Italy · Inheritance · Fixed-fee law firm
Selling a property you inherited in Italy
When the family decides to sell the inherited home, we act as your lawyer on the whole Italian sale — the contract, the checks, and completion before the notaio — for a fixed fee, agreed before we start, and without you needing to travel.
You don’t have to navigate an Italian property sale in another language — that’s our job. Once the property is in the heirs’ names, selling it is the last step, and we see it through from the buyer’s offer to the money in your account.
If the property is not yet in the heirs’ names, that comes first — see registering inherited property (or our full succession administration service) — and we can roll straight into the sale afterwards.
What we do
In Italy the final deed of sale (the rogito) is signed before a notaio — chosen and paid by the buyer. The notaio is an impartial public officer; he is not your advocate. We act as your lawyer on the Italian side of the sale, from start to finish, under a power of attorney so you do not need to travel:
- We check the title, the succession chain and the cadastral records are clean and sale-ready — including the transcription of a tacit acceptance where the sale requires it — and put right anything that would worry the buyer’s notaio.
- We verify the property’s planning and cadastral conformity — the point on which Italian sales most often stall — and deal with the energy-performance certificate the marketing requires.
- We prepare and negotiate the preliminary contract (compromesso) protecting you as seller, and manage the deposit arrangements.
- We attend completion before the notaio on your behalf under your power of attorney, and see the sale proceeds remitted to you directly.
Seamless if we already settled the estate
For families whose Italian estate we have already settled, the sale is seamless — we already hold the property documents, the power of attorney and the completed registration, so there is nothing to gather again and the sale proceeds without delay. The same lawyer who settled the estate handles the sale.
A typical situation
Helen and her brother had inherited their late mother’s house near Sanremo, which we had already registered into their names. Living in the UK, neither wanted to keep it. We took the sale from there: we agreed the preliminary contract with the buyer’s side, dealt with the conformity checks the buyer’s notaio required, attended the rogito under their power of attorney, and the proceeds were remitted to them directly — without either of them flying out.
Our fee — a fixed price, by the value of the property
A single fixed fee for our seller-side legal work, agreed in writing before we start — never an hourly meter, and never a percentage of the sale price. A percentage is what an estate agent charges; our work is a defined piece of legal work, so we price it as one clear figure. The fee depends only on the value of the property, and there is a lower fee where we have already settled the estate for you.
| Sale price of the property | Our fixed fee | Where we settled the estate |
|---|---|---|
| Up to €250,000 | €2,900 | €2,400 |
| €250,000 – €500,000 | €4,200 | €3,500 |
| €500,000 – €1,000,000 | €6,500 | €5,300 |
| Over €1,000,000 | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
All fees + VAT. The “where we settled the estate” column is the lower fee that applies when we have already administered the estate for you — the documents, the power of attorney and the completed registration are already in hand, so there is less to do.
Our fee assumes the succession title is already regularised — the filing made and the records in the heirs’ names. Where succession steps are still outstanding, we tell you exactly what is missing and quote it separately (or as a transparent bundle) before any work begins.
If the property still carries a mortgage or other charge, redeeming it and lifting it from the records at completion is a defined extra step — a fixed €350 + VAT add-on, agreed in advance. Nothing is open-ended: where there is more to a sale than the standard case, we tell you the fixed figure before you instruct us.
Disbursements are separate and never folded into our fee. The notaio’s fee for the deed of sale is, in Italy, chosen and paid by the buyer; on the seller’s side the usual third-party costs are the energy-performance certificate (APE), any notarial act the succession chain still needs (for example transcribing a tacit acceptance), and modest registry and certificate fees — each payable to the provider, not to us, and each shown to you up front so there are no surprises.
The good news on tax — and it is genuinely good. Italy generally charges no capital-gains tax on the resale of an inherited home — property acquired by inheritance sits outside the Italian gains rules, however soon or late you sell. (Building land is the exception, and the position should always be confirmed for your specific property — capital-gains tax on a sale is not something we advise on, and we flag where a tax adviser is needed, including on your home-country tax.) The four-country comparison is in the tax picture before you list.
VAT is charged at the Italian rate (currently 22%) and always shown separately, so our fee is clear.
How long it takes
Timing depends mostly on finding a buyer — that part is in the hands of the market and your agent. Once a buyer is found, the preliminary contract (compromesso) fixes the timetable to completion; a period of one to three months from the compromesso to the rogito is common, and can be set by agreement between the parties. Where we have already settled the estate and hold the documents, the legal side is ready without delay, so the timing is driven by the contract rather than by paperwork. We act under your power of attorney throughout, so you do not need to travel for the deed.
Common questions
How much does it cost to sell an inherited property in Italy?
A single fixed fee for our seller-side legal work, by the value of the property, never a percentage: €2,900 up to €250,000, €4,200 to €500,000, €6,500 to €1 million, and quoted individually above that. There is a lower fee where we already settled the estate. The notaio's fee for the deed of sale is separate — in Italy the buyer chooses and pays the notaio. All fees + VAT.
Do I need to travel to Italy to sell?
No. We act under a power of attorney throughout, including at the deed of sale before the notaio, so you do not need to fly out.
What about the succession before the sale?
An Italian property can only be sold once the succession side is in order — the filing made, the records in the heirs' names, and where acceptance was tacit, its transcription in the land registry (a notarial step the sale triggers). If we settled the estate, all of this is ready; if not, we check it first and quote for anything missing.
What tax is due when I sell an inherited Italian property?
Italy generally charges no capital-gains tax on the resale of an inherited home, however soon or late you sell: property acquired by inheritance sits outside the Italian gains rules (building land is the exception). The position still depends on the facts and on your residence. Tax is not our fee and not something we advise on; we flag it and signpost a tax adviser.