The short answer is yes: you can sell your share, and you do not need the other heirs’ consent. In many cases, though, you have to offer it to them first. The useful answer is longer, because two things weigh on this sale: a rule in the Italian Civil Code that almost nobody knows about, and a market problem that is worth real money.<\/p>\n
What follows is general information about Italian law, not advice on your case: your situation has to be read by an Italian notaio<\/em> or a lawyer, on the documents.<\/p>\n One thing straight away, so nobody wastes time: we buy whole properties, not individual shares<\/strong>. If you are looking for someone to buy your part, this article explains how it works and who can do it, but that is not us. If the heirs can agree to sell the whole house, you will find what we do at the end.<\/p>\n When a house passes to more than one heir it falls into comunione<\/em>, joint ownership. This is worth clearing up first, because most people picture it the other way round: you do not own a room, a floor or half the garden. You own an undivided share of the whole property<\/strong>. If you are one of three siblings, you do not own a third of the house: you own a third of every square metre.<\/p>\n Two consequences follow, and they decide everything else. First: selling the whole property needs every owner’s signature, and the size of your share does not change that. Second: what you can sell on your own is not a piece of the house, it is your position inside the joint ownership. And that is a far harder thing to sell.<\/p>\n Article 732 of the Italian Civil Code says that a co-heir who wants to sell their share to an outsider must first notify the other co-heirs in writing with a genuine offer, stating the price and the terms<\/strong>, in a way that can be proved to have been received: registered mail, certified email (PEC<\/em>) or through a notaio<\/em>. A casual message is not enough. The other co-heirs then have a right of first refusal, prelazione<\/em>: at the same price they can buy instead of the outsider, and the deadline to do so is two months from the last of the notifications<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Two points that prevent misunderstandings. The right applies only to a sale to an outsider<\/strong>: if you sell to another co-heir it does not come into play. And it applies to transfers for consideration, not to gifts.<\/p>\n The part that really bites comes next. If the notification is not made, the other heirs can redeem the share from the buyer<\/strong> (retratto successorio<\/em>), taking it over by paying the same price, even after the sale has been signed. They can also do this when the notification was made but the sale then went through on different terms<\/strong> from the ones notified. From the buyer’s point of view: an outsider who buys a share without a proper notification risks having spent the money and lost the share.<\/p>\n That redemption right does not last forever: the law allows it while the inheritance remains undivided, and it ends with the division. It is still a risk sitting on the buyer, and it is why shares sell badly.<\/p>\n One more distinction that changes real cases. Article 732 covers the transfer of a share of the estate<\/strong>. When the house is the only asset in the estate, selling your share of the house generally counts as selling your share of the estate, and the right of first refusal applies. When the estate includes other assets and you transfer only your part of the house, Italian case law tends to exclude it, unless the deed shows that the parties meant to transfer a share of the estate. That assessment depends on the documents and on how the deed is worded, and an Italian notaio<\/em> or lawyer has to make it on the specific case.<\/p>\n This is where the disappointment usually lands. If the house is worth two hundred thousand euros and you own a third, your share is unlikely to sell for sixty-six thousand. It usually goes for appreciably less, and the reason is simple: whoever buys it is not buying a house, they are buying a problem.<\/p>\n Put yourself in the buyer’s position. They become a co-owner alongside people they have never met. They can use the house only to the extent that it does not stop the others from using it, and to have it to themselves they need an agreement or have to pay the others compensation. They cannot rent out or sell the house on their own, and they cannot decide on a renovation. To get out of the joint ownership they have to resell the share or ask for a division, and if the others do not cooperate that ends up in court. All of it is paid for in a discount on the price.<\/p>\n When someone does buy shares, it is generally a specialist buyer who handles complicated situations and prices in the risk and the time they are taking on. This is not a market with many buyers competing, and where there is no competition the buyer sets the price.<\/p>\nWhat you actually own when there are several heirs<\/h2>\n
The rule that changes everything: the other heirs’ right of first refusal<\/h2>\n
What a share is actually worth<\/h2>\n
The three ways out of joint ownership<\/h2>\n