Rules governing the publication of wills under Greek law
From the moment the testator passes away, there is a need to obtain probate for any will he may have left behind. This is a public policy requirement and the reasons which require probate for the testator’s last will relate to the security of transactions and the fate of individual assets. Grant of probate for the will is in the public interest and for that reason any provision of the will which precludes the granting of probate is null and void.
Articles 1769, 1774 and 1775 of the Hellenic Civil Code establish a public law obligation for the holder of a will to hand it over to the authority competent to grant it probate once he learns about the death of the testator.
The obligation to hand over the will held to the authority competent to grant it probate lies in particular with a notary who holds a public or extraordinary will in his archives which was prepared by him, or a mystic or extraordinary will delivered to him by the testator (Article 1769 of the Hellenic Civil Code) and any person holding or having a holograph will (Articles 1774 and 1775 of the Hellenic Civil Code).
In order to grant probate to the will, in the case of a public will, once the notary public learns of the death of the testator, he shall send a copy thereof to the justice of the peace of the competent court within whose territory the estate is located, and in the case of a mystic will he shall hand over the will in person to the justice of the peace, who shall, having confirmed that the seals are intact, open it and grant it probate. In the case of a holograph will, the holder thereof shall present it for probate before the competent court of the peace.
In order to obtain probate for the will no application from a party is required and in particular no application from the holder of the will is required. The procedure is initiated ex officio in accordance with Articles 747(4) and 748(5).
The procedure for granting probate for the will entails entering the entire text in the transcript prepared which confirm the existence or non-existence of external defects in the will. It must then be dated and signed by the justice of the peace and kept on file by the court of the peace.
* The information is accurate to the best of our knowledge as at the time of writing. We have no obligation to update it. We accept no responsibility against any third party who is not a client of the firm and has not signed the terms of our engagement.