Cross-border succession and the splitting of the estate masses

The Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione), Second Civil Section, by judgment No. 30132 of 14 November 2025, once again ruled on the subject of cross-border successions. The Supreme Court holds that, where the national law of the deceased identified pursuant to Article 46 of Law No. 218/1995 subjects movable property to the law of the domicile of the de cuius and immovable property to Italian law, by virtue of the remission (rinvio indietro) provided for by Article 13, paragraph 1, letter b), of the same law, the result is the opening of two separate successions and the formation of two independent estates, each governed by different rules.

The Court further clarifies that such splitting is also relevant with respect to inheritance debts, ruling out that liabilities not immediately connected to the management or use of the immovable property may affect the determination of the value of the immovable estate.

The Factual Background

The matter arises from the succession of a British citizen who died on 19 December 1999 and who had entered into marriage on 25 October of the same year. The de cuius, of English nationality but with immovable property located in Italy, had drawn up a will on 29 October 1997.

The proceedings before the Italian Courts

The surviving spouse brought proceedings against the deceased's children, seeking recognition of her status as heir and the attribution of the corresponding succession rights, invoking the application of English law to the succession pursuant to Law No. 218/1995 and, in particular, the revocation by operation of law of the will as a result of the subsequent marriage, pursuant to the Wills Act 1837.

The Court of Milan, by judgment of 2009, declared English succession law applicable and the will revoked, recognising the spouse's right to one-third of the immovable property located in Italy – by virtue of Article 581 of the Italian Civil Code, applicable through the remission – as well as to all the personal movable property of the de cuius.

The Court of Appeal substantially upheld the first-instance decision, but the Supreme Court, seized of the matter, referred the case to the Joint Sections, finding several questions of principle of particular importance.

The joint sections and the principle of separate estates

By judgment No. 2867/2021, the Joint Sections set out the fundamental principle of the splitting: as a consequence of the reference by Italian private international law to English private international law and the related remission, two separate estates are formed – a movable estate, governed by English law (the law of the deceased's domicile), and an immovable estate, governed by Italian law – each subject to its own rules governing the calling to succession (vocazione), the vesting and devolution of the inheritance (delazione), the identification of the heirs, the determination of the shares, and the protection of forced heirs (legittimari), without this entailing any conflict with international public policy.

On remittal, the Court of Appeal of Milan ascertained the validity of the will as regards the immovable property, granted the surviving spouse's claim for abatement (azione di riduzione), recognising to her the reserved quota of one-quarter of the immovable estate, and proceeded to dissolve the co-ownership (comunione) with attribution of the monetary equivalent.

As to the inheritance debts, the court of remittal held that only liabilities strictly connected to the immovable-property complex could burden the immovable estate, excluding the impact of debts of a different nature, to be governed by the rules of the movable succession under English law.

The question before the Supreme Court

From a legal standpoint, the central issue submitted to the Supreme Court concerns the criterion for the allocation of inheritance debts in the context of a cross-border succession characterised by the splitting of the estates.

The appellants argued that the entire amount of the inheritance liabilities – quantified at €694,216.38 – should burden the immovable estate, affecting the calculation of the spouse's reserved share and the equalisation payment, invoking to that end the principle of general patrimonial guarantee under Article 2740 of the Italian Civil Code and the rule of pro rata apportionment of debts under Article 752 of the Italian Civil Code.

The allocation of inheritance debts

The Supreme Court rejects that contention, confirming the correctness of the solution adopted by the court of remittal. The Supreme Court observes that the principle of the autonomy of the two estates left by the deceased (masse relitte), set out by the Joint Sections in judgment No. 2867/2021, requires the two successions to be considered separately, also with regard to the inheritance burdens.

It follows that a distinction must be drawn between debts immediately connected to the management and use of the immovable property – the only ones capable of affecting the determination of the value of the immovable estate – and debts of a different origin, the regulation of which falls to English law, through the peculiar mechanism of the administrator.

The role of the administrator under english law

The Court also clarifies that Anglo-Saxon law does not contemplate the figure of the heir as a person who takes the place of the deceased and is directly liable for the inheritance debts.

In intestate succession (successione ab intestato) under English law, the administrator first pays the debts and then distributes the residue, so that the individual beneficiaries receive assets already cleared of the liabilities.

Such mechanism, the Court notes, derogates from the rule of pro rata apportionment of debts under Article 752 of the Italian Civil Code and from the general patrimonial guarantee under Article 2740 of the Italian Civil Code, provisions which may operate exclusively within the estate subject to Italian law, that is, the immovable estate.

Therefore, the movable succession governed by English law follows its own independent rules as regards the extinguishment of liabilities, without it being possible to invoke the provisions of the Italian Civil Code.

Implications of the judgment

The judgment under review consolidates and develops the principles set out by the Joint Sections in judgment No. 2867/2021 on the subject of the splitting of the estate masses in cross-border successions.

It firmly reaffirms that the splitting, determined by the mechanism of the remission in the private international law system, operates not only at the level of devolution, but necessarily extends to the treatment of liabilities, imposing a criterion of strict inherence of the debts to each estate: only debts immediately connected to the management and use of the immovable property may burden the immovable estate, while all other debts remain extraneous to that estate and are governed by the law applicable to the movable succession.