Today a home received as a gift can be sold and given as security to the bank like any other home. Law No. 182 of 2025 changed the rules: whoever buys from the donee no longer risks having to return the property to the donor’s heirs. An heir who feels their share has been infringed can only request a sum of money from whoever received the gift.
In 30 seconds
- The law has been in force since December 18, 2025.
- Whoever buys a gifted home is protected: the donor’s heirs can no longer ask for it back.
- The bank’s mortgage remains valid: the mortgage loan is no longer a problem.
- The injured heir is entitled to compensation in money, paid by whoever received the gift.
- For successions opened before December 18, 2025 the deadline to defend yourself under the old rules expired on June 18, 2026.
Legal references
The earlier problem
When a person who made a gift dies, the spouse and children are entitled to a minimum part of their estate: this is the reserved share (quota di legittima). If the gift had taken this share away from them, they could ask the court to reduce it.
Under the old rules, if the donee had no other assets, the injured heir could claim the property even from whoever had bought it. The risk lasted twenty years from the registration of the gift, and the heir could extend it with a notice of opposition. For this reason many buyers gave up the purchase and many banks refused the mortgage loan.
Today’s rules
Article 44 of Law No. 182 of 2025 rewrote articles 561, 562 and 563 of the Civil Code. In summary:
- reduction of the gift does not prejudice third parties to whom the donee has sold the property;
- the mortgages and other encumbrances placed by the donee remain valid;
- the donee must pay in money to the injured heirs what is needed to complete their share;
- if the donee cannot pay, whoever received the asset from them without giving anything in exchange pays, within the limits of the benefit obtained.
One exception remains. If the application for reduction is already registered in the property registers when the buyer purchases, the buyer is not protected (art. 563 c.c., which refers to art. 2652, no. 1). For this reason the notary always checks the registers before the deed.
The twenty-year period and the notice of opposition are no longer in the new article 563.
Do you need to sell or buy a gifted home? You can send us the documents for a check.
Request a consultationThe buyer and the bank: what to check
Whoever buys a gifted home today is in the same position as whoever buys any other home. The notary’s normal checks are enough, with one extra point of attention:
- check that no application for reduction against the donee is registered in the property registers;
- if the donor died before December 18, 2025, check that no application for reduction or notice of opposition was registered by June 18, 2026;
- check that the gift was made by public deed before the notary and two witnesses (art. 782 c.c.).
If these checks are clear, the bank can register the mortgage without fearing that a future lawsuit between heirs will cancel it.
Whoever received the gift
The donee can sell or mortgage. The reform, however, does not cancel the other heirs’ rights: it turns them into a claim in money.
On the donor’s death, if the gift has infringed the share of a sibling or of the spouse, the donee will have to pay the difference. It is therefore advisable to know beforehand how much one’s exposure is worth, above all if one sells and spends the proceeds.
The injured heir: what is left
The reserved share still exists and so does the action for reduction. The result changes: the injured heir does not take the home back from whoever bought it, but obtains a payment from the donee.
If the donee has neither money nor assets, the heir can turn to whoever received the asset free of charge from the donee, within the limits of the benefit obtained. Whoever bought by paying the price remains protected.
Successions opened before December 18, 2025
What matters is the date of the donor’s death, not the date of the gift.
- Donor who died after December 18, 2025, or still living: the new rules apply.
- Donor who died before December 18, 2025: the old rules applied only if the application for reduction or a notice of opposition was served and registered by June 18, 2026. Otherwise, from that date, the new rules apply here too.
In practice, today the old rules concern only cases with a registration made in time. A check in the property registers clarifies the situation at once.
Frequent case · A problem that often arises
A father gave his child an apartment in 2015. The father is still alive. The child wants to sell it to buy a bigger home, but the first buyer had pulled out because their bank would not grant the mortgage loan.
Under the new rules the picture changes. The father is alive, so on his death the new law will apply. The buyer is protected and the bank can register the mortgage. The child must know that, if the gift takes away their siblings’ share, they will have to pay them the difference in money.
Frequent case described in general terms: names, places and details do not refer to real persons or files.
The best solution for you
The possible routes
- If you have to sell a gifted home: you can do so. First calculate how much you might have to pay to the other heirs.
- If you buy or finance: ask the notary to check the registers for an application for reduction and, for donors who died before December 18, 2025, for opposition.
- If you are an injured heir: you can ask the donee for compensation in money. If they have no assets, consider whoever received the asset free of charge from them.
- If you still have to give: assess with a lawyer the balance between the children, to avoid future disputes.
Which one usually makes sense and why
It usually makes sense to clarify accounts between siblings before the sale, even with a written agreement. That way the seller knows how much to set aside and the buyer has no doubts.
What to do right away
- Retrieve the deed of gift.
- Check whether the donor is alive or the date of death.
- Have the registrations in the property registers checked.
No route guarantees an outcome: every situation must be assessed on the documents.
How Avv. Fiorentino can assist you
- Before the sale we estimate how much the donee might have to pay to the other heirs.
- We check the useful registrations with the notary chosen by the client.
- We prepare the agreement between siblings, when needed, to settle accounts in advance.
The Firm assists clients remotely as well, with documents sent online, and delivers a written quote before the engagement. Clients are seen by appointment in Naples, Rome and Bari.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy without risk a home that the seller received as a gift?
Yes, under the new rules the buyer does not have to return the home to the donor’s heirs. The notary only has to check that no application for reduction is registered and, if the donor died before December 18, 2025, that no notice of opposition was registered in time.
Can the bank refuse the mortgage loan because the home comes from a gift?
The law now says that the mortgage placed on the gifted home remains valid even if the heirs request reduction. The reason why many banks refused the mortgage loan has therefore ceased. Each bank nevertheless assesses the client and the home under its own rules.
Is it still necessary to wait twenty years from the gift?
No. The new article 563 of the Civil Code no longer provides for the twenty-year period. All that matters is whether there are registrations in the property registers.
My brother received the home and sold it: what can I do?
If the gift infringed your reserved share, you can ask your brother for compensation in money. You cannot claim the home from whoever bought it by paying the price.
Is the notice of opposition to the gift still needed?
For successions opened after December 18, 2025 no: the new article 563 does not provide for it. It mattered only for donors who died before that date, if served and registered by June 18, 2026.
Related guides
Read also
- Succession without a will: how the inheritance is divided among spouse, children, parents and siblings
- Division of an inheritance: what to do if the heirs disagree or the property cannot be divided
- Inherited home occupied by a single heir: must compensation be paid to the others?
- Gift to children with usufruct in Piano di Sorrento: what happens next
- Holographic will: validity requirements and publication
- Joint bank account: what happens on the death of an account holder
- Inheritance tax return: deadlines, exemptions and taxes
- Division of an inheritance: the complete guide
Main page for this subject: Inheritance and gifts in Naples: all the guides and how to contact the Firm →
Official sources
Informational content updated on October 18, 2026. It does not constitute legal advice. To prepare this text the Firm also uses artificial intelligence tools; rules and dates are checked against the official sources indicated.
(Read also): Legal guides from Studio Legale Fiorentino · Buying a gifted home: what changes with Law 182/2025 and the checks to make · Giving the home to your children to protect it: the risks you need to know
Translated from the Italian original; updated on October 18, 2026.
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