ITALIAN WILL QUOTAS

Reserve quotas “quota di riserva” and free quotas “quota disponibile”. What are they and why do I have to take them into account in my Italian will?

It is a well known fact that in Italy people don’t tend to make a will. In fact, it is much rarer for Italian citizens to do so than for those who live in Common Law countries.

This difference is due to cultural reasons but also to the fact that Italian citizens have a certain knowledge of Italian law as regards successions. They know their family will receive what is legally due to them in accordance with the law and so they don’t bother to draw up a will.

Italian norms establish reserve quotas as well as free quotas that can be disposed of as the testator wishes, thus regulating and limiting her/his freedom to leave property as s/he would prefer.

In Italy, in fact, the testator is not completely free to decide who to leave property to, but must comply with the regulations assigning set quotas or proportions of the property to specific kin.
The reserve quota is that part of the total assets that the testator cannot leave as s/he likes, because it is legally owed to the ‘reserve‘ or ‘legitimate‘ heirs.

Who are these legitimate heirs?
The Italian Civil Code identifies legitimate heirs as the testator’s kin, namely the spouse, legitimate, natural or adopted children and parents.
The quotas will depend on the number of legitimate heirs, and this aspect, too, is addressed in detail in Italian Law. For example, in the case of the spouse and just one child, the legitimate quota is 1/3 each and the remaining 1/3 is the free quota, that can be left as the testator wishes.
In fact, what is left after subtracting the legitimate quotas is the free quota that the testator can leave as desired, completely independently, and the heirs cannot dispute such stipulations in the will.
Instead, if the testator leaves a part of the reserve quota to other parties, exceeding the free quota, the legitimate heirs who believe their rights have been infringed can exert their right to cut the quota back to the correct amount, in accordance with article 554 Italian Civil Code. That states that “Testamentary legacies exceeding the quota the defunct could leave as desired are subject to reduction to within the limits of the said quota.”

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