Tacit acceptance of inheritance: when does it occur?

The person called to the inheritance, if they do not intend to accept the inheritance, must pay attention to a series of behaviors that could lead to tacit or presumed acceptance of the inheritance, with the related legal and tax consequences.
Article 476 of the Civil Code expressly provides that acceptance is tacit when the person called to the inheritance performs an act that necessarily presupposes their intention to accept, and which they would not have the right to do unless they were the heir.

Thus, tacit acceptance of the inheritance must be inferred from the personal activity of the person called, such as an act of management incompatible with the intention to renounce, and not justifiable in any other way except in relation to the quality of heir.

The jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation has developed a series of cases that can be summarized as follows:

• The initiation of judicial actions that do not fall within the so-called “conservatory” and “management” acts of inherited assets permitted under Article 460 of the Civil Code;
• The filing of a legal claim or participation in a lawsuit in the role of an heir;
• The granting of power of attorney to sell inherited property;
• The legal claim for the division of the inheritance;
• The collection of rent, checks, or the payment of a debt settlement of the deceased;
• The initiation of an action for boundary adjustment;
• Payment with inherited money;
• The granting of a mortgage on one of the inherited assets;
• The cadastral registration of real estate and the registration of a building permit.

Presumed acceptance of the inheritance occurs when the person called to the inheritance, who is in possession, by any title, of the inherited assets, does not complete the inventory within three months of the opening of the succession or of the knowledge of the inheritance and does not proceed within the subsequent 40 days to declare either acceptance or renunciation of the inheritance. In the absence of such action, they will be considered an heir.
These behaviors, whose list cannot certainly be considered exhaustive or definitive, serve as an indication to regulate the cases in which a behavior may be considered conclusive under Article 476 of the Civil Code.

In fact, any acts that are not capable by their nature of unequivocally expressing the intention, on the part of the person performing them, to assume the role of heir, are legally irrelevant for the purposes of accepting the inheritance.
Such acts are therefore aimed at merely preserving the deceased’s assets, and according to case law, they include: filing the succession declaration and paying the related taxes, requesting the registration of the will and its transcription, taking possession of inherited goods, and paying the inherited debt with personal funds.

“Tacit acceptance of the inheritance requires, under Article 476 of the Civil Code, the occurrence of two conditions: the performance of an act that necessarily presupposes the intention to accept, and the qualification of such an act, in the sense that only the person who has the status of heir is authorized to perform it.”
(Cass. Civ. VI Section, March 11, 2021, No. 5569)

And, among others:
“Tacit acceptance of the inheritance, which occurs when the person called to the inheritance performs an act that presupposes their intention to accept and which they would not have the right to perform unless they were the heir, can also be inferred from the behavior of the person who has carried out a series of acts incompatible with the intention to renounce or that are conclusive and indicative of the intention to accept. Consequently, while acts of a purely tax nature, such as the succession declaration, are unsuitable for the purpose, tacit acceptance can be inferred from the performance of acts that are both fiscal and civil, such as the cadastral registration, which is relevant not only from a tax perspective but also from a civil one.”
(Cass. Civ. II Section, May 1, 2009, No. 10796; cf. Cass. Civ. VI Section, October 21, 2014, No. 22317; Cass. Civ. VI Section, April 30, 2021, No. 11478)

Agenzia delle Successioni could be the ideal partner for cases like the one outlined above to ensure that no mistakes are made by heirs. The first consultation is free, and to obtain it, simply fill out the form.