Can I make a handwritten will for my Italian estate?

I was recently asked the question by someone: 

'Why can't I just make a handwritten will for my estate in Italy since it doesn't cost anything and the authorities accept it in Italy'.  

Since I am a financial planner but not a legal expert I referred to Nick Metta of Studio Legale Metta, who provides cross border legal services, estate and succession planning for expats and Italian nationals.

If you have any queries regarding this or any particular question regarding your own estate/assets in Italy and other countries, I would urge you to get in touch with Nick directly at n.metta@studiolegalemetta.it

Nick's reply:

The holographic will (do it yourself will) implies no cost, per se . It is possible to have a self-handwritten will. Legal assistance is not a legal requirement. The will is perfectly valid and you can go with it for the distribution of your estate. But, there are a few “buts”.

1) In several cases is might be very risky to write a holographic will without legal assistance. If you do not know Italian inheritance rules and how they might impact on your inheritance, do you really want to put in place a legal document without proper legal assistance?

Many people would prefer to adopt careful solutions rather than going with the (apparently) cheapest option hoping for best of luck for the future of their estate. If you seek legal assistance for a holographic will then it might not be a no-cost solution.

2) When you have a holographic will, heirs have to validate it through an Italian notary, for publication and registration, a sort of probate process, which in my experience results in an average total notary cost ranging between EUR 1,300 and 1,600 for very basic holographic wills regarding basic estate (e.g., one home and funds on an Italian bank account). Plus, if you do not speak Italian and hire a lawyer to liaise with the notary you should add lawyer’s fees on top of the notary cost above. If you have also a UK will to process for the same succession, you will face double costs, while really the sole UK will would be sufficient to address the Italian estate too with no requirement to involve an Italian notary office at all.

3) Let’s say you have two wills as many suggest, i.e., one for the UK estate and one for the Italian portion of it.  The proper wording is required in both two wills to ensure you have proper legal connection and continuity between the two wills, avoid overlapping provisions and effects, implicit references or meanings which might generate conflicts between the two and could lead to one or a portion of one will,  not being applicable.

But do not get me wrong, in certain cases it might be advisable to have an Italian will (holographic or public or secret) in addition to or in lieu of a UK will. I actually worked on cases where I advised clients to have two wills because of the applicable case circumstances and their family situation. Each case is really different and it is advisable to look at the specific case circumstances.

Nick Metta

Studio Legale Metta

n.metta@studiolegalemetta.it