Guides · Updated 2026-08-12

Buying a property that was a gift: what the 2025 reform changed

'The house came to me as a gift from my parents.' For decades this sentence made Italian buyers and banks nervous, because heirs could in some cases reclaim the property itself — even from a later buyer. A reform in force since 18 December 2025 changed that substantially. Here is the current picture, and what still deserves attention.

The old rule, and why it scared everyone

Italian law reserves a share of every estate to close family members (the legittima). If a lifetime donation damaged those reserved shares, the harmed heirs could bring an azione di riduzione (artt. 555-564 c.c.) and, under the old art. 563 c.c., an azione di restituzione that could reach the property in the hands of a third-party buyer, up to twenty years from the donation's registration. That is why banks routinely refused mortgages on donated provenance.

What L. 182/2025 changed

The reform of artt. 561 and 563 c.c., in force since 18 December 2025, essentially abolished the restitution action against third parties who bought from the donee for valuable consideration. In today's framework, a harmed heir has a monetary claim against the donee — not a right to take the property back from you as buyer, unless a reduction claim was already registered before your purchase.

Two caveats worth a question at the notary: the new regime applies to successions opened from 18 December 2025, with transitional rules for earlier situations (so if the donor already died before that date, ask which regime applies to your case); and lending practice adapts more slowly than the law — some banks may still apply legacy caution on donated provenance while their internal rules catch up.

What this means for you in practice

Donated provenance has gone from 'serious title risk' to 'check the details': confirm with the notary that no reduction claim is registered against the property, that the timeline puts you under the new regime, and — if you need financing — ask your bank early how they treat donated provenance today. It is a financing and diligence question, no longer a threat to your ownership.

Property from a recent inheritance deserves its own check for a different reason: make sure every heir has consented to the sale and the succession was properly filed.

How to spot it in your documents

The provenance is declared in the preliminary contract and visible in the atto di provenienza and the visura ipotecaria. Our analysis flags donation and inheritance provenance automatically and explains the position under the current rules — we update the engine's legal checklist when the law moves, as it just did.

Have the document in hand? Don't guess.

Upload your compromesso, proposta or visura and get a plain-English report — clause by clause, with the risks ranked — in about a minute.

Analyze my document — from $39

Or see a sample report first.

Related guides

This guide is general information about Italian law and practice, written by CompromessoCheck. It is not legal advice. Laws change and cases differ: verify your specific situation with a notary or an independent lawyer.