If you want to sell your share of an inheritance to someone outside the family, the law requires you to notify the other heirs first. They have a right of first refusal. If you ignore this obligation, they can legally reclaim the share from the buyer. However, the situation is different if you sell only your portion of a single inherited asset.
When several people inherit property together—such as siblings or relatives—they form what is known as a hereditary community. Each heir owns a share of the entire estate rather than specific assets. But if one heir wants to sell their share to obtain liquidity, they cannot simply do so freely as if it were a personal asset.
Italian law protects the other heirs and aims to keep inherited property within the family whenever possible. For this reason, anyone wishing to sell their share must follow specific legal procedures.
What Should I Do If I Want to Sell My Share to a Stranger?
According to Article 732 of the Civil Code, a co-heir who intends to sell their inheritance share—or even part of it—to someone outside the inheritance community must first inform the other heirs.
This communication, called “denuntiatio”, must clearly describe the proposed sale, including the price and key conditions. The purpose is to give the other heirs the opportunity to exercise their right of pre-emption, meaning they can purchase the share under the same conditions offered to the external buyer.
Once notified, the other heirs have two months from the last notification to decide whether they want to purchase the share themselves.
What Happens If I Sell Without Informing the Other Heirs?
Failing to notify the other heirs, or providing incomplete information, can lead to serious consequences.
The law grants the other heirs a powerful legal remedy known as the right of redemption. This allows them to take over the purchase by reimbursing the third-party buyer the price paid. They may even redeem the share from any subsequent buyer.
This right has what lawyers call a “real effect”, meaning the redeeming heirs effectively step into the buyer’s position as if the outsider had never purchased the share.
Why Does the Law Protect the Other Heirs?
The reasoning behind Article 732 is to protect the unity of family property and avoid introducing outsiders into the hereditary community.
Allowing strangers to enter the co-ownership could complicate management of the estate and make the eventual division more difficult. For this reason, courts apply these rules strictly. If the required notification was not properly made, the law does not assume that the other heirs waived their rights.
Is There a Difference Between Selling a Share and Selling a Single Asset?
Yes, and this distinction is crucial.
The rules on pre-emption and redemption apply only when an heir sells their inheritance share, which represents their overall portion of the entire estate (including both assets and debts).
Selling a share effectively allows the buyer to step into the seller’s place in the hereditary community. Courts determine whether a transaction is a share sale by examining the parties’ intentions—for example, whether the buyer becomes involved in managing the inheritance.
What If the Inheritance Contains Only One Asset?
A special case arises when the inheritance consists of only one asset, such as a single house.
In this situation, if an heir sells their “share” of that asset, the law treats it as a sale of the inheritance share itself. As a result, the other heirs still retain their rights of pre-emption and redemption.
In other words, an heir cannot avoid the legal rules simply by presenting the transaction as a sale of a single property if that property represents the entire estate.
What If I Sell My Share of Just One Inherited Asset?
The situation changes if the inheritance includes several assets and the heir sells only their portion of one specific asset.
For example, imagine the inheritance includes two houses and some savings. If one heir sells only their portion of the beach house but not their share of the entire inheritance, courts generally consider this transaction to have only contractual (or “obligatory”) effect rather than an immediate transfer of ownership.
What Does “Mandatory Effectiveness” Mean?
When a sale has mandatory effectiveness, the buyer’s ownership is not guaranteed immediately. Instead, it depends on the outcome of the future division of the inheritance.
By law, once the estate is divided, each heir is considered the exclusive owner of the assets assigned to them from the moment the succession opened. Therefore, the buyer will become the true owner of the asset only if that asset is eventually assigned to the heir who sold it.
Until the division occurs, the property remains in shared ownership and the buyer cannot be certain they will obtain it.
Do the Other Heirs Have Pre-emption Rights If I Sell a Single Asset?
No. Because the sale of a single asset share does not introduce the buyer into the inheritance community and only creates a contractual obligation, the right of pre-emption and the right of redemption generally do not apply.
However, courts may still intervene if the transaction is used as a disguise. If it appears that the real intention was to transfer the inheritance share—particularly if the asset sold represents most of the estate—the other heirs may still assert their rights.
How Long Do the Other Heirs Have the Right of Redemption?
The rights of pre-emption and redemption exist only as long as the hereditary community continues to exist.
Once the heirs divide the estate—even partially—the hereditary community ends. If some assets remain undivided afterward, they form an ordinary co-ownership rather than a hereditary community.
At that point, if a co-owner sells their share of those remaining assets, the rules of ordinary co-ownership apply, and the special inheritance pre-emption rules no longer exist.
VGS Family Lawyers is a law firm that offers assistance to English-speaking clients with interests in Italy. In case you need assistance, please write to: info@vgslawyers.com.