GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Theodore Rakintzis, Panagiotis Pothos, Angeliki Miliakou and Petros Roumpis, Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm
claim. This direction aims to reduce forced fragmenta- tion of specific assets (such as real estate or business participations) and therefore reduce involuntary co- ownership structures that frequently lead to deadlock and disputes. Inheritance contracts introduced for the first time The draft provides for inheritance contracts and agree- ments renouncing future inheritance rights. These are described by the Ministry as new, flexible tools that allow earlier, rational organisation of post-death wealth allocation and reduce disputes and litigation risk. For the first time, Greek law would permit struc- tured, binding lifetime agreements on the allocation of inheritance – a tool long available in other European jurisdictions and highly relevant for family business continuity planning.
A new approach to estate debts and heir liability The Ministry has described a core reform: separating the estate’s liabilities from the heir’s personal property so debts are satisfied exclusively from the inherited estate. This would reduce “frozen estates” and the cascading renunciation dynamic that can pull in more distant relatives and create repeated deadline uncer- tainty. Modern family realities: enhanced spouse/partner position and updated intestate rules The announced reform agenda also addresses the modernisation of intestate succession, including strengthening the position of the spouse and the part- ner under a civil partnership agreement, and clarifying interpretive issues (including scenarios involving dis- solution). It also notes, for the first time, the possibility (under strict conditions) for a partner in a free union to inherit in the fifth class.
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