As a rule, not entirely. Cyprus law keeps a portion of the estate for close family that no will can touch. What that means exactly, and what room it leaves.
In Cyprus, testamentary freedom is limited. The Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195, divides an estate into two parts: the statutory portion, reserved for close family, and the disposable part, which your will can direct wherever you wish.
The size of each depends on who survives you. The most common example is also the most restrictive: where the testator leaves a spouse and a child, the disposable part does not exceed one quarter of the estate. The remaining three quarters belong to the statutory portion, and no wording in a will moves them. The child you wish to disinherit takes their share from there, whether the will says so or not.
What happens to a will that ignores it
A will that leaves everything to one person, where a statutory portion exists, is not invalid. It simply does not achieve what it says: the statutory portion is restored, and the will operates on what remains.
That conflict does not even require an attack on the validity of the will, because the will could never dispose of what was not disposable. Planning therefore does not start from what you want to give. It starts from what is genuinely available, and then directs that, deliberately and cleanly.
The disinheritance the law provides itself
The law does recognise cases in which an heir loses their entitlement, but it keeps them for itself rather than handing them to the testator: they are defined circumstances, not a matter of the testator's displeasure. Disapproval, estrangement and a long silence are not among them.
Where the room actually is
Because the disposable part is what a will controls, the planning that works operates on the size and composition of the estate rather than on the wording of the gift. Lifetime arrangements, how assets are held, and where they are situated all bear on the question, and each carries consequences of its own that have to be weighed rather than assumed.
What does not work is a clause expressing an intention to exclude. It reads as a wish and operates as nothing.
What to send us
Who survives you or the deceased, what the estate consists of and where it is situated, any existing will, and any lifetime transfers already made. The composition of the family decides the arithmetic before anything else is discussed.
Questions we are asked
Can I disinherit my child in Cyprus?
As a rule, not entirely. Cap. 195 reserves a statutory portion for close family that the will cannot dispose of. The child takes their share from that portion whether the will mentions them or not.
How much can I actually leave freely?
It depends on who survives you. In the most common and most restrictive case, where the testator leaves a spouse and a child, the disposable part does not exceed one quarter of the estate.
Is a will that ignores the statutory portion invalid?
No. It is not invalid, it simply does not achieve what it says. The statutory portion is restored and the will operates on what remains, without any need to attack the validity of the document.
Does a clause explaining why I am excluding someone help?
No. The law recognises defined circumstances in which an heir loses an entitlement, and keeps them for itself rather than leaving them to the testator. A clause expressing an intention to exclude reads as a wish and operates as nothing.
Related reading
What a will can and cannot do is set out in making a will in Cyprus, and the two routes for challenging one in contesting a will. The arithmetic can be run in the forced heirship calculator.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and their application can change, and individual circumstances differ. For advice on your own matter, contact Klitos Platis at klitos@kleanthousplatis.com or telephone +357 22 680 330.
Klitos Platis
Advocate, Partner
Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Published 16 August 2026
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