discussed was wills. My husband and I are dual US/Italian Citizens. We plan on moving to Italy next September and rent while we continue to look for a house to buy. We will be full-time residents in Italy and will sell our house in the US. Our investments will remain in the US.

The notary advised that she thought it best to keep both wills separate and that we didn't need to do anything in Italy with our US will. I told her that the bulk of our assets were in the USA and that basically we would only have the house in Italy as an asset there. She said that we didn't even need a will in Italy as the house would automatically go in equal parts to the surviving spouse and our 2 children once one of us dies. She said we could register our US will in Italy if we wanted to but doesn't advise this. It would then need to be translated and apostilled and registered with the tribunale. She said if we wanted to have an Italian will to just list the property owned in Italy but that we really didn't need a will if we keep things separate and not list the Italy house in our US will.

I also asked about living wills but they do not exist yet in Italy. You can get power of attorney for all matters is buying/selling and overseeing medical care.

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LisaC1, I wrote the original post because I am not married and have no children, only a sister in the US who would have no interest in a house in Italy. So I want to leave my house in Italy to either a friend in Italy or a cousin in Norway. That's where the problem lies! :-D

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Hi Lisa, thank you for your e mail. If this is the situation I agree with the Notary, The only advantage to make an American will registered in Italy could have been to decide something different from Italian laws (for example a mirror will). When are you looking for your Italian house? It is ok for me to have power of attorney for manage all the purchase process and ask for National insurance, tax number (codice fiscale) etc.... You can contact me for my details on info@studiolegalebottino.it

Carlo

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Ciao PMBLEX,

Thanks very much for your response. I am afraid that I did not explain myself well enough. I was just informing people on the Forum that while you can have someone as a power of attorney who can make your healthcare decisions (ie your spouse), there is no such thing yet in Italy as living will.

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Does anyone know if you can leave your house solely to your spouse if you do not have children? Would siblings be considered forced heirs who are required to get part of the house? Also, if both husband and wife died can the house be willed to someone by choice rather than forced heirs?

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Italy has strict inheritance laws. If you are concerned about such matters, you should find an English-speaking attorney in Italy and make the proper inquiries.

I can tell you, for example, that you cannot under any normal circumstances disinherit a child or a spouse.

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Yes, we're looking into a lawyer now but thought I would ask. We have no children and want to protect each other (spouses). I haven't seen any clarity on siblings being forced heirs in what I have read.

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