Being the heir to a property does not automatically imply, as we might mistakenly think, becoming its rightful owner.
There are certain procedures to follow in order to legally and indisputably acquire ownership of inherited real estate, we should deal with both bureaucratic and tax fulfillments. Let's see in the article what these fulfillments are and what to do when receiving an inherited property.
Acceptance of inheritance
The first step involves the acceptance of inheritance, which must take place within 10 years after the death of the devisee. There are three types of acceptance of inheritance:
Express acceptance: involves the intervention of a notary or the drafting of a private writing.
Tacit: it does not involve any communication, either written or verbal, but the heir manifests by his or her behavior the will to accept the inheritance.
With benefit of inventory: this type is used when the heir has a "suspicion" that there are more debts than assets to be inherited and allows the assets of the deceased and the heir to be kept separate. In this way any debts of the deceased will have to be paid from the deceased's assets and the heir's assets will not be affected. It can only be express and is made by declaration received by a notary public or court clerk. For the declaration of acceptance of inheritance with benefit of inventory one must go to the clerk of the civil court of the place where the deceased person was domiciled, or one can also go to a notary public who will then transmit the deed to the court and who will take care of its transcription at the Land Office. Mandatory when the heir is a minor.
Strictly speaking, transcription of the acceptance of inheritance is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended. Heirs of an estate must transcribe the acceptance of inheritance at the appropriate Land Registry Office (formerly known as the Registrar's Office, now part of the Internal Revenue Service) as required by law.
Declaration of inheritance
Once the acceptance of inheritance has been carried out, the next step is the declaration of inheritance, which must be made within 12 months of the death of the de cuius. In fact, an heir officially becomes the owner of an inherited property when the declaration of inheritance is filed with the Internal Revenue Service
In the declaration of inheritance, the value of inherited property must also be indicated, which in the case of real estate is defined as "cadastral value." In turn, the cadastral value is the result of the cadastral annuity revalued by 5% and multiplied by coefficients that vary according to the cadastral category.
However, one is not always obliged to file an inheritance declaration: in all those cases where passing by "direct line" takes place (i.e., child inheriting from deceased parent or wife receiving bequest from departed husband), the inheritance does not exceed 100 thousand euros in value and does not include real estate, then there is no need to file an inheritance declaration.
Once the declaration of inheritance has been made, a cadastral transfer must be submitted within 30 days, a practice that in essence serves to "make known" to the Land Registry the new owner of the property.
This document is mainly for tax purposes as it will be used by IRS employees to calculate the inheritance tax.
Inheritance taxes
And so we have come to the point of closest interest to us namely inheritance taxes and how much they amount to. Beyond all the incidental expenses that we will see a little later, we can summarize that inheritance taxes vary according to the degree of relationship between the de cuius and the heir:
4% with deductible of 1,000,000 for children and spouse;
6% with deductible of 100,000 for siblings;
6% without deductible, for nieces, nephews, uncles, first cousins, brothers-in-law and in-laws;
8% without deductible, for all other individuals (which includes the cohabitee).
Transfer of ownership
Once the inheritance taxes have been paid, it is possible to proceed with the actual transfer of ownership of the property to the heirs. This is done through an actual notarial deed called a "deed of hereditary transfer" or "deed of hereditary transfer." The notary will draw up the deed and then it must be registered with the Office of Land Records.
Management of the inherited property
At this point you really own the inherited property and have the right to enjoy and dispose of the property. We can decide to rent, sell or inhabit our property as our first home.
We are at your complete disposal to help you evaluate which is the best way to go with your inherited property if you want to make it a source of income or if you want to evaluate it to sell it.
Call us at 0583997201 or visit us at the office. We are waiting for you!
