Statutory Succession under Greek law

A. Inheritance Rights of Relatives

• First order (Art. 1813 ZGB): the deceased’s descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren). They generally receive the entire estate, provided there is no spouse/partner, who otherwise inherits ¼ alongside them. Within this order, the principle of representation by branch applies; children inherit in equal shares.
• Second order (Art. 1814 ZGB): the deceased’s parents, their siblings, and the children and grandchildren of predeceased siblings; the right to inherit ends at the fourth degree of the collateral line.
• Third order (Art. 1816 ZGB): the deceased’s grandparents and their children and grandchildren, likewise limited to the fourth degree of the collateral line.
• Fourth order (Art. 1817 ZGB): the deceased’s great-grandparents, who inherit in equal shares.

B. Inheritance Rights of the Spouse and Registered Partner

Since Law 4356/2015 (registered partnership) and Law 5089/2024 (marriage for all), registered partners and same-sex spouses have the same statutory inheritance rights as spouses in a traditional marriage.

• Share of the estate: under Art. 1820 ZGB, the surviving spouse/partner always inherits ¼ alongside relatives of the first order, and ½ of the estate alongside relatives of the second to fourth orders; in addition, the so-called “preferential share” (household effects and the like) is granted, which may be restricted if the children’s needs so require.
• Fifth order (Art. 1821 ZGB): if there are no relatives of Orders I-IV, the spouse/partner becomes sole heir.
• Exclusion (Art. 1822 ZGB): the right to inherit lapses if the marriage/partnership no longer existed at the time of death, or if the deceased had already validly filed for divorce or dissolution.
• Equalization of accrued gains (Art. 1400 ZGB): where the matrimonial property regime is governed by Greek law, a contractual claim to equalization of accrued gains exists; the law rebuttably presumes a contribution of ⅓ of the increase in assets.

C. Inheritance Rights of the State

If there are neither relatives of Orders I-IV nor a spouse or registered partner, the Greek state (Treasury) is called to inherit as sole heir under Art. 1824 ZGB.

D. Tax Aspects (as of 2026)

Heirs of the first order as well as spouses/partners fall into tax Category A. An allowance of €150,000 per heir applies; for the surviving spouse/partner (after at least five years of marriage/partnership or where there are joint children) and for minor children, the allowance increases to €400,000. Amounts exceeding this are taxed progressively at rates of 1% to 10%.