Selling an inherited home in Italy: succession, transfer, and the real timeline

An inherited flat cannot be sold the day after the funeral, and not because of unkind bureaucracy: while the property is still registered to someone who has died, there is simply nobody able to sign the deed. Here is the sequence.

1. The succession declaration: twelve months

It must be filed with the Revenue Agency within twelve months of the opening of the succession, which normally coincides with the date of death. Filing is electronic, and the cadastral transfer to the heirs follows from it.

This is not a step to postpone: the deadline is what it is, and the transfer is the practical condition for selling.

2. What it costs

Inheritance tax works through rates and allowances, calculated per heir:

• 4% for spouse and direct-line relatives, on value above €1,000,000 per heir;
• 6% for brothers and sisters, above €100,000 per heir;
• 6% with no allowance for other relatives up to the fourth degree and for relatives by marriage within the statutory limits;
• 8% with no allowance for everyone else.

For the vast majority of parent-to-child successions involving a flat in Trieste, no inheritance tax is actually due: the million-euro allowance per heir covers the normal case.

Mortgage and cadastral taxes remain payable: proportionally at 2% and 1% of the cadastral value, or at a flat €200 each where at least one heir meets the first-home conditions and declares them.

3. Accepting the inheritance

Selling the flat is itself a tacit acceptance. In notarial practice, however, for the buyer's protection the acceptance is registered, so the chain of title runs unbroken in the land registers. The notary handles it, but allow for it in the timeline.

The reverse matters too: anyone intending to renounce the inheritance must do so before performing acts that count as acceptance. Emptying the flat and selling the furniture is already acceptance, knowingly or not.

4. Every heir, all agreeing

This is what derails most inherited-property sales. Three heirs means three signatures. One abroad needs a power of attorney; a minor or a protected adult needs the guardianship judge's authorisation; one who does not answer the phone means no sale at all.

The practical consequence: if you know the flat will pass to several heirs, have the difficult conversation before calling an agency — not after receiving an offer with a deadline on it.

5. The good news on capital gains

Properties acquired by inheritance are outside the capital-gains charge: they can be sold the day after the transfer without the tax that hits resales within five years. The same exclusion applies under the 2024 budget-law regime for properties that received Superbonus works.

6. How long it really takes

The bottleneck is almost always the succession, not the market. If the declaration is filed and the transfer done, the flat sells like any other. If not, that is where you start — and in the meantime the property keeps costing in taxes and service charges.

The unromantic but practical advice: complete the succession even if you have not decided whether to sell. It is the move that keeps every door open.

This is an informative guide, not legal or tax advice: rules change and every succession differs. Your notary and accountant have the final word. For your own case write to info@triesteimmobiliare.com or call +39 040 2473628.