As our lawyers will tell you the existence or not of a testament is very important to all inheritance matters. According to the Greek Civil Code, the deceased can establish an heir by a unilateral order of cause of death (last will and testament). The deceased with his/her testament may also – without installing an heir in it – exclude from intestate succession a certain relative or spouse, without prejudice to the provisions on legal succession.
A testator may confer with his/her testament a property benefit to a person without installing him as heir (bequest).
The testament is drawn up only in person and only in accordance with the formalities laid down by law. The will may be written by hand, in secret or in public. ΄
Our lawyers, with their experience in inheritance matters, can advise you on which way is the best for your case, help you with the drafting of your testament so that it is valid and unassailable and take care of the process of its filing to the notary or its safekeeping.
Those who are incapable of making a will are: 1. minors 2. those who are under court supervision with complete deprivation of legal capacity or with an express deprivation of capacity to make a will 3. those who, at the time of making a will, are unconscious of their actions or are in a mental or intellectual disorder that decisively limits the operation of their will. The incapacity of those who are under court supervision commence from the moment when the petition was filed above the court or the act for the ex officio admission of the case for hearing was drawn up, on the basis of which the submission to court representation was ordered.
Our attorneys can advise you that a private will is written in full by the testator’s hand, dated and signed by the testator. The date must show the day, month and year. The will can then be deposited by the testator to a notary for safekeeping in accordance with the usual provisions for the deposit of documents.
The public will is drawn up by a declaration by the testator of his last will and testament before a notary, in the presence of three witnesses or a second notary and one witness.
For the drawing up of a secret will, the testator hand in a document to the notary, in the presence of three witnesses, or a second notary and one witness, stating orally that it contains his last will and testament.
As our firm’s attorneys who handle inheritance matters have seen, many times a testator leaves more than one will so the newest will revokes the earlier one. Any will can be revoked: 1. by a declaration in a later will, if that later will is revoked, the will acts as if it had not been revoked 2. by a declaration made before a notary in the presence of three witnesses and with the other formalities of notarial documents. If this declaration is revoked in the same way, the will acts as if it had not been revoked.
A private will, as our lawyers with their knowledge of inheritance matters will advise you, is necessary to be declared as principal by the Court in order to be able to accept the inheritance especially when it has real estate.
Our solicitors can undertake the process of declaring the will as principal above the Court, so the will is published and declared as principal. It is necessary to bring in three witnesses, who testify under oath as to the authenticity of the testator’s handwriting or signature. The court, after hearing the witnesses, may, at the time of the publication of the private will, declare it additionally as principal.