By judgment no. 1312/2026 of 3 April 2026, the Court of Lecce, sitting as a single judge, granted the claim brought by a financial company, assisted by Cassinelli Studio Legale, declaring the surviving spouse of the deceased debtor an unconditional heir, with the consequent full exposure of her estate to the creditor’s recovery actions.
The matter originated from a payment order obtained against an individual who subsequently died. The creditor brought proceedings to obtain a declaration of tacit acceptance of the inheritance by the surviving spouse, who had been in possession of the inherited assets since the opening of the succession.
The opposing party resisted by invoking the rights of habitation and use under Article 540, paragraph 2, of the Italian Civil Code, qualifying them as a legacy ex lege incapable of constituting the possession relevant under Article 485 of the Italian Civil Code, and producing a formal renunciation of the inheritance made in subsequent proceedings under Article 481 of the Italian Civil Code.
The Court adopted the well-established orientation of the Joint Sections (Cass. SS.UU. no. 4847/2013), followed also by Cass. no. 1588/2016, according to which the rights of habitation and use vest in the surviving spouse also in cases of intestate succession, on a constitutive and not a derivative basis, with the consequence that mere continued residence in the family home does not, in itself, constitute possession of the inherited assets relevant under Article 485 of the Italian Civil Code.
Decisive, however, proved a further point: the surviving spouse, in addition to having initiated the inventory procedure before the notary, had submitted a formal application for an extension of the time limit under Article 487 of the Italian Civil Code, thereby unequivocally manifesting the will to accept under benefit of inventory. The Court accordingly applied strictly the provisions of Article 487, paragraph 2, of the Italian Civil Code, pursuant to which the person called to the inheritance who, having made the declaration of acceptance under benefit of inventory, fails to complete the inventory within the prescribed time limit is deemed an unconditional heir. The renunciation subsequently formalised, occurring well after the lapse of the time limit, was therefore declared legally ineffective, in line with the principles set out in Cass. no. 7076/1995 and Cass. no. 6275/2017.
The judgment confirms the central importance of strict scrutiny of procedural time limits in succession matters and the effectiveness of incidental ascertainment proceedings in protecting the creditor’s interests.
The applicant party was assisted by Nicola Cassinelli and Giorgia Angilletta.