Inheritance in Greece: division of property will be simplified for co-heirs

In Greece An important amendment to inheritance law is being introduced: co-heirs will be able to directly divide the property by agreement, which will also be considered acceptance of the inheritance.

ΠΟΜΙΔΑ (Panhellenic Federation of Property Owners) welcomed the new rule of inheritance law, which can seriously simplify the division of property between co-heirs. We are talking about the possibility of concluding an agreement on the division of inheritance not only during the life of the testator, but also after his death.

According to ΠΟΜΙΔΑthe new normal is “historical breakthrough” for Greek inheritance law, since it saves heirs from many years of bureaucratic chain: acceptance of inheritance, subsequent division, additional notarial acts, registrations and tax procedures. Well, yes, in Greece, even the death of a relative sometimes looks like the starting whistle for an office marathon. Now they are at least trying to shorten this marathon.

The essence of the amendment is that an agreement between co-heirs, according to which the inheritance is distributed in whole or in part, will simultaneously be considered acceptance of inheritance. This rule has been added to the first part of the article. 1883 Greek Civil Code: “An agreement between co-heirs to whom the inheritance is distributed in whole or in part also acts as acceptance of the inheritance by the contracting parties.”.

What changes for heirs

Until now, heirs at law have often faced the problem common shared ownership: property was transferred to several persons in ideal shares, after which they had to separately formalize the acceptance of the inheritance, then carry out division, exchanges of shares, new notarial actions and registrations. All this could take years and turn family property into a legal tangle.

Now the co-heirs will be able to conclude a partition agreement among themselves, which will be registered with the competent Cadastral office like accepting an inheritance. Its effect will relate to the date of death of the testator, which is especially important for further registration of property, property management and calculation of tax obligations.

The new feature will not only apply to future cases. According to the message ΠΟΜΙΔΑthe agreement can also be concluded for deaths that occurred before the norm came into force, if a claim for division of the inheritance had not been previously filed. The norm comes into force September 16, 2026along with other changes in inheritance law.

Conditions of use

To apply the new norm, specific conditions must be met:

• if we are talking about real estate, the division agreement must be drawn up by a notary;
• the parties to the agreement must be all legal co-heirs by law;
• the agreement may concern both the entire inherited property and part of it;
• the agreement will be valid and registered as acceptance of inheritance for distributed objects;
• its effect will be considered to have arisen from the moment of death of the testator.

In practice, this may be especially important for families where the inheritance consists of several real estate objects: apartments, land, houses or commercial premises. Instead of each property passing to all heirs in shares, they will be able to agree on the direct distribution of property among themselves.

Why is this important for the real estate market?

The Greek real estate market has suffered from excessive property fragmentation for decades. One object could belong to several relatives in shares, sometimes after several generations of inheritance. It was extremely difficult to sell, repair, rent out or use such real estate: one heir agrees, another is absent, the third argues, the fourth lives abroad, and meanwhile the documents grow old faster than government reforms.

The amendment may facilitate the management of inherited property, speed up transactions, reduce the number of disputed shares and reduce the burden on notaries, tax authorities and Greek cadastre. This is especially important now, when the country is completing the digitalization of cadastral data and is trying to make the real estate market more transparent.

The tax issue remains open

However ΠΟΜΙΔΑ emphasizes: the success of the new norm will depend on the tax regime. The Federation proposes to apply more favorable tax regulations to inheritance agreements, similar to parental gifts and donations, where the non-taxable limit is 800,000 euros. Now in inheritance law the limits are lower: 400,000 euros for the surviving spouse and 150,000 euros for every child.

This is where the main practical question may arise. If the new agreement simplifies only the notarial part, but leaves the heirs in a difficult tax regime, the reform will turn out to be half-hearted. People will experience less paperwork, but not necessarily less financial burden. And the Greek bureaucracy, as you know, knows how to give in in one place and immediately bill in another.

Broad reform of inheritance law

The new rule is part of a wider reform of inheritance law. Among the key changes ΠΟΜΙΔΑ also highlights the division of the inheritance mass and the personal property of the heir, so that the debts of the inheritance do not directly affect the personal property of the heir; compulsory share reform; adaptation of inheritance to modern family forms; preservation of a handwritten will with additional guarantees; and the introduction of the institution of inheritance contracts.

President ΠΟΜΙΔΑ Stratos Paradiasspeaking before a parliamentary committee, emphasized that private real estate remains the most important property and savings asset of the Greek family. Therefore, it is inheritance law that directly affects not only families, but also the country’s economy.

Editorial comment

This amendment may indeed become one of the most useful for ordinary property owners. Not because it sounds impressive, but because it concerns that very everyday Greek reality, where heirs wander for years between the notary, the tax office and the cadastre, trying to formalize what the family already considers theirs.

But the final result will depend on two things: how simply the new procedure will work in practice and what tax regime the state will apply to such agreements. If the heirs are given a real tool for direct division of property without unnecessary bureaucracy and tax traps, this will be a reform. If old complications are added to the new procedure, the result will be the usual Greek design: the door was opened, but the passage was blocked with cabinets.

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