Can parents and children negotiate inheritance terms?

This question often arises when families consider dividing assets between siblings while their parents are still alive. For instance, a reader, a father of two, owns a city apartment, while his wife owns a seaside villa. The couple, along with their children, wish to arrange their estates: one child would inherit the city apartment, and the other the seaside villa. But is such an agreement legally valid if documented?

In Italy, such arrangements are not permissible for two primary reasons. Firstly, any attempt to dispose of future inheritance in a specific manner, even with mutual agreement and consideration, is legally void. This principle upholds the sanctity of free will in making a will, preventing coercion, even if the testator voluntarily drafts and signs such an arrangement.

Moreover, each testamentary division stands independently under general rules. A parent cannot disinherit a child with the assumption that the child will be compensated by the other parent’s will. This is because the second parent might not honor the informal agreement and is legally not bound to do so. Additionally, disinheritance of children or spouses is prohibited by law, as they are considered legitimate heirs entitled to a portion of the deceased’s estate regardless of any informal arrangements.

In summary, parents cannot agree to leave their assets to one child each in lieu of the other. Such arrangements violate legal principles, where each child would effectively inherit from one parent but be disinherited by the other, a scenario not recognized by law.

However, if children agree and do not contest their parents’ decisions, these testamentary dispositions, although contrary to law, become irrevocable after ten years from each parent’s death. After this period, any legal action to contest the division of the estate would no longer be feasible.

Similarly, if parents decide to accelerate estate division through lifetime gifts—such as the father gifting his house to one child and the mother gifting her villa to another—this premature division would also be invalid. In this case, each parent effectively disinherits the other child, which remains legally impermissible. Yet, if unchallenged by the siblings after the parents’ deaths, these gifts become final after ten years from the estate’s opening.

Thus, while informal agreements between parents and children may seem practical, they cannot supersede legal protections ensuring fair inheritance distribution among all legitimate heirs.

VGS Lawyers is a law firm specialised in Inheritance and Wills under Italian Law. In case you need assistance please contact info@vgslawyers.com