Families abroad with something in Cyprus
We are a law firm in Nicosia. We act for families in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and elsewhere whose connection to Cyprus is a field, a house in a village, or an estate that was never wound up. This work is conducted in English, by email, and in most matters without the client coming to Cyprus.
The situation that reaches us most often has one shape. A parent or grandparent died, in London or Melbourne or in the village, and there was property here. Nothing was done at the time: the family was abroad, the documents were in Greek, and the property did not seem to justify the journey. Twenty or thirty years later the register still records the dead person as the owner, the heirs are three or four brothers, sisters and cousins in three different countries, and nobody is entirely certain what is there or where it sits.
That is not an unusual instruction. It is the ordinary one. It is also solvable, and it is more easily solved now than it will be after another generation has passed, because each further death tends to add another layer of heirs to the same parcel of land.
- Establishing what a deceased relative owned, across the whole island, from the register itself
- Getting inherited immovable property out of the dead person's name and into the names of the people entitled to it
- Estates where the death happened abroad and there is property in Cyprus, and estates where the death happened in Cyprus and the heirs are abroad
- Wills governing Cyprus assets, and how a will made in England, Australia or the United States sits alongside one
- Powers of attorney drafted here and signed where you live, so that a matter can be run without you travelling
- Undivided shares held between siblings and cousins, and what has to happen before anything can be sold
- Sale of property once it is registered in the names of the heirs, and Land Registry searches, encumbrances, planning position and notes recording unauthorised works on any property in the estate
What to send us in a first enquiry
The full name of the person who died, as it appears on Cypriot documents and in Greek if you have it, the date and place of death, and the village or district you believe the property is in. Send any document you hold: an old title deed, a tax notice, a letter from a Cypriot lawyer, a photograph of a page you cannot read. If you have none of these, say so. It is a common starting point and it is not an obstacle.
