Selling property “non in regola”
In preparing to sell the ownership rights of Italian real estate property the seller must carry out a thorough initial examination of the layout and planning and building permits. This is strongly recommended at the earliest possible stage, even before a mandate is given to an Estate Agent to market the property, or before negotiations begin with a prospective new owner, and without doubt before the signing of a preliminary contract. This advice applies equally to owners intending to gift the property to family members. The property owner...
read morePost-Brexit residence questions
The promise made by the UK government to British citizens resident in the EU, that their residence rights would be protected post-Brexit is still a work in progress. A recent review by the British Embassy revealed that only one-third of British citizens resident in Italy has applied for the electronic “carta di soggiorno” from the Questura. This document is optional and not mandatory, however it is strongly recommended. Due to widespread misunderstanding by the Italian authorities about our new unique status as third country...
read moreOur new office
On 1st December we moved into new offices near the Rome civil courts in the Prati area, near St Peter’s Basilica, and the Vatican. The office is easily accessible from the Metro A station Ottaviano. OUR NEW ADDRESS: Studio Legale, Via delle Milizie 96, Interno 11, 00192 Rome. Tel: 06 69 40 4910. The legal team at our new office: Avvocato Charlotte Oliver, Solicitor (England and Wales) – Private client, family law, real estate Avvocato stabilito Aleksandra Broom, Solicitor (England and Wales) – UK immigration...
read moreWho is the new Italian Justice Minister?
With ever-increasing backlogs in the Italian courts, and the length of court proceedings, in particular in civil litigation, rendering it virtually impossible for creditors to recoup lost investments in Italy, we take a brief look at the head of the new government’s Ministry of Justice. These are early days and we have yet to see whether a real improvement in the legal system could be on the cards. The new Minster of Justice in the Fratelli d’Italia – Lega – Forza Italia coalition government is 75 year old...
read moreNEW VISA FOR REMOTE WORKING AND DIGITAL NOMADS
Living and working in Italy is a dream for many, but has always been challenging for non-EU nationals to obtain a work permit or a self-employment visa. The “elective residence” visa offers an alternative means to live in Italy, but is only available to those who can show the availabilty of accommodation in Italy and who have substantial sources of wealth or income (from sources other than from employment) which will enable them to comfortably support themselves. The Italian government recently passed new legislation (Legge n. 55...
read moreRight to vote for British citizens abroad
The right to vote, for all British citizens resident outside the UK, has finally been restored this year by the Elections Act 2022. The vote for overseas electors had been restricted in 2002 to include only British citizens resident outside the UK for less than 15 years. After that cut off point, British citizens living abroad were no longer eligible to participate in UK general elections, irrespective of whether they still had close ties with the UK. The new rules Section 14 of the Elections Act 2022 allows “overseas voters” to...
read moreLocal courts take over Italian citizenship applications
Applications for Italian citizenship, made by non-Italian residents, on the grounds of descent (ius sanguinis) pre-1948 from a female relative, will no longer be decided by the Civil Court of Rome. As of 22nd June 2022, applications need to be lodged in the civil court of the Comune where the last Italian ancestor was born, as of 22nd June 2022. (See Law of 26 November 2021, n. 206) Article 1, paragraph 37 of Law n. 206 states the following: ‘When the plaintiff resides abroad, disputes regarding the ascertainment of the status of Italian...
read moreItalian inheritance tax
Italian residents may face a higher tax burden on their lifetime income, but their family is taxed very lightly on death compared to most other European countries. Different rates of Italian inheritance tax are applied depending on the family relationship the heir to each asset had to the deceased. Any legacy or gift passing to “direct-line” family members (parent, spouse or children or grandchildren) is exempt from Italian inheritance tax up to the threshold of 1 million Euro per heir. If the family member has a serious disability...
read moreSelling gifted or inherited property
When the ownership of an Italian property has passed by way of an inheritance (eredità), or has been transferred between generations by a gift (donazione), this may create an obstacle to the future sale, in particular if less than 20 years has passed from the inheritance or gift. A seller may find there is increased scrutiny of the property history by the buyer, the Notary or by a bank considering a mortgage application by the buyer. Selling inherited property In the case of inherited property, there may be concerns that other heirs may...
read moreTHE SPID CHALLENGE
The SPID (sistema pubblica di identità digitale) is a set of secure credentials issued to an individual who has been formally identified. Being asked to provide a SPID is becoming as common as having to show an ID card or codice fiscale in Italy. The SPID is not obligatory, but since October 2021 is essential in order to access government departments and the offices of the public administration (PA) online, for example the Agenzia dell’Entrate, INPS, IO and the Servizi Sanitari (although as an alternative the CNS or CIE can also be...
read moreAffidavits, Statutory Declarations and Certified Copies
The list of English Solicitors in Italy on the GOV.UK website has been recently updated. When selecting what area of law that you require assistance in, ‘affidavits, statutory declarations and certified copies’ are no longer an option. We have contacted the British Embassy in Rome advising them of this omission on the GOV.UK website. We have therefore received a number of enquiries from clients as to whether we still offer this service. We can confirm that we can draw up and witness these documents, where they need to be provided to a UK...
read moreINCAPACITY AND ITALIAN LAW
This firm assists the families of elderly relatives who live in Italy, often where the elderly person has worked for many years and retired here, but now live alone. The elderly person may have close relatives who live abroad and cannot provide day-to-day assistance. In some cases they may be estranged from those relatives or even have no next of kin alive. We can assist the family to put measures in place, such as a power of attorney or court order, to ensure their relative continues to be well-cared for, and can access funds to finance their...
read moreResidenza elettiva
Il permesso di soggiorno per residenza elettiva consente l’ingresso in Italia, ai fini del soggiorno, allo straniero che intenda stabilirsi nel nostro Paese e che dimostri di possedere risorse sufficienti a mantenersi autonomamente senza esercitare alcuna attività lavorativa Requisiti per la domanda di permesso per residenza elettiva: disponibilità di un’abitazione da eleggere a residenza (proprietà immobiliare o contratto di locazione di oltre 12 mesi) possesso di ampie risorse economiche autonome, stabili e regolari, di cui si...
read moreCarta di soggiorno for British citizens in Italy
Since January 2021 a residence permit in a plastic card format (“carta di soggiorno“) has been available to British nationals and their family members who were resident in Italy pre-Brexit, ie on or before 31st December 2020. By “resident in Italy” we mean that a person’s name and address is registered with the Anagrafe office of the Comune in which they live. Read our previous article here The carta di soggiorno, which is issued by the local police headquarters (“Questura”) was specifically designed...
read moreEU Settlement Scheme – Deadline for submission: 30th June 2021
The UK has left the EU and as of January 2021, the immigration rules to enter and remain in the UK have been changing. It is crucial now for EU citizens to secure their pre-settled or settled status in order for them to be able to continue working and residing in the UK without the requirement of a visa to do so. The following groups of people who are currently in the UK or arrived in the UK by 31st December 2020 can apply under the EU Settlement Scheme: EU citizens Citizens of Norway, Lichtenstein, Iceland (non-EU EEA citizens) Swiss...
read moreWhere to start family proceedings post-Brexit
Up to the end of December 2020 the jurisdiction rules for cross-border family cases in the UE had been clear and predictable in 28 member States, for almost two decades. The term jurisdiction refers to the ability of the courts in a particular country to deal with a legal issue. The EU Regulation of 2003 known as “Brussels IIa” set out a list of possible alternative forums for a claim of separation or divorce, or cases involving custody of children, where there is an international or “cross-border” element, for...
read moreNew Residence Document (carta di soggiorno) for British Citizens
We have had a number of enquiries from our clients in relation to the new residence document (carta di soggiorno) that is now available for those British Citizens who were legally resident or who had commenced the process of registering their residence in Italy before the end of the transition period i.e. 31st December 2020. This is not an obligatory document, but we believe it will be very useful to have it when travelling in and out of Italy. British citizens who do not apply for a carta di soggiorno can equally use the...
read moreUK Immigration Bill
On 11th November 2020, the UK government’s Immigration and Social Security Co-Ordination (EU Withdrawal Bill) more commonly referred to as the ‘Immigration Bill’ received Royal Assent turning the bill into an official act of parliament. This bill does what Priti Patel was boasting about all year, i.e. that it officially ends the free movement of people between the EU and the UK and will be effective as of the end of 2020. Background to Free Movement: Free movement is a fundamental element of the EU ensuring that citizens are able to...
read moreDecreto Flussi 2020
The following article is written in both an Italian and English language version. Decreto flussi 2020, pubblicato in Gazzetta ufficiale (G.U. Serie generale, n.252, del 12 ottobre 2020) Dalle ore 9 del 13 ottore 2020, è disponibile l’applicativo per la precompilazione dei moduli di domanda per i premessi di soggiorno in Italia. C’è quindi la possibilità di fare entrare in maniera regolare per attività lavorativa tutti gli stranieri che abbiano a che fare con l’attività dell’autotrasporto merci, dell’edilizia e...
read moreReduction of decision time for Italian citizenship applications
Following the Decreto Legge dated 21st October 2020 n.130. the period for the Ministero dell’Interno to make a decision on citizenship applications has been reduced from 4 years to 3 years from the point of submission of the application. This new law amends Decreto Legge dated 4th October 2018 n.113 that extended the decision time from 2 years to 4 years. Please be advised that this is not retrospective for applications already...
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