Italian inheritance law is based on the Roman Law tradition, and it aims at protecting close members of the family, partially limiting the right of the testator to dispose of his/her own assets. The succession can take place according to the "Testamentary provisions" (transfer of hereditary assets in compliance with the decisions of the testator, as set out in an Italian Will) or the "Legal Succession" (provisions set out in the Italian Civil Code). The principles of testamentary and legal succession cross the principle of “necessary succession”.

It is generally suggested that foreign citizens who own Italian assets draft an Italian Will and Probate. This will avoid significant difficulties that heirs might encounter when transferring the ownership of Italian properties originally registered in the name of the testator.

The Italian Law no.218 (31st May 1995) regulates the field of inheritance law in the framework of international private law. The succession regulations are set out according to the national law of the deceased at the moment of his/her death. According to this principle, if the hereditary asset includes properties located in different states, the succession of each single property can be regulated by the law of the country where the property is located.

According to Italian law, inheritance can be transmitted in 2 ways: 1) According to the law: in absence of a Will, the properties are transmitted according to the principles set out by the Italian Civil Code. 2) According to a Will: the typical legal document drafted by a person in order to dispose of his/her assets after death. Any Will must be published by an Italian Notary Public, and registered with the competent Italian authorities. In case of a non Italian Will, this should primary be the object of a sworn translation in front of an Italian Court

In Marvin v. Marvin (1976) 18 Cal.3d 660, where a woman claimed she lived with a man for 6 years and assisted him in consideration of his verbal promise to share all earnings, the California Supreme Court held that such an agreement is enforceable. In this case, McMackin v. Ehrheart, the California appellate court held that "a decedent?s promise to leave her cohabitant a life estate in real property is governed by the one-year statute of limitations of Code of Civil Procedure section 366.3."

Cleveland, OH (Law Firm Newswire) March 22, 2011 Not getting a patient’s diagnosis right may result in long-term medical issues or death. Failure to diagnose is more common than many may think

A concise outline of income, estate, gift and generation skipping transfer tax rules for non-residents.

This concise article explains some of the technical details of how a disclaimer trust works and of how it creates flexibility for a surviving spouse.

Concise article on why people should review their existing estate planning documents in light of changes in federal estate tax law.

A concise discussion of issued presented by HIPPA legislation which can be resolved by updating a durable power of attorney for health care.