Italian lawmakers, through Law No. 182 of 2 December 2025, have made significant changes to the regulation of donations and the protection of forced heirs (entitled to a statutory share) whose shares have been infringed or who have been pretermitted, namely those heirs to whom the law reserves a minimum share of the deceased’s estate (spouse, children and, in their absence, ascendants), which cannot be diminished even as a result of donations carried out during the donor’s lifetime [1].
The stated aim of the reform is precisely to promote competition in the property market and to facilitate the circulation of assets, both real estate and registered personal property, originating from donations and subsequently purchased by third parties.
The main changes are as follows: if the forced heirs bring an action for reduction, seeking to reduce or annul a gift that infringes their statutory share, but the donee has sold the property to a third party for valuable consideration, that third party may no longer be required to return the property to the estate (Article 563 of the Civil Code).
The forced heirs may bring an action only against the third party who has received the property by way of a gift, limited to the benefit actually received, and exclusively where the donee is found to be insolvent and the third party acquired the asset gratuitously.
The third-party purchaser is therefore “protected” from any claims by the aggrieved heir if the asset was acquired by the third party for valuable consideration.
In any event, forced heirs retain the right to bring an action for reduction against the donee, who must compensate in cash forcedheirs whose shares have been infringed or who have been pretermitted to the extent necessary to make up the share reserved for them.
A further change of great practical significance is the abolition of the institution of out-of-court opposition to a gift.
Under the previous legislation, the heirs entitled to a statutory share could “block” the running of the twenty-year period of proprietary protection — the period within which it was possible to take action to recover the asset even against a third-party purchaser — by serving notice and registering a specific deed of out-of-court objection to the donation, to be renewed periodically. This mechanism effectively made the uncertainty regarding the “certainty of title” of an asset derived from a gift permanent, even decades after the gift itself.
Under the reform, this provision is repealed for estates opened after 18 December 2025: statutory heirs will no longer have the power to block the free transfer of the asset through this mechanism. The protection afforded to them is now exclusively pecuniary in nature (i.e. the right to a cash payment from the donee), and no longer in rem in nature (i.e. the recovery of the asset itself).
Set out below is a brief overview of the further changes resulting from the entry into force of the Law in question.
The status of encumbrances [2] and mortgages created by the donee
In light of the amendments made to Article 561 of the Civil Code, if the properties returned as a result of reduction are encumbered by charges or mortgages, such encumbrances remain effective, as the principle of “discharge” of mortgages, which characterised the previous legislation, is no longer applied. The property is, in fact, returned with all the encumbrances and restrictions established by the legatee/donee, and the latter remains obliged to compensate the forced heirs in cash for the resulting reduction in the value of the property, to the extent necessary to make up the share reserved for them. The same rules apply to the donation of movable property registered in public registers (Article 2690 of the Civil Code).
The registration of the application for reduction
The above provision safeguarding the purchase of a third party who has acquired rights from the donee is without prejudice to the provisions of Article 2652(I)(1) of the Civil Code, with the consequence that the action for reduction is enforceable against third parties acquiring rights from the donee by means of a deed registered or entered in the register after the registration of the application for reduction.
Furthermore, in conjunction with the new provisions referred to above, Article 2652(8) of the Civil Code has also been amended. Consequently, the time limit available to the heir entitled to a reserved share to register the claim for reduction and maintain its enforceability against third parties deriving rights from the heir or legatee is reduced from ten to three years.
In other words, the action for reduction may be enforced against third parties who have acquired rights for valuable consideration from the heir or legatee for a period of three years from the opening of the succession; after three years, the principle of registration of the claim for reduction or of the third party’s purchase applies.
Transitional regime
Finally, paragraph 2 of Article 44 of Law No. 182 of 2 December 2025 also introduces transitional provisions, specifying that the new rules on actions for reduction apply to successions opened after the entry into force of the law in question (i.e. after 18 December 2025).
For successions opened prior to that date, however, the previous legislation continues to apply.
— with the result that an action for the return of the property may still be brought against the donee’s successors in title — provided that at least one of the following conditions is met:
If the application for reduction or the notice of opposition is not served and registered within six months of the reform coming into force, the new rules will also apply to successions already opened before that date, once the aforementioned six-month period has elapsed.
Conclusions
The shift in the protection afforded to aggrieved forced heirs, moving from restitution (recovery of the property) to compensation (monetary compensation), subject to the exceptions mentioned above, will hopefully provide greater protection to purchasers of donated property, who will no longer risk having the property taken away years after the purchase.
Secondly, credit institutions will certainly be more inclined to accept properties acquired by way of gift as mortgage collateral, thereby making access to credit less complicated.
[1] The reform involved amendments to Articles 561, 562, 563, 2652 and 2690 of the Italian Civil Code.
[2] Real or personal rights of enjoyment established by the donee, planning restrictions (building agreements, deeds of obligation), restrictions on disposal (seizures, attachments).
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