Greek Inheritance Law Reforms: Implications For International Estates

• Published date: 05 February 2026
• Law Firm: Skandamis Avocats
• Author: Romanos Skandamis and Marialena Reizaki

Recent reforms to Greek inheritance law mark one of the most consequential shifts in the country's succession framework in decades. While the changes are technical in form, their implications are practical and far-reaching, particularly for internationally mobile families, foreign heirs and fiduciaries administering estates with Greek connections.

Taken together, the reforms move Greek succession law toward greater predictability, economic rationality and alignment with contemporary family and asset-holding realities, while preserving core principles such as forced heirship.

The present article outlines the key themes emerging from the new Greek inheritance law reforms and highlights the considerations that internationally connected families and advisers should now be weighing with care.

A MODERNISATION AGENDA WITHCROSS-BORDER IMPACT

The reforms reflect a broader legislative effort to modernise Greek private law, improve procedural efficiency and align domestic succession rules more closely with broader European practice.

At a high level, the changes seek to:

• reduce inheritance disclaimers, particularly in indebted estates, and reactivating dormant assets, especially real estate
• modernise intestate succession and forced heirship rules, while clarifying heirship rights and obligations
• simplify relations among co-heirs
• eliminate obsolete provisions and resolve long-standing interpretative ambiguities
• upgrade judicial liquidation mechanisms and reduce procedural delay and formalism

For internationally connected families, the significance lies less in any single provision than in the cumulative recalibration of assumptions that underpinned Greek succession planning for decades.

SEPARATION OF ESTATE AND PERSONAL LIABILITY: A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT

Among the most consequential reforms is the restructuring of heir liability for estate...