Who inherits in Greece without a will, and the forced share

Short answer

Without a will, Greek law calls heirs in classes: first the descendants, with the surviving spouse taking one third alongside one child or one quarter alongside two or more children. Descendants, parents and the spouse who would inherit on intestacy cannot be fully cut out by a will: for deaths from 16 September 2026 they have a money claim for half the value of their intestate share (the forced share, νόμιμη μοίρα). Earlier deaths follow the previous rules: the forced share was also half of the intestate share, but it was a share in the estate itself, and the spouse took one quarter alongside any children.

The order of intestate heirs

The following order applies to deaths from 16 September 2026. A heir of an earlier class excludes all later classes.

First class: the descendants. Children take equal shares; a predeceased child's children take his place.
Second class: parents, brothers and sisters, and the children and grandchildren of siblings who died earlier. Parents and siblings take equal shares; half-siblings take half of what a full sibling receives when they share with parents or full siblings.
Spouse: one third of the estate alongside one child, one quarter alongside two or more children, and one half alongside the second class. If there are no relatives of the first or second class, the spouse inherits everything.
Fourth class: grandparents, and their children and grandchildren (aunts, uncles and cousins).
Fifth class: a person who lived with the deceased in a stable free union for the last three years, or for any period if they had children together, inherits if there is no spouse and no relative entitled to inherit, provided the court of the estate confirms this on an application filed within the renunciation periods.
Last: the Greek State.

Extra rights of the surviving spouse

Regardless of class, the spouse also takes the furniture, utensils, clothing and similar household items, and has exclusive use, free of charge, of the home that served as the couple's main residence for one year after the death. Instead of the share in ownership, the spouse may ask the court, within four months after the renunciation periods end, for a life usufruct over estate assets. A spouse loses these rights if divorce proceedings were pending at the death, under the conditions the Code sets.

The forced share

Descendants, parents and the surviving spouse who would have inherited on intestacy have a claim against the heirs for half the value of their intestate share. It is a claim for money; the court may, where circumstances require, award a share of the estate or an asset in kind instead.

For deaths from 16 September 2026, the value is calculated on the estate at death, after debts and funeral expenses. Added back are everything the deceased gave during his lifetime without consideration to a forced heir, by gift, parental grant or otherwise, and any gift made to anyone in the last five years, unless made for reasons of decency or a special moral duty. For earlier deaths the previous rules applied, with a ten-year look-back for gifts.

The claim is time-barred two years after the end of the year in which the forced heir learned of it, and in any case twenty years after the death. A testator may deprive a forced heir of it only on grounds listed in the Code, such as an attempt on the testator's life or a serious offence against him or his family.

Questions clients ask

Can a forced heir give up the forced share?

For deaths from 16 September 2026, yes: after the death, by a unilateral declaration to the heir. For such deaths from 16 September 2026, a future heir may also waive in advance by a contract made in person before a notary.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice; the answer in any real case depends on its facts and dates.

L+A advises families, business owners and heirs living abroad on inheritance and succession in Greece.

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