Wills Made Abroad and Cyprus Property

Does a will made abroad reach property in Cyprus?

This is the most heavily written-about subject in this whole area, and a good deal of what is published on it is produced by people who are not advocates in Cyprus. Some of it is confident about propositions that are, in truth, questions. It is worth reading anything you find, including this page, with that in mind.

What can be said plainly is this. A will made in England, in an Australian state or in a United States jurisdiction is a document made under that law. Whether it operates on immovable property in Cyprus is a separate question from whether it is a good will at home, and it turns on which law governs succession to that property and on what Cyprus requires before a foreign will can be acted on here. Both of those depend on the individual's circumstances and connections, not on a general rule that can be printed on a page.

The practical consequence, and the reason this matters to a family rather than to a lawyer, is that a will drafted abroad on the assumption of complete freedom to leave what you like to whom you like may operate differently once Cyprus assets are brought into the estate.

What to send us in a first enquiry

The will as executed, not a summary of it, and a list of what you own in Cyprus and where else you own anything. Tell us where you live, where you were born, what nationalities you hold, and who your close family are. Those facts determine the answer more than the wording of the will does.

The part that surprises people

Cyprus succession law reserves a portion for close family

Cyprus succession law divides an estate into two parts. One part, often called the statutory or reserved portion, is set aside for close family. The other is the disposable portion, which the will directs. The proportions depend on who survives: in particular whether there is a spouse, children or parents.

This is not a formality that careful drafting removes. A will that gives everything to one person, where a reserved portion arises, will not achieve that result. Planning for a Cyprus estate therefore begins by establishing what is actually disposable, and only then turns to how to dispose of it.

The firm's own guide, Making a Will in Cyprus: What You Can Actually Leave, and to Whom, sets this out at greater length, together with what happens where there is no valid will and the formal defects that invalidate one.

One will or two

Whether to make a separate Cyprus will

Where a person owns assets in more than one country, coordinated wills are often sensible: each dealing with its own jurisdiction, drafted so that neither revokes the other. That last point is not a detail. A later will containing a general revocation clause can sweep away the earlier one, and the family then finds that the Cyprus will they were told about no longer exists.

What a Cyprus will can do

Direct the disposable portion of the Cyprus estate deliberately, rather than leaving it to be worked out
Appoint an executor for the Cyprus assets, which matters when the alternative is an application to appoint someone
Describe the Cyprus property so that it can actually be identified, by registration number and district rather than as "my land in the village"
Make the administration in Cyprus simpler and less expensive for the people left behind, who are usually the ones abroad

What it cannot do

It cannot override the reserved portion, and it should not be sold to you as a way of doing so. It does not settle the tax position at home. It does not make Cyprus administration unnecessary, though it usually makes it shorter.

Whether two wills, one will or a will and a codicil is right for you is a question we answer after seeing what you own and where, not before.

If the person has already died

This page is written for someone deciding what to do while there is still time to decide. Where the death has already happened and there is a will made abroad, the questions are different and more urgent: what the will covers, whether it can be acted on in Cyprus, and what has to be done here. That is dealt with under administering an estate from abroad. Where there is no will at all and there is land in a village, start with inherited property.

Questions we are asked

Can I leave my Cyprus property to whoever I like?

Not necessarily. Where a reserved portion arises, part of the estate is distributed by law whatever the will says. Whether it arises, and in what proportion, depends on which close relatives survive you. That is the honest answer, and any page that gives you a percentage without knowing your family is guessing.

I own the Cyprus property jointly with my spouse. Does it pass automatically on death?

Do not assume so. What passes, and to whom, depends on how the property is actually registered and on the succession rules that apply, not on how the arrangement is described in conversation. Send us the registration details and we will tell you what the register says. This is one of the most commonly repeated assumptions in this area and it is worth checking rather than inheriting.

My will was drafted by a solicitor in London. Is that a problem?

No, and we would not suggest replacing it. The question is a narrower one: whether it deals sensibly with the Cyprus assets, whether it describes them well enough to be acted on, and whether anything done later has revoked or undermined it. Where a change is needed we would ordinarily want to work with your solicitor rather than around them.

Does my will have to be in Greek?

A document produced to a Cypriot institution or court generally has to be in Greek or accompanied by a translation made by a sworn translator, and a document made abroad generally has to be legalised before it is translated. Whether a Cyprus will can be made in English is a question of the formal requirements for a valid will, and we will give you a direct answer for your circumstances.

Where should the will be kept?

Somewhere the executor will find it, and the original rather than a copy. Families abroad regularly lose a will that was made in Cyprus decades earlier, and an estate then proceeds on the basis that there was none. Tell your executor which firm holds it and in which country.

Written on these subjects

Making a Will in Cyprus: What You Can Actually Leave, and to Whom

Wills

Title Deeds in Cyprus: What the Register Records and How a Transfer Is Completed

Property

Buying Property in Cyprus as a UK National: What Changed After Brexit

Property

Next: administering an estate from abroad. Related practice area: Private Client, which covers wills, probate, trusts and cross-border estates generally.

Request a consultation

Tell us briefly how we may assist

A few sentences is enough: what you own in Cyprus, what you have already signed, and where you live. We reply within one business day. Please do not send confidential documents until we confirm we can act.

Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia. Telephone +357 22 680 330, office@kleanthousplatis.com, or klitos@kleanthousplatis.com.

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