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A will apparently executed in 2012 by John Payne, leaving most of his estate to his son by his first marriage, has been overturned on the grounds that the attesting witnesses' evidence was unreliable. The England and Wales Court of Appeal instead admitted to probate an earlier will leaving everything to Payne's second wife, despite significant doubts about that will's execution and attestation, too. FATTO

FATTO

Further comment has appeared on the England and Wales Family Court's decision to pierce the corporate veil in the financial remedy case of Akhmedova v Akhmedov (2018 EWFC 23 Fam). The judge considered it necessary to go against the long-standing legal principle, in response to Farkhad Akhmedov's 'continuing campaign to defeat his ex-wife by concealing his assets in a web of offshore companies', and issued orders to aid her enforcement of the judgment in the Isle of Man and Dubai FATTO

ESTATE DISPUTES: Some important judgments from last month

Trustees cannot simply brush aside beneficiaries' request for information

ESTATE DISPUTES: Hallyday family wins estate asset freeze while forced-heirship litigation continues

INTERNATIONAL - SPAIN: Foreign nationals can sue government over inheritance tax discrimination, following Supreme Court ruling

INTERNATIONAL - UK - Nearly 100,000 properties in England and Wales owned by foreign entities

PHILANTHROPY: Ikea's late founder structured business as three foundations

INTERNATIONAL - UK: Legislation this summer on register of foreign property-owners

INTERNATIONAL - FRANCE: Wealth property tax has significant effects for non-residents

GERMANY: Expat businessman challenges exit tax for move to Switzerland

INTERNATIONAL - MATRIMONIAL: Russian woman reportedly claims GBP11.6 billion from ex-husband

INTERNATIONAL - GERMANY: Restriction of loss relief declared unconstitutional

INTERNATIONAL - European Union: Taxation at source must take into account non-resident taxpayer's domestic costs

INTERNATIONAL - Canadian notary must reimburse buyer stuck with non-resident seller's CGT bill

When a property conveyance takes place, the Italian tax laws stipulate the payment of certain taxes and charges which generally must be paid, at the time the notarial contract is stipulated, to the notary himself who thus undertakes the “irksome” task of tax collector. Such taxes are mostly payable by the purchaser. At the time of purchase, the system taxes the “wealth” indirectly manifested by the purchaser which consists of the price paid for the purchase of the property (so-called i

The italian Notary

The civil law notary is at one and the same time a public official representing the State, and a professional expert in the juridical field. He/she is appointed by the Ministry of Justice and is assigned by the latter to a single Municipality, although, if required, he/she is empowered to carry out his/her functions throughout the territory of the District in which the place he/she is assigned to is located, coinciding approximately with that of the Province. Accordingly, although he/s

It often happens that, after a prospective property has been inspected and chosen, substantial agreement is reached with the other party even if this is not yet formalized in written form. It is advisable to contact a notary at this early stage before signing the preliminary contract (the so-called “compromesso”). In the preliminary contract, both signatories undertake to stipulate the definitive sale contract by a certain date and on given conditions. The preliminary agreement (even i

The following are examples of what needs to be included in a proposal for sale or purchase and in a preliminary contract: - the precise description of the asset or assets; - the exact identification of the owner or owners and of the purchaser or purchasers; - the obligations of the vendor and of the purchaser; - the price of the sale and method of payment; - the conditions of the conveyance and relevant guarantees; - documentation of the history of the asset or assets; -

For many years now, in Italy and throughout the world,  the associative phenomenon has encountered ever greater consideration, in addition to a growing enthusiasm. The explanation of this progressive attention may be found in the ever more widespread awareness that the ideas, dreams and projects that each individual nourishes in the course of his/her existence may be concretely expressed, not only through acting in isolation, also by following a path which leads a number of persons to join f

Notaries have as their essential mission to confer authenticity on the legal instruments and contracts they establish for their clients in various areas of law

Notaries provide the community with a complex service, they carry out a public function of the State within the framework of an independent profession. The notarial deed not only regulates transactions between parties, but it provides added value in at least three respects: - a contract signed before a notary is unchallengable and hence it avoids expensive and time-consuming litigation procedures; - it is enforceable and hence it can be used to recover credits and it constitutes pri

The Notary as existing in Italy belongs to the “latin (o roman)  notarial system”. The “latin notary” system is largely spread around the world, adopted by approximately 71 countries, mostly belonging to the civil law system. Although the same word “public notary” is used within the “common law” legal systems, it must be underlined very clearly from the beginning that the concept (the meaning) behind the word in the civil law system and in the common law system is completely, absolutel

The notarial profession has always been, and continues to be, one that is more than ready to adopt new technology. It is sufficient to recall that from the 1960s on, any and all notaries' offices moved rapidly from traditional typewriters and duplicators to the most sophisticated photocopiers and PCs with large-capacity memories. The reason for notaries' particular attention to technological developments of this kind is evident. For over 2000 years the notary's job has been to create and con

Since 12 September 2002, the Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato has been registered in the public list of certifiers of digital signatures held by AIPA, as the certification authority for Italian notaries. The digital signatures of Italian notaries may be verified on the site http://ca.notariato.it. Based on the rules and the certification authority's operations manual, CNN certifies notaries' digital signatures in the exercise of their functions and so guarantees to third parties not only

Having broached subjects from the vendor's point of view as well, it is useful to recall that the burdensome INVIM (a tax originally levied on the vendor consequent upon his sale of a property) has been definitively abolished, to the great relief of the notary as well, given not only the complexity of calculating it but also (as always) the irksome role of tax collector that the law imposed on him. Nevertheless, it is helpful to emphasize that the vendor may still have to pay certain sums

Following marriage, unless an explicit declaration to the contrary is made at the time of the ceremony, spouses find themselves in a shared property arrangement, this being the automatic legal regime in force in our system since 20/9/1975. This means that any purchase made by a spouse during the marriage is subject to legal community (or, simply put, is common property) with the other. The law excludes (to take a few of the more important cases) only assets acquired by donation or inherit

One of the essential elements in the negotiation of a home loan is the delay allowed for  repayment of the capital, i.e. the duration. In general terms, one may say that the longer the duration of a home loan the lower the amount of each repayment instalment, which gives the borrower more breathing space; all this, however, means paying overall a larger amount in  interest, precisely because the capital is repaid more slowly. The practice also is that a longer duration

A  "public officer" is a professional who performs "public functions". This means that he is vested by the State  with public authority and faith, which allows him to draw "authentic deeds"  (or "public deeds"). The “authentic deed” is the characteristic  "product" of the latin notary system. Even though  the notaries' discipline can show slight differences in  the different countries adopting the latin system, they all draw up authentic (public) deeds with the same legal meaning.

Legalization is indispensable for a foreign public document to be valid in Italy. It consists only of the official certification - by the competent Italian consular or diplomatic authority abroad – of the legal status of the public official (or functionary) who has signed the document and the authenticity of his signature. If the document is issued by a foreign authority in Italy, it must be legalized by the Prefect in the district in which the foreign authority is located (except for the

The purchaser's main obligation is obviously to pay the agreed price to the vendor at the time the sale contract is completed. Where an advance payment has been made as a deposit, the difference must be paid to make up the full agreed price. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request a deferment of payment, but it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the discretion of the vendor whether or not to grant this: the purchaser's obligation to pay the price in full derives fr

In general terms, our law permits the purchase of real estate by foreigners in the following different ways:1) non-resident foreigner: only if covered by an international treaty or there is a reciprocal arrangement whereby his country of origin allows an Italian to purchase a house;2) "resident" foreigner, his family members and stateless persons resident in Italy for less than three years: with a temporary residence permit for specific reasons or a long-term residence permit;3) citizen of the E

Home loans are generally guaranteed by a mortgage and so are the preserve, in our legal system, of the notary. The presence of the notarial profession has become more significant with the recent increase in the number of such contracts, a result of the lower cost of money (though this is still subject to fluctuations) and improvements in living standards that allow an ever greater number of citizens to aspire to the ownership of their home and often of a second home as well. Year after ye

A person may not always be able to express his intentions directly: for example, because he is abroad or far from the place in which he is supposed to sign a particular deed or contract.In such cases, it is possible to use a power of attorney, i.e. a document giving another person the power to undertake a material or legal act in one's stead.For example, if a husband is abroad and a purchase contract for a house must be signed urgently, the husband – before he leaves or from abroad – may give hi

In general the purchase/sale is the contract having the purpose of transferring the ownership of a house or the transfer of some other right for the equivalent of a price;  more generically it could be said that the purchase/sale of real estate is the formal agreement by means of which one party, called the seller, transfers to another, called purchaser, the ownership of a given property against payment of the price agreed on. Our juridical system, in view of the extreme importance of rea

As may be observed above, the role of the notary is important in guaranteeing the statements the vendor usually makes at the time the sale takes place. In particular, the vendor is obliged to make known how the asset he is about to sell came into his hands. It may be that he purchased it for a consideration in the normal way, or that he has occupied it for a sufficient number of years to avert any danger of eviction. It may be, however, that the property was donated to the vendor or

In a property conveyance, right from what we have called the preparatory phase before the definitive contract, the notary plays a rather delicate and important role: determining whether in fact the vendor is free to sell the asset and whether the purchaser in his turn may legitimately acquire it. For example - to cite just a few of the more important aspects - the notary's tasks include certifying the personal identity of the parties (in other words that the vendor and hence the owner of

If the parties wish to set up an general partnership, they must respect the specific rules laid down in this regard by the Civil Code, bearing in mind, in any case that, for many aspects, the law refers the reader to the provisions regulating informal partnerships, which consequently apply equally to general partnerships. So that, in the light the foregoing, the present file foresees multiple referrals to the subjects already dealt with and developed with regard to the informal partners

In recent times, by computerizing the documentary processes of interest to its activity and its interaction with the Public Administration, the notarial profession has contributed responsibly and professionally to improving citizens' lives in terms of the quantity and quality of services, in the time saved in dealing with the various types of transactions and the fulfilling of formal requirements, and in legal certainty obviating subsequent litigation: - 0.0 % corporate litigation; - 0

Law no. 52 of 1996 introduced rules into the Italian legal system to protect the consumer in his contractual relations with professionals. In order to rationalize regulations which have been complicated by a long sequence of amendments, a Consumer Code was recently published (Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005), which contains a thorough reworking of most of the consumer-protection rules. Article 3 of the Consumer Code defines a "consumer" as a physical individual who acts

A home loan is a contract whereby one party, called the lender (usually a bank), transfers a given sum of money to a second party known as the borrower, so that the latter may use it for a given time in exchange for paying the former an amount representing interest. To this outline of the essential structure and functions of the contract must be added that a home loan includes various clauses that are not always immediately comprehensible but are necessary for regulating all the relations

The sale contract includes the personal data of both the vendor and the purchaser, including their fiscal codes, the description of the property to be transferred with an indication of its location, its nature and its boundaries, as well as its identification at the land titles office and a number of obligatory pieces of information regarding town planning and building regulations. The vendor must declare whether the property was built before 1 September 1967; if the building took place a

Latin notaries  (at least  in Europe)  have a law degree. They may or may not have passed the bar examination. In  Italy, however, they are not allowed to practice both legal professions at the same time. To be allowed to practice the notarial profession, they must get through a very rigorous and competitive examination and, unlike the solicitors, their number is fixed by the law. In most civil law countries, the Latin notary is compelled to avail his services to whoever asks for th

In general terms, the conveyance is the contract that transfers ownership of an asset or some other right in exchange for a consideration; more generically, one may say that a real estate conveyance is the formal agreement whereby one party, known as the vendor, transfers to another party, known as the purchaser, the ownership of a particular property in exchange for payment of the agreed price. Given the extreme importance of real property ownership, our legal system not only requires th

Another possible guarantee frequently used is the surety bond, whereby a third party (not the mortgagor) generically guarantees with all his own assets that the borrower will fulfil his obligations

The law completes the range of measures introduced to protect the purchaser by extending to the purchaser the right to parcel out the loan and the mortgage on the building being built, and the prohibition on selling before the division of the loan into quotas, or before discharge of the mortgage or foreclosure where these are not taken over by the new purchaser (Articles 7 and 8). The purchaser of a house to be used as his/her home has the right of pre-emption in case of an auction (Art.

First of all, the purchaser has the right to have the vendor consign the property at the time of the notarised conveyance, upon payment of the purchase price, in its known state, with any agreed accessories, free of persons and things. It is legitimate for the purchaser to request consignment of the asset before the definitive transfer: however it is not his right to insist upon it, it being left to the d

When does one need a notary? The areas covered by Italian notaries are mainly:a) the purchase of a house or other real property;b) the formalization of a mortgage contract with a Bank;c) the preparation of powers of attorney so as to be represented by a third party;d) changes to property arrangements between spouses;e) applications to a court for authorizations regarding minor children;f) donation of assets;g) setting up of and changes to companies, and all relevant legal documents;h) acceptance

This is the property regime whereby two spouses continue to accumulate assets after marriage exactly as though they were not married. An asset acquired by one spouse remains his or hers alone, and the other spouse has no rights over it.Naturally, the spouses may jointly acquire an asset but each may then resell (or donate) his or her half without the consent of the other (as opposed to what happens under the joint ownership regime).

As has been seen above, in order to determine the type of tax and the amount and means of payment of the sums due for duties on the purchase of a so-called primary residence, one must first of all take into account the nature of the vendor. When the vendor is the company that built (or renovated) the property and four years have not elapsed since completion, the conveyance is subject to VAT that the purchaser must pay directly to the company and not to the notary, along with the payment o

If a married person wishes to sell a property, it is necessary to check whether or not the consent of the other spouse is needed; If a minor or a person not of sound mind is the owner of an asset, a judge's authorization is needed for the sale as well as the intervention of that person's tutor or parent or legal representative; the same thing applies for a purchase by such persons; If an inherited asset is the common property of several heirs, before selling his share an heir must firs

Only legal security in business and private relationships allow for economic development; therefore a constitutional state must guarantee  legal security to its citizens. To this goal: 1) lawsuits  must be prevented, for as much as possible; 2) the citizens must have access  to public registers whose records are reliable and legally trustworthy. Clearly the reliability of the findings depends entirely upon the trustworthiness of the deeds entered. An authentic deed, drawn by a

A foreigner may make a will, i.e. indicate in an official document to whom he intends leaving his property after his death. A foreigner also may give away assets during his lifetime.

In the first place, the vendor is obliged to consign to the purchaser the property sold in the state in which it is with vacant possession, free of persons and things, at the time the contract of sale is notarised, i.e. at the same time as the balance of the price is paid. The vendor has the option, however, of allowing the future purchaser to occupy the property even before the actual change of ownership, it being understood that because he is still the owner of the asset he remains resp

This is a simplified – but absolutely rigid - form of legalization (in the sense that it must have  exactly all the formal characteristics stipulated in the sample attached to the Hague Convention of 5/10/1961 which governs it). It is valid in all the countries that have signed the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 and replaces legalization amongst those countries alone.Like legalization, an apostille may be indispensable for a foreign public document to be valid in Italy.Like legalization, an

The limited liability company is intended for smaller companies than joint-stock companies, and the equity participation in the company has a personal connotation which is absent in the s.p.a.  In fact, it has a limited number of shareholders who are not personally responsible for the social security liabilities, even if they have acted in the name and on behalf of the company.The legislation in place as of 1 January 2004 has had a major impact on the limited liability company, which is an e

In early 2003 the Italian legislator issued a law decree (n° 6 of 17 January 2003) which thoroughly reformed companies limited by shares.  The declared aim was to simplify, where appropriate, and enrich, wherever possible, the rules governing such companies, with a view to increasing their competitiveness on both domestic and international markets.Many changes were made and the following results have been achieved:  a better, though still not complete, co-ordination between the rules governi

The rules applying to limited partnerships are similar from many points of view to those laid down for informal partnerships. However it is underlined that death of a limited partner does not imply conclusion of the business relationship, since upon the death of the partner his/her share is transmitted, unless otherwise agreed in the Memorandum of Association.

Limited partners are excluded, in principle, from managing the company.However, they may negotiate or conclude individual deals on behalf of the company, providing they have received a specific proxy or authorisation empowering them to do so.Each limited partner is responsible for social security liabilities in a degree that is proportionate to the contribution they made to the company. Accordingly he/she does not assume any other risks, except that of losing the value of the capital he/she

The rules applying to limited partnerships are similar in many respects to those that apply to informal partnerships (please refer to the related paragraph).In addition, as regards subjective changes arising from the transfer of a partner’s capital share, a distinction needs to be made between the unlimited partner’s share and that of the limited partner.If one of the unlimited partners decides to transfer his/her capital share he may undoubtedly do so through a conveyance deed; however, unl

From the historic and regulatory point of view, the joint-stock company is the prototype of the company with share capital whose body of rules apply to the limited partnerships with share capital (s.a.p.a.), with which it is compatible, and in some respects they are very close to the rules that govern the limited liability company, which however makes little reference to the rules on joint-stock companies, which consequently do not directly apply. The joint-stock company (s.p.a.) differs fro

Dans l’optique historique et normative, la société par actions est le prototype de la société de capitaux, et sa réglementation analytique est compatible avec, et donc applicable également à la société en commandite par actions et reprend dans une certaine mesure le modèle des normes sur la société à responsabilité limitée, qui, contrairement au système précédent, ne comporte cependant que des renvois sporadiques et limités aux normes en matière de société par actions, qui par conséquent ne peuv

Once upon a time it was enough to say that a foreigner was someone who was not an Italian citizen. This definition – to be clear – is still valid. Except that Article 17 of the EC Treaty institutes a citizenship of the European Union which is attributed to anyone who is a citizen of a Member State. Belonging to the European Union brings with it various consequences, some of which are very important, like the prohibition on

Il fut un temps où étaient étrangers tous ceux qui n’étaient pas des citoyens italiens. Soyons clairs, cette définition est toujours valable. Sauf que l’article 17 du Traité de la CE a introduit la citoyenneté de l’Union Européenne, attribuée à tous ceux qui sont les ressortissants d’un État membre. Être citoyen de l’Union Européenne a différents effets, dont certains de grande portée, comme l’interdiction de discriminations sur la base de la nationalité et le principe de la primauté du d

Informal partnerships are the most elementary form of enterprise.The fundamental characteristic of an informal partnership is that the scope of its activities is limited to non-commercial profit-making economic activities.The scope of an informal partnership may therefore include:- agricultural activities, with certain limitations because:   the purpose of the enterprise cannot be merely that of using assets, but must consist in the joint operation of a business activity;  taci

Take the case in which the company has lost capital. What is the company allowed to do?In this connection the law envisages that, in case of losses, the company cannot distribute profits among the partners until the capital has been reduced or replenished by the corresponding amount.However, unlike what happens for companies with share capital, there is no obligation to reduce the capital whatever the amount of the losses incurred, even if the latter are such as to wipe out the  entire capit

The individual partnership may be resolved following the exclusion of a partner from the company.In some cases this occurs by law (e.g. in cases of bankruptcy), while in other cases the exclusion is decided by the other partners, when circumstances envisaged by the law or by the  partnership contract occur. Your Notary public will describe such cases to you.In all the cases examined thus far in which the relationship of a single partner ends as a result of death, withdrawal or exclusion, the

Let us take the case in which the Parties decide to undertake an entrepreneurial activity by setting up  a partnership.What would the general characteristics of such a company be?First of all, as regards the unlimited and joint liability of the partners:- in the case of a general partnership, all the partners have unlimited and joint liability;- in the case of an informal partnership, all the partners have unlimited and joint liability, but there can be an agreement whereby the partners who

The management of a company is the activity of running the corporate enterprise. The power of management is the power of carrying out any activity that falls within the scope of the corporate purpose.When the management of the company falls on more than one partner (all or some), and the partnership contract makes no provision on how the power of management is to be exercised, then the notion of  separate management shall apply:  each partner is a director, that is, he has the power of manag

In  share capital companies the financial autonomy is perfect in that the shareholders are accountable for the debts of the company only in proportion to the share they hold.This means:- that the personal creditors of a shareholder can never receive payment from the company;- that creditors of the company, in turn, can never expect the members to use their personal assets to pay for the company’s debts.The financial circumstances of the shareholder of a company with share capital will never

Contributions are the assets that the partners are obliged to provide under the partnership deed.In other terms, the contributions are the resources that the partners contribute to create the initial assets of the company.It is their function to provide the company with the initial capital required to carry out the company’s activity.Through the contribution each partner allocates a part of his personal assets to the common activity throughout the lifetime of the company and takes on the ent

In order to do business often huge investments are required and often a single person may not have that amount of financial means. Doing business through a company enables several people to invest and work together so that each individual may then enjoy the benefits of the activity carried out proportionately to the amount of work done and to the quota of investments made.A participation (share or quota) of the capital of the company is assigned to the partner in return for the assets he has

The relationship between a partner and the company ends automatically when the partner dies. Within six months from his death, the surviving partners have the duty of returning the share held by the dead partner to his heirs. The surviving partners are not obliged to accept that the heirs of the deceased member should succeed him by taking his place in the company.The surviving partners have two options they can choose from. They may either decide:- to wind up the company in advance;- to car