The Ministry of Justice announced the establishment of a comprehensive and modern legislative framework, which radically reforms the procedures and means of informing heirs.
According to an announcement by the Ministry of Justice, “the aim of the new regulation is full transparency, the reduction of bureaucracy and the protection of citizens from hidden debts”.
More specifically, the ministry’s announcement states:
“Until today, the search for the real financial situation of a deceased person constituted a time-consuming and labyrinthine process, which often entailed for heirs the risk of unintentionally accepting debts. With the new legal framework, digital tools and unified procedures will be established that will ensure the very rapid depiction of the financial situation.
To address these problems, the Ministry of Justice assigned to a working group, consisting of distinguished legal experts, judicial officers and service officials, under the chairmanship of the professor of the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Georgios Lekkas, the formulation of an appropriate legal framework so that citizens, through swift and effective procedures, may be informed of the assets and liabilities of the inheritance.
The main pillars of the new legislation will include:
1. Creation of a central digital inheritance platform: Certified heirs will obtain, with a single application, access to a single digital portal. The platform will gather data from the tax administration, banking institutions, insurance funds and mortgage registries/cadastral offices.
2. Comprehensive depiction of assets and liabilities: Interested parties will be able to receive information that will include:
- Assets: Real estate, bank accounts, investment products and corporate shares.
- Liabilities: Debts to the State (AADE, e-EFKA), loans and cards at financial institutions, as well as other certified debts to third parties.
3. Strict security and data protection protocols: The new procedures will be aligned with the strictest personal data protection standards (GDPR).
With this reform, the Ministry of Justice is taking yet another decisive step toward the digital transformation of the state, providing tangible support to the citizen, aiming to strengthen transparency, protect citizens’ rights and consolidate legal certainty in inheritance relations, adapting inheritance law to social demands by making use of modern technological capabilities”.