Last updated 14 October 2026. By Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner, Katsouris Law Firm.
The short answer: until this year a Greek owner could only decide who inherits by will, and a will can be changed the next day. Since 16 September 2026, under Law 5303/2026, an owner can sign a contract with the intended heir, before a notary, that cannot be revoked by one side alone. A future heir can also sign a contract giving up their inheritance rights in advance, usually in exchange for something now. For families whose members live in different countries and who want certainty about a house, a business or a plot in Greece, these two documents solve problems that wills could not.
The two contracts
The inheritance contract. The owner appoints a person as heir or legatee, can attach conditions, can set up a trust-like arrangement, and can choose which country’s law governs the succession. The appointment is binding: the owner cannot later make a will that overrides it, except where the beneficiary has behaved in a way that would justify disinheritance. The owner keeps full freedom to sell or spend during their lifetime, but the beneficiary can challenge gifts made to defeat the contract.
The advance renunciation. A person who would inherit — typically a child — agrees now to give up all or part of their future rights, with or without a payment. Until September 2026 this was void in Greek law. It is the mirror image of the first contract: one child is secured, another is settled.
Both are signed before a Greek notary with the parties present. They can be signed under a power of attorney only where the law allows; we advise the parties to attend, because the whole value of the document lies in nobody later saying they did not understand it.
Why a will was not enough
Three features of Greek inheritance law made wills unreliable for cross-border families. First, a will is revocable, so a promise made to the child who stayed in Greece and looked after the house was worth nothing until the parent died. Second, the protected share of every child and the spouse was delivered as co-ownership, so even a clear will left the house owned by several people. Third, a will made abroad had to be proved in its home country and then published through a Greek court, which took a year or more.
Law 5303/2026 deals with all three. The inheritance contract is irrevocable. The protected share is now a money claim, so one person can take the house. Publication is through the notaries’ electronic register in days.
Five situations where a contract is the right tool
The child who stayed. One child lives in Greece, maintains the parents’ home, pays the ENFIA, deals with the tenants. The siblings in Melbourne and Johannesburg agree the house should go to that child. A will can say so, but the siblings’ protected shares still have to be paid and the parent can change their mind. An inheritance contract fixes the house on the child who stayed; advance renunciations by the siblings, in exchange for an agreed sum or for other assets, close the point.
The second marriage. A parent remarries. The children from the first marriage worry that the house in Greece will pass to the new spouse’s family. The new spouse worries about being left with nothing. A contract that gives the spouse a lifetime right to live in the house and the children the ownership, signed by all of them, removes the fear on both sides.
The family business. The business should go to the child who runs it. The other children should be compensated. Advance renunciations by the others, with payment over time, allow the business to pass intact rather than in fractions.
The foreign spouse and the foreign law. A Greek citizen living in the United States with an American spouse owns a house in Attica. Which law governs the house on death? The contract can choose Greek law or the law of the deceased’s nationality, and the choice is binding, which removes a dispute that otherwise surfaces at the worst moment.
The plot nobody can sell. Three siblings own a plot through their father’s unfinished inheritance. They agree that one will take it and build. An inheritance contract is not the tool here — the father has already died — but the same law’s partition rules, and the new possibility of a single certificate of inheritance for successive successions, are. We cover that in our article on co-owned family property.
Cautions
A contract is binding on the owner as well. An elderly parent should not sign one under pressure from one child; the notary will refuse to proceed if there is any sign of that, and a contract signed under undue influence can be set aside. A contract made in Greece about Greek property will be respected in Greece; whether the heir’s home country respects it depends on that country’s law and any treaty, and a cross-border family should take advice on both sides.
Tax is unchanged. The beneficiary of an inheritance contract pays inheritance tax on what they receive at the death, on the same thresholds and rates as any other heir. A payment made now to a sibling under an advance renunciation may itself have tax consequences, and should be structured with that in mind.
How we prepare one
We take instructions from the owner and, separately, from each other family member who will sign; we confirm which law should govern; we draft in Greek with an English translation for the family abroad; the notary signs with the parties present, or with those abroad attending by apostilled power of attorney where the law permits; and the contract is registered where registration is required. For a family in three countries the whole exercise usually runs over two to three months, most of it waiting for people to be in Athens at the same time.
Frequently asked questions
Can an inheritance contract be changed? Only by agreement of the parties, or by the court for the specific reasons the law allows.
Does it replace a will? It can sit alongside one. The will covers what the contract does not.
Can a 25-year-old child sign an advance renunciation? Yes, if they are an adult and sign freely before the notary. Whether they should is a family question, and the renunciation can be partial or paid.
We signed something like this in Australia years ago. Does it count? Before 16 September 2026 Greek law treated such agreements as void for Greek assets. Take advice on whether it can now be re-executed in Greek form.
This article is general information, not legal advice; it reflects the position on the date above and may change.
If your family is considering an inheritance contract or an advance renunciation for property in Greece, contact us at info@katslaw.eu or +30 210 8982 864.
