Wills and Succession

Any individual residing in Cyprus could normally distribute his/her assets by a way of preparing a Will following the regulations of Cyprus Wills and Succession Law (Cap. 195). To be noted that until 2015, article 42 of Cap. 195 gave the right to British and Commonwealth citizens, as well as to other expatriates, to dispose of their movable and immovable property the way they wish.

Article 42 has been removed from Cap. 195, therefore British and Commonwealth citizens, as well as other expats domiciled in Cyprus, are not exempted from the forced heirship regime. Therefore, they have no absolute freedom to dispose their property However, non-Cypriot citizens that have assets in Cyprus could not fall under this change as the EU Regulation No. 650/2012 (Brussels IV) allows expats to choose the law of the country of their nationality. The individual should declare this in their last Will otherwise Cyprus legislation applies.

According to capital of Belgium IV, expats, as well as non-EU citizens that have assets in any EU member-state (excluding United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark) are considered allowed to select either the law of their nationality country or the law of their residence country.
The selection of applicable law should be clearly expressed during a Will, otherwise the law of the country of residence can apply to the disposal of movable and immovable property.

The Brussels IV doesn’t apply to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark which implies that these countries can still apply their national law to international successions.

However, UK, Irish and Danish citizens owning property in different EU countries could select either the law of their nationality country or the law of their residence country.

Should you have any queries feel free to contact us to go through in more depth.