{"id":11459,"date":"2026-07-31T07:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T07:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfimmobiliare.com\/?p=11459"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:29:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T12:29:34","slug":"selling-inherited-house-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfimmobiliare.com\/en\/selling-inherited-house-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling an inherited house in Italy: what you need and how long it takes"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have inherited a house in Italy, the hard part is not finding a buyer. The hard part is reaching the deed of sale, the rogito<\/em>, with the paperwork in order and every heir willing to sign. Those two obstacles are what turn a few weeks into a few years.<\/p>\n

What must be in place before you can sell an inherited house in Italy<\/title>Three requirements, in sequence: the succession declaration filed, acceptance of the inheritance recorded, all heirs in agreement. Only with all three do you reach the deed of sale. If one is missing, the sale waits.<\/desc>1<\/text>Succession filed<\/text>within 12 months of death<\/text>2<\/text>Acceptance recorded<\/text>before the deed, not at it<\/text>3<\/text>Every heir agrees<\/text>each one has to sign<\/text>All three: you reach the deed<\/text>Miss one and the sale waits until it is sorted out<\/text><\/svg>
All three have to be in place. No buyer can skip one for you.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The succession comes before the sale<\/h2>\n

The succession opens at the date of death. Ownership, though, is acquired when an heir accepts the inheritance, and the acceptance takes effect retroactively back to that date. Until it is settled, the notary has no clear position to work from, and no serious buyer moves forward. The succession declaration, the dichiarazione di successione<\/em>, is filed with the Italian Revenue Agency within twelve months of the death.<\/p>\n

That is when the taxes arrive, and for many heirs it is the first unexpected bill. On buildings you pay the land registry tax and the cadastral tax (imposta ipotecaria e catastale<\/em>), both due at the time of filing. Then there is inheritance tax, which depends on how closely you were related and on the value you received: a spouse and children benefit from a high tax-free allowance and a low rate, for more distant relatives it changes considerably. Have a notary or an accountant work out the exact figures before you commit to anything.<\/p>\n

There is a second step most people first hear about from the notary: acceptance of the inheritance. It can be express, through a formal act, or tacit, when an heir behaves as the owner. At the deed the notary has to reconstruct the chain of title, and if the acceptance does not appear clearly, one further formality may be needed to record it. This has to be checked case by case, and checked before the deed, not during it.<\/p>\n

Something else worth asking straight away: whether there was a will, or whether the estate follows the shares set by law. It changes who the heirs are and what each one holds, and people sometimes only discover it once a negotiation is under way.<\/p>\n

On tax there is one point that is often unclear: as a rule, selling a property received through inheritance does not trigger the capital gain that is taxed when someone resells a recent purchase. The usual taxes on a sale still apply. Here too, have a professional confirm it for your own case.<\/p>\n

When there is more than one heir<\/h2>\n

This is where almost everything is decided. With several heirs the house falls into co-ownership, and each heir holds a share. Selling the whole property needs the consent of every co-owner: a majority of the shares is not enough, and holding the largest share counts for nothing.<\/p>\n

If a single heir disagrees, the sale stops. Two roads are left. The first is agreement: whoever wants out transfers their share to the other heirs, who pay them its value. The second is judicial division, when no agreement is reached: the court divides the property or, when it cannot be divided, orders it sold. That road is long, measured in years and in legal costs.<\/p>\n

One point that causes confusion: an individual heir’s share can be sold in theory, but in practice it finds very few buyers. Whoever buys a share ends up co-owning a house with strangers, unable to use it or to decide its future. To be explicit about our own position: we buy the whole property, never individual shares.<\/p>\n

The cases that need one more step<\/h2>\n

One of the heirs is a minor, or a person under guardianship or under amministrazione di sostegno<\/em>, a court-ordered support measure: the sale needs authorisation from the guardianship judge, who assesses whether it is in the protected person’s interest. Allow for it in your timing.<\/p>\n

There is a surviving spouse: on the family home they hold the right of habitation and the use of the furniture, by law and regardless of their share. These are rights that weigh on both the value and the saleability of the property, and they need to be clarified before you negotiate, not during.<\/p>\n

The house is not what the cadastral records say it is, because at some point over thirty years somebody enclosed a balcony or moved a partition wall without telling anyone: the discrepancy has to be regularised before the deed. A practical piece of advice on this one: have cadastral and planning compliance checked at the beginning, not at the end. It is the surprise that derails more sales than any other, and finding out after you have accepted an offer costs you time and bargaining position.<\/p>\n

How long it really takes<\/h2>\n

With the succession already filed, the acceptance recorded and the heirs in agreement, an inherited house sells like any other: the timing is the market’s and the banks’. If any of those three pieces is missing, the clock starts there, and no buyer can shorten it for you.<\/p>\n

What makes the difference is the order you tackle things in. Sort out documents and agreements before you look for a buyer and you sell in predictable time. Do it the other way round and you end up running a negotiation and a succession file at the same time, and usually lose both.<\/p>\n

How we work on these situations<\/h2>\n

We buy directly, so we are not looking for a buyer on your behalf and we take no commission: we are the ones purchasing the house. The online valuation gives you an indication of value straight away, with no account to create. We then arrange a visit, look at the documents and the real condition of the property, and if it fits our buying criteria we make you a purchase offer within 48 hours of that visit. You are free to turn it down, at no cost.<\/p>\n

We buy the house as it stands, which matters more on an inherited property than anywhere else: nobody asks you to clear it out, renovate it or make it presentable before selling. We operate in Milan and in the provinces of Monza and Brianza, Como, Varese, Pavia and Lodi.<\/p>\n

If the succession formalities are not yet complete, or the heirs have not reached an agreement, we say so immediately: those things get sorted out first, then we talk about selling. We would rather tell you on the first phone call than after three months of negotiation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Succession, acceptance, agreement between the heirs: the three steps that decide your timing. What to do when one heir refuses to sell, and the cases that need one more step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":11463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t