The structuring and planning of family property in terms of, for instance, real estate and wills, constitutes inheritance and succession law.
Cyprus inheritance and succession law applies both in cases in which the deceased was domiciled in Cyprus, as well as in cases when they were domiciled abroad but whose will includes property located in Cyprus.
There are certain requirements and specificities regarding the drafting and validity of wills in Cyprus law. For instance, one has to be at least eighteen years of age and of sound mind in order to be legally able to draft a will, the drafting of a will is legally void if it is done in the absence of the correct number of witnesses, among other things, and the process cannot be done under duress. Furthermore, the will is void with no legal effect in cases where witnesses or the close family members are witnesses are meant to be legatees, or if, for instance, the testator—or another person acting on the testator’s behalf in his or her presence—destroys the physical paper on which the will is written with the express intention of revoking it.
There are also situations in which wills might be revoked, such as by the drafting of a separate will whose specificities are in direct contradiction with the first.
Depending upon your particular case, the legal requirements may overlap with a number of other areas, making our interdisciplinary team excellent candidates to handle your legal affairs in inheritance law in a timely and cohesive manner.
According to Cyprus law, the following applies to all, except those who were born in the United Kingdom, whose father was born in the United Kingdom, or in any state of the Commonwealth.
The portion of one’s estate that one may dispose of without passing it on to a child, descendant of a child, spouse, or parent, depends upon the specifics of who from the aforementioned list of familial relations is left behind upon the individual’s death. For instance, if one has a spouse and child, one may only dispose of ¼ of the net value of the estate, being legally obligated to leave the remaining ¾ to the spouse and child. If one’s remaining familial relation to the aforementioned degrees is, for instance, a parent, then one may dispose of no more than ½ of the net value of one’s estate.
Regardless of the specifics of your case, our lawyers at Simon Zenios &Co LLC are prepared to assist you in any matters related to inheritance and succession law by carefully planning the legal procedures in accordance with your needs and wishes or advising you on any matter related to this area of practice.
Services that we offer with regards to inheritance law include the following:
- Drafting and execution of wills
- Sealing and resealing of wills
- Administration of estates
- Probate
- Contesting of wills
- Disputes
- Preparation of contracts
Should you be interested in obtaining more information about how we may assist you in any matters concerning inheritance law, please contact us below.
