{"id":1038,"date":"2023-06-09T13:49:05","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T11:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rechtsanwalt-erbrecht.eu\/internationales-erbrecht\/erbrecht-in-der-eu\/erbrecht-im-ausland\/der-deutsch-italienische-erbfall\/wie-erbt-der-ueberlebende-ehegatte\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T17:47:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:47:47","slug":"how-the-surviving-spouse-inherits","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rechtsanwalt-erbrecht.eu\/en\/internationales-erbrecht\/erbrecht-in-der-eu\/erbrecht-im-ausland\/der-deutsch-italienische-erbfall\/wie-erbt-der-ueberlebende-ehegatte\/","title":{"rendered":"How does the surviving spouse inherit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does the surviving spouse inherit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Only since the inheritance law reform in 1975 has the surviving spouse received their own share of the estate.<\/p>\n

If the deceased leaves behind a child, whether born in or out of wedlock, in addition to the spouse, the surviving spouse inherits half of the estate alongside the child. If there are several children, the spouse inherits only one-third (Art. 581 Cciv).<\/p>\n

If the deceased left no descendants besides the spouse, the spouse inherits two-thirds of the estate alongside the deceased's parents, more distant ancestors, and siblings (Art. 582 Cciv). If there are no such heirs, the spouse becomes the sole heir (Art. 583 Cciv).<\/p>\n

The right of inheritance of the spouse remains even if they lived separately before the death of the testator, but the divorce was not yet legally valid (Art. 585 Cciv).<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the spouse is entitled as a statutory legacy to the right of residence in the marital home and the use of the household effects, provided that they were owned by the deceased or jointly owned by both spouses (Art. 549 II Cciv).<\/p>\n

What influence does the marital property regime have on inheritance law?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The default matrimonial property regime in Italy is the community of acquired property (communione legale) (Articles 159, 177 et seq. of the Italian Civil Code). This means that all assets acquired by the spouses, or at least one of them, during the marriage belong to the community property. The premarital assets of each spouse are considered separate property.<\/p>\n

Italian matrimonial property law does not affect the inheritance share of the surviving spouse. However, upon the death of the testator, their separate property, as well as their half of the joint property, fall into the estate. The surviving spouse receives the other half of the joint property in advance.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wie erbt der \u00fcberlebende Ehegatte? Erst seit der Erbrechtsreform im Jahre 1975 erh\u00e4lt der \u00fcberlebende Ehegatte eine eigene Quote am Nachlass. Hinterl\u00e4sst der Erblasser neben dem Ehegatten ein eheliches oder nichteheliches Kind, erbt der \u00fcberlebende Ehegatte neben diesen die H\u00e4lfte des Nachlasses. Sollten mehrere Kinder vorhanden sein, erbt der Ehegatte nur 1\/3 (Art. 581 Cciv). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1032,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1038","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t