POMIDA calls for retroactive revocation of inheritance renunciations

According to an announcement by the Hellenic Property Federation (POMIDA), the initiative follows the reform of inheritance law, which provides for the separation of inherited assets from the heir’s personal assets. Under the government’s presentation of the reform, debts of the estate are borne by the estate itself rather than by the heir’s personal assets.

Property owners have welcomed the initiative while stressing the need for an effective mechanism to identify debts at an early stage, allowing heirs to understand the estate’s actual financial position before deciding whether to accept the inheritance.

A Single Digital Overview of Assets and Debts

According to the Ministry of Justice, the new framework will address one of the main shortcomings of the current process: the time-consuming and fragmented search for the deceased’s financial position.

To this end, the government plans to establish a Central Digital Inheritance Platform, through which certified heirs will be able to obtain consolidated information with a single application. The platform will draw data from the tax administration, banks, social security funds, and mortgage registries or land registry offices.

The aim is to provide a comprehensive picture of an estate’s assets and liabilities, reducing the need for multiple procedures and the risk that outstanding obligations remain undiscovered.

What the Platform Will Include

The new digital infrastructure is expected to record both the assets and liabilities of an estate.

Assets will include, among other things:

• real estate;
• bank accounts;
• investment products; and
• corporate interests.

Liabilities will include:

• debts owed to the state, including the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) and e-EFKA;
• loans and credit card debts held with financial institutions; and
• other certified debts owed to third parties.

The Ministry of Justice also plans to introduce strict security and personal-data protection protocols, with all procedures required to comply with GDPR requirements.

POMIDA Calls for a Window to Revoke Previous Renunciations

POMIDA argues that the new legislation should be accompanied by a special transitional provision for people who renounced inheritances during the economic crisis.

Specifically, it is calling for a six-month window allowing the retroactive revocation of inheritance renunciations covering the period from January 1, 2010, to September 15, 2026.

According to POMIDA, the proposal primarily concerns cases in which heirs renounced inheritances because they feared unknown or undisclosed debts and could now, under the new framework, reconsider accepting them.

The organization is also calling for a corresponding period for the recording and revival of debts, including debts that have become time-barred, subject to specific conditions it proposes, as well as exemption from interest charges for the period from the renunciation to the present.

Real Estate at the Centre of the Issue

POMIDA’s proposal is also directly linked to the real estate market. It argues that uncertainty surrounding an estate’s liabilities has resulted in properties remaining closed and unused, or being occupied without the inheritance process and related tax formalities having been completed.

The organization maintains that a transitional provision could allow heirs—particularly in cases involving properties serving as primary residences—to reconsider their decision under the new legal framework.

In POMIDA’s view, such a development could also bring homes that are currently vacant or underutilized back into the housing market.

Changes to Liability for Inherited Debts

The key change presented under the new inheritance law concerns the separation of inherited assets from the heir’s personal property.

The government has presented the reform as a measure aimed at reducing heirs’ uncertainty over the deceased’s debts: where debts exist, they are settled from the estate and do not affect the heir’s personal assets.

It is precisely at this point that POMIDA considers a mechanism allowing potential heirs to establish the estate’s actual financial position at an early stage to be essential.

Without a complete picture of both assets and liabilities, the organization argues, the new protection may not be used effectively in practice.

Working Group Led by Georgios Lekkas

To prepare the new framework, the Ministry of Justice has assigned a working group comprising legal experts, judicial officials and ministry staff to develop the necessary regulatory provisions.

The group is chaired by Georgios Lekkas, Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Law School. Its mandate is to develop the appropriate legal framework enabling citizens to obtain effective information on the assets and liabilities of an estate.

The Ministry’s objective is to create a system that consolidates in one place information that is currently distributed across different services and institutions.

From Renunciation to Asset Utilization

The new procedure has broader implications for the real estate market, as inheritance is a key stage in the legal utilization and transfer of property.

Some inheritance-related procedures have already moved into the digital environment. For example, the unified inheritance certificate is available electronically through gov.gr and solon.gov.gr for courts that have been integrated into the relevant information system, with a gradual rollout to all courts.

The proposed Central Digital Inheritance Platform aims to go a step further by linking information on assets with a comprehensive picture of outstanding debts.

The intended outcome is a more predictable environment for heirs, less bureaucracy and greater legal certainty. For POMIDA, the next critical step is to address the issue of previous inheritance renunciations, so that the new inheritance law can also affect assets that have remained outside economic use for years.