Hi I inherited a share of my

amendola Image
09/02/2015 - 13:25

inherited a share of my Fathers home last year and have agreed to sign that share over to my Step Mum for an agreed sum. She lives in the 2 bed home just outside of Amalfi and I live in the UK. I am the only child and there was no will so I have been told i get 25% of  half of the house value as it was owned 50/50 by my Dad and Step Mum.I was advised the value of the home was about £160,000 and that my share would be around £30,000 but as i did not want any hassle and did not want to deal with any paperwork we agreed on £20,000 (euros) My step mum has now asked if I can supply a "Procura" stating our agreement so that she can show this to the officials in Italy, pay the agreed sum and then transfer that share of the home I own into her name.  I am assuming a Procura is a legal statement of our agreement witnessed by a lawyer ? I do not speak and am not able to travel to Italy. Can any Lawyer draw up this agreement for me / us or does it need to be in and English ? Would be grateful for any advice and also an idea of a fair cost.My Step mum has already been taken for £1500 by a fake lawyer in Italy. Kind regards Tony

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Hello Tony , i work as mortgage broker for not  italian and use many procure , for my work .if you are in Uk , i suggest to you , the notary that i use in London , she is , but have office in London  as Notary , and can provide you , the Apostilled proxy , WRITTED IN ITALIAN LANGUAGE necessary to use in Italy without more expenses -Here  shes coordinate  Cristina Leone - Notary PublicLeone & Co Notaries1 Frederick's PlaceLondonEC2R 8AETel: +44 (0)20 3637 2657Email: info@leonenotaries.comhave a good evening , Ugo , by www.lifeinitaly.it    

Your father didnt leave a will so, assuming that your stepmum and he were married in separation of goods, you would own 50% of your fathers 50%: If they were married in communion of goods you would own 50% of the whole property.   What your stepmum is asking for as a procura is a power of attorney.  This gets a bit cokplicated under the succession system - as if you are not going to get what the law says you should get, you technically have to refuse your inheritance - however assuming that the succession has been done, your stepmum needs you to say that you are prepared to accept very much less than the market value of your share - otherwise the tax office will assume you have been trying to evade duties.  If the succession has been done, then you cannot transfer anything - it must be sold or donated, which has ignificant costs.   As the sole child, the problem is with the Tax Office as you are going to accept alotless than the paper value of the house - and your step mum needs to show them that.   All said and done, why she wants a procura I dont know - It would be better to provice an affidavit saying what you are prepared to accept, and have it legalised and postilled in the UK and translated and send it to Italy, or let your stepmum have it translated there.   Like most things, it isnt easy - but its more a legal letter of intent and than a power of attorney, unless your stepmum wants to act onyour beahlf - which she cannot do legally as she is also a beneficiary - so she needs to name a 3rd party who can dispose of your quota on your behalf and then you give a power of attorney to him/her again legalised and apostilled and translated.  

Hi Modicasa,Thank you for your replyMy Father and Stepmother were married and then bought the property in Pogerola, which is a two bed semi detached newer build with a terrace overlooking the sea,  just above Amalfi and I was told by my Step Mum that the property was in joint names, 50% belonging to my Father and 50% by her.As I do not speak I have had to take her word for everything and I certainly do not have the money to pay a lawyer. To begin with i said i was not interested in the Inheritence but she told me this meant that a share would go to my Dads family and there is a great deal of hostility between my Step mum and them, so finally i agreed to accept the inheritence subject to her paying any tax owed and also all legal fees,  costs etc. I also said that any paperwork to be dealth with would have to be done over here as i am not able to travel abroad.She agreed to this and I said i was happy to accept a reduced sum of 20,000 euros as long as i do not have any fees, taxes to pay and that she covers all of these.I asked her for the value of the estate and she said that the value of the property was about 150,000 euros, then half of that is 75,000 so my share would be around 36,000 before selling fees etc. I certaily did not want the hassle of owning a property in Italy so this seemed to be the best way forward for all involved. I did ask her for the value of any other items ie bank accounts etc but she never replied to that and so i accepted it was just the property. To be honest i cannot stand arguing over money and just wanted this to be settled as easily as possible.I agreed to accept my quota, signed the forms and also had to do a tax form for her to pay the tax on my behalf. ...... Now she is asking for a procura ... although i have since found out what she is really asking for is a witnessed statement out lining the agreement we have made that states i am willling to sell her my share of the property for the agreed value. I have now contacted a Notary Public and am waiting for their response.Obviously I have had to take her world for the property values as i havent a clue what houses are worth in Italy.My Step mum has since paid me 1500 Euros but would now like to pay the remaining 18500 and transfer the ownership into her name.  Would be interested in whether you think this is the way to go forward as she has already been tricked out of £1500 by a "friend" there who said he knew what to do, and then sent me some paperwork to sign which was clearly made up on a typewriter and not in any way official. Kind regards Tony    

In reply to by amendola

Hi tony.  From what you say the succession has been done, so you are now a legal owner of some of the house - which means you should have a codice fiscale/tax code.   Your stepmum wants/needs two things - a sworn statement by which you stipulate what has been previoulsy agreed,  which she needs for her purposes whatever they may be.  However, the property cannot be transferred without you giving a procura to someone to sell it or donate it to your stepmother on your behalf, ()if its going to be done in Italy).  This procura needs to be to a third person, obviously your step mum cant have a procura to sell something to herself.   The easiest way to do this is for her to send you a draft of a procura from her notary, which is then translated into English and which you sign, at an italian notary in the UK, and return the whole lot to the notary.  Alternatively you could do the whole lot in London at an notary, but it depends who's going to pay for it all - in which case you can make the act of donation directly to your stepmother for your quota of the property, and the notaio then registers it in Italy.   If you choose the latter route, your stepmum will have to add a good couple of thousand to the price to cover your costs. As to how much the property is worth, I cant say - without a will you get a  1/4 of the house and half of everything else your Dad left - car, money, etc etc.  Succession in Italy is fiddly but not complicated - 

To be honest I only asked about the value because i was concerned about tax implications.For example if i agree on accepting 20,000 euros but  the estate is actually worth 2 million i would be liable for a big chunk of tax from what i can see although i have no way to find out what its worth.As far as i can see there was very little money and property other than the house which my step mum said was worth about 140-160,000 euros... so agreed on 20,000 euros so long as all fees and taxes and hassle was hers. Obviously i could hold out for the 35,000 euros, wait until she sells or pops her clogs and then have to find a way to sell my share of an property when i dont speak italian and do not have funds for lawyers and also have a voice disability so cannot speak on a phone ... lol What i have decided to do is include the sums my step mum has stated to me in the our agreement statement ie nil money, nil assets and 140,000 as the property value. I have also included tin that statement that she has agreed to pay all taxes in relation to the inheritence and also sale/transfer. Just dont want to end up in an italian prison for tax avoidance !Really appreciate the help and I am now in contact with the Notary so hope to get this all sorted soon.

hm . modicasa , you to tink that a Notary italian , do not know this matter ? ... :)  regarding Proxy , apostilled , because this as to provide in other languge that italian ? ... only to provide a sworn traslation with relative expenses ? You pheraps , do not know that sworn consist ONLY in certification of right signature , and NOT in certification of Properly traslation ?   

Ugo - la madrina vorrebbe una procura per trasferire la proprietà - lei come co intestataria non può avere la procura - dev'essere un terzo, ma non sappiamo se la successione è stata fatta.  La proprietà non può essere trasferita, dev'essere donata oppure venduta, un semplice trasferimento del titolo non è possibile in italia se lui non riniuncia l'eredita.  Visto che non è chiaro esattamente vuole la madrina, è possibile che un affidavit che mostra l'intenzione del OP basterà, o non - è impossibile dire senza sapere la situazione.  è questo ho detto.  Purtroppo Google non aiuta con i definizioni inglesi dei termini legali.