Last updated 14 October 2026. By Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner, Katsouris Law Firm.
The short answer: a will remains the simplest way to decide who gets your Greek property, and Law 5303/2026 made it faster and more useful: publication is now done by a notary on the electronic Wills Register in days rather than by a court in months, a Greek consulate can publish a will made abroad, a will can choose which country’s law governs the estate, and the shares the law guarantees to children and spouse are now paid in money rather than carved out of the property. The same law changed the formalities and the arithmetic, so a will drafted under the old rules should be re-read against the new ones. The new rules apply to deaths from 16 September 2026; the two-year rule for handwritten wills applies already.
The three forms
Public will. Dictated to a notary and signed before two witnesses (previously three). The notary keeps it and lodges it in the Register. The most secure form, and the one we recommend for anyone whose main asset is Greek property, because there is no question of authenticity, loss or late publication.
Handwritten (holographic) will. Written entirely by hand, dated and signed by the testator. It can be deposited with a notary for safekeeping, and should be: under the new law, a handwritten will that was not deposited produces effects before it is authenticated only if the beneficiaries are the spouse or descendants, and not at all if it is published more than two years after the death. That rule already applies to handwritten wills unpublished on 22 May 2026. The will in the drawer that the family finds in year three is now worthless. Minors from 16 can make a will, but not a handwritten one.
Secret will. Written by the testator or another, sealed and handed to a notary before witnesses. Rare in practice.
Emergency will. An oral declaration before three witnesses in imminent danger of death, valid for three months if the testator survives.
Publication: the Wills Register
Every will is published by a notary on the electronic Register. The family, or the lawyer, presents the death certificate and the will, or asks the Register whether one is deposited; publication follows in days. For a will made abroad, publication can be done through the Greek consulate with a copy lodged in the Register, which removes the court step that used to cost diaspora families a year. The certificate of inheritance, which the heir needs for the Cadastre and the bank, can now be requested by the executor or a legatee as well as an heir.
Choosing the governing law
For a person habitually resident outside Greece, the EU Succession Regulation applies the law of that residence to the whole estate, including the Greek property, unless the will chooses the law of the testator’s nationality. A Greek citizen in Toronto can choose Greek law; a Canadian with a house in Paros cannot choose Greek law but can choose Canadian. The choice decides who the heirs are and what shares the law protects, and it should be made in words the Register and a foreign court will both recognise. Law 5303/2026 adds that the choice can also be made in an inheritance contract.
What the will can now do that it could not
Leave the house to one child and a sum of money to the others. Under the old law the others’ protected share attached to the house itself; now it is a claim for money equal to half their intestate share, and the house stays with one owner. Provide for a long-term partner, who otherwise receives only the limited statutory rights the new law gives. Appoint an executor with real powers. Deprive a child of the protected share on the uniform statutory grounds, which now include domestic violence.
What to re-read in a will made before 2026
The spouse’s intestate share has changed (one third alongside one child, one quarter alongside two or more), so a will that “confirms” the legal shares now confirms different ones. Gifts made within five years before death, not ten, are brought into account for the protected shares, so a will that balanced earlier gifts against later legacies may now be unbalanced. A will that leaves the house to several children “in equal shares to avoid disputes” creates the co-ownership the new law was designed to end. A foreign will that does not choose a law leaves the question to the Regulation’s default. A handwritten will kept at home needs depositing with a notary.
For the diaspora
A Greek will, limited to Greek assets, made before a Greek notary or at a consulate, sitting alongside the home-country will for everything else, is the usual structure. The two must not contradict each other and the later one must not accidentally revoke the earlier. Each should say what it covers. A power of attorney does not let someone make a will for you; the testator attends.
Frequently asked questions
Is my 2015 Greek will still valid? Yes, as to form. Whether it still does what you intended is the question.
I made a will in Australia covering “all my property wherever situated”. Does it cover my flat in Athens? It can, subject to the Regulation and to publication in Greece. It needs reading by a Greek lawyer for the choice of law and the protected shares.
Can I leave everything to my spouse? You can; the children’s protected share becomes a money claim against the spouse, which may or may not be what you want. A usufruct for the spouse with ownership to the children is often the better design.
My mother’s handwritten will from 2019 was never published and she died in 2024. Publish it now; the two-year period from the death is running.
This article is general information, not legal advice; it reflects the position on the date above and may change.
To make a Greek will, or to have an existing one read against Law 5303/2026, contact us at info@katslaw.eu or +30 210 8982 864.
