Registration of certificate of inheritance

1. To what extent could the Certificate be registered in your Land Registry? Is this Certificate enough for the registration of ownership (or other rights in rem) in the name of the heirs (or legatees)? Otherwise, which other additional documents or complementary requirements would be needed?

In order to effect any registration, an application must comply with Land Registration Rules and Forms. In matters of succession, the application currently must be accompanied by a deed of acceptance. According to the rules that regulate the transcription of Mortis causa transmissions ( art. 2648 civil code Acceptance of inheritance and acquisition of legacy) you must transcribe the acceptance of the inheritance or legacy that involves the transmission of the rights listed at numbers 1, 2 and 4 of Article 2643 civil code or expiration of others’ rights (such as the usufruct).

The transcription of the acceptance of the inheritance operates according to the expression of  will included  in a public document or a private document with authenticated signature or proved in a trial .

If the interested party has performed any action involving a tacit acceptance of the inheritance [art. 476 civil code] , it is possible to apply for transcription on the basis of that action, if it comes from a trial, by a public deed or a private document with authenticated or  legally confirmed signature. The transcription of the legacy is based on an authentic extract of the will.

Therefore, as the European certificate of succession certifies  the quality of heir or legatee according  to the law of the issuing State , it might be enough itself for  a direct transcription in the  Italian registries. But, there could be a problem concerning  the above mentioned formal requirement for any  entry in the land register. To this end, it might be enough if the certificate is issued by a public notary of the country where the succession is opened, and then it is lodged  in the archive  of an Italian Notary.

Alternatively, the application for recording a succession property could be carried out in Italy by submitting  an  authentic instrument containing a declaration of acceptance of the inheritance together  with the form C  “Evidentiary effects in the member state of origin of an authentic instrument in a matter of succession” provided by the second subparagraph of Article 34 of Regulation EU No 650/2012.

• Do you request official translations of European Certificates of Succession that are drawn up in a foreign language? Is the registration of a multilingual deed possible?
  If all the necessary elements can be detected from the multilingual module, it is not necessary, but if there are additional elements, the sworn translation is needed.

2. In particular: for the purposes of registration, if the interested parties have complied with a Certificate of Inheritance adequately, will sharing out or distribution of estate deeds be also necessary?

No, this will not be necessary according to Italian law, as the heirs can keep a sharing on the succession properties.

3. In the event that the Certificate cannot be used for purposes of registration at all in your LR system, please let’s know the legal reasons.

See above

4. May the Certificate be rejected by your registration authorities in the event of inadequate completion, mistakes or inaccuracies?

Yes, it may be. For example, it could be necessary to attach the authentic extract of the will ( for the acquisition of a legacy) or a certificate of death, as it is requested by art. 2849 civil code .

• Do you control whether the authority, who issued the Certificate, is indeed competent to do so? Imagine you receive a request for the registration of a European Certificate of Succession that is drawn up by a foreigner claiming to be a notary in the Netherlands. Do you actively control whether this person is actually a notary in the Netherland and if so, how do you control this?
  It is necessary to carry out this type of control but in practice, it is not easy for the Registrar. It could be overcome empirically asking for the help of a C.P. of the interested country.

•  A foreign ‘court’ has drawn up a European Certificate of Succession and submitted a request for registration to your organization. As the Certificate does not comply with your national registration requirements, you have to reject the application. In practical terms, how and in which language do you contact the ‘court’?
  I have no need to contact the court as it is up to the heir to comply with our national roles.

• Does your answer to the preceding question change when it is not the issuing authority but the heir himself who submits the request for registration?
  Yes. (See the preceding question)

5. For the certificate to be effective for the distribution of the estate and its registration, should this document be issued by national notaries or other practitioners or could it be issued by foreign notaries?

The certificate could alternatively be issued by an Italian notary, or by a foreign notary, and then lodged  in the archive  of an Italian Notary.

ambria;mso-ansi-language:EN-US’>A succession certificate prepared in a foreign state is recognised in Estonia if the procedure for the preparation and the legal effect thereof are comparable to the provisions of Estonian law concerning succession certificates. The provisions of Code of Civil Procedure concerning the recognition of judgments of foreign courts apply to recognition. Recognition shall be adjudicated by Harju County Court.

Documents in foreign languages must be submitted together with the translation into Estonian notarised by a sworn translator or notary or with the translation into Estonian on which the signature of the translator is authenticated by the notary.