Inheritance and Wills - Estate Planning Services
Existence of a Will which is carefully and properly drafted and executed shall be a decisive factor in determining the administration of your estate and its distribution for future generations.
Cyprus Wills and Inheritance Laws
Inheritance and succession in Cyprus is regulated by a number of statutes, the most important of which deal with the Administration of Estates, Wills, Domicile, and Succession.
In Cypriot law, testamentary disposition of a person’s assets (by a Will) is not completely unrestricted. Generally:
- A person with a living spouse and children or grandchildren or only living children or grandchildren, may dispose by a Will to other persons only 25% of his/her property.
- A person with a living spouse or mother or father may dispose by a Will to other persons only 50% of his/her property.
- A person with no living spouse, children, grandchildren, father or mother, may dispose by a Will to other persons all 100% of his/her property
Cypriot law also provides that there are three categories of heirs who have priority in the distribution of the deceased assets who dies intestate as follows:
- First priority in the inheritance shall have the living children or grandchildren of the deceased who shall inherit in equal shares. A living wife shall inherit in the same equal share.
- If there are no living children or grandchildren then second priority in the inheritance, shall have the father or mother or brothers and sisters of the deceased who shall inherit in equal shares. Half-brothers and half-sisters shall also inherit but in equal half shares. These shares are determined after a living wife first inherits 50% of the assets.
- If there are no relatives that belong in the first two classes above then other closest relatives to the deceased shall have third priority in the inheritance in equal shares. If the closest living heirs are cousins of the deceased, then their shares are determined after a living wife first inherits 75% of the assets. If the closest living heirs of the deceased are more distant relatives than cousins, then a living wife shall inherit 100% of the assets.
Estate Planning
Because of restrictions in Cypriot inheritance law, but also in other jurisdictions, it may be better for persons, especially foreign nationals, who own property or assets in Cyprus, to administer and distribute them according to a trust rather than according to a Will, as explained here.
In coordination our inheritance, estate and tax law experts we can help you establish a plan for your estate and its administration including forming international structures that are designed for asset protection. Estate planning structures may be employed to transfer the assets of an estate from one generation to the next, from skipping a generation, from excluding members of a family etc. so as to put in effect the desires of the owner of the estate or in order to minimize taxes. Estate planning structures may also be employed to eliminate conflicts or arguments between heirs but also the consequences of forced heirship rules , as explained here..
Good estate planning involves much more than just having a Will. It is about having a broad and complete plan that protects and preserves your estate but simultaneously it allows it to grow now and in the future. This is an crucial part of wealth management, especially in cases where an estate involves major and substantial assets or complex structures or composite objectives. Efficient estate planning enables the organized and timely transfer of assets to the beneficiaries, provides security for a surviving spouse, ensures continuity of business and succession of ownership and reduces or eliminates inheritance or other taxes on the transfer of a business or assets.
Our Services
We have great experience in dealing with inheritance matters and provide a vast range of services including:
- Drafting of Wills.
- Drafting Wills
- Estate Planning. Our Firm has extensive experience in developing estate plans, trust plans, as explained here., plans for the continuation of business but also wealth plans and minimization of estate taxes, as explained here. which shall maximise the inheritance in the advantage of your beneficiaries and provide you with peace of mind.
- Executing Wills.
- Contesting improper execution of Wills.
- Filing probate applications.
- Obtaining letters of administration.
- Administering estates.
- Resealing of probates and letters of administration.
- Suing deceased’s estates for:
- Disputes over the identification of beneficiaries.
- Claims for contracts made with the deceased prior to death.
- Claims for debts of the deceased.
- Claims for and against executors of Wills.
- Claims for and against and trustees.
- Claims with respect to lost Wills or priorities of Wills.
- Claims for hotch-pot disputes.
- And much more.