Giving up residency in Italy

Is it possible, and how do you go about giving up Italian residency ?  We are considering this in the light of the new rules of Italian succession which are due to come into force in August of this year.  We want my husband (a UK citizen) dealt with under UK law and not Italian law - at the moment he is an Italian resident. Any advice much appreciated.....

You should look at Charlotte's posts. Just because he is an Italian resident doesn't mean Italian inheritance rules apply. He can choose.

As Penny says, this has been dealt with a few times before. Charlotte covers all eventualities on her posts re this, basically I think you can still specify the Country whose Succession Law is enforced in ones will.
Also if one remains resident in a Country I would have thought it difficult to renege on ones Residency Status.

Yes Penny, I have looked at Charlottes posts but still find it all very confusing, if I and OH state in our English wills we want the law in UK to be applied that is enough.?.Charlotte has kindly replied to a PM I sent her....just wished my circumstances were more straightforward and not so complicated.

You need to make a holographic will in Italy which refers to UK law, as a British citizen you can do this.  THat will refer the Italian succession back to your Uk will.

Thank you Modicasa.  We both have made holographic wills as we were advised to.  Apart from you, nobody else has mentioned the holographic will, i wonder why ?  Thanks again.

Angela Fuller wrote:Thank you Modicasa.  We both have made holographic wills as we were advised to.  Apart from you, nobody else has mentioned the holographic will, i wonder why ?  Thanks again.

Likely because Modi has more knowledge of Italian matters in this and other areas. The fact the Italians hold such sway with a written Will (as is my understanding of " holographic") is not something I've come across, however if you search "holographic will" there is information on it showing it to be a common term. This was the same for me as "codici" when used by Gala, I wrongly assumed it was purely to do with Italy, but again searching, and indeed on the UK Government site on Wills it is common.
I think a lot of the confusion here is due to the terms used in the information you are looking at. Certainly when it comes to the term "residence" and/or "domicile" , "citizen", nationality etc. Then you need ensure you know which is being discussed. It does not help when this is further confused even all the more with the use of terms like "tax resident"!.
I totally agree with the others that simply being "resident" does not play a major part regards you Will (written or otherwise). I don't know if it carries more weight having a written Will in Italian and a UK will with the same wording regards your wish to have UK law apply. I would have thought simply having this wording in your UK will would be enough. The need to have this translated as I see it is simply to avoid any problems/delays should/when this unfortunate event happens. In our case should one of us die, at the moment either would be prepared to take on getting the Will translated, to be honest it would be the least of our concerns. If we could be bothered I'm sure we would in fact get our Wills translated now to save the hassle. I'm sure there are a lot of people don't even have a Will, so at least you are ahead in that respect! Saying all that, perhaps those without a Will and not worrying about such things will live a great deal longer in doing so!!!

Angela there is no need to give up residency! In any case, the test of the new regulation is if you are "habitually resident" which is not always the same as having a piece of paper from the Comune. If it is possible your husband will die habitually resident in Italy, then it is recommended that your will or a codicil to it states he wishes English law to be applied to his succession. The main advantage of this is that his wishes in his will should be upheld (because in English kaw we have the right of freedom of disposition) and avoids the fixed heirship rules in Italian law coming into play.

The form your will takes is another matter. As long as the form of your will is valid in the country of your nationality or the place of residence, it will be valid for your future succession. This means a British national in Italy could choose to make a holographic will (a handwritten will) a standard English will signed in front of two witnesses or a public will signed in front of  Notary. If there are assets in more than one country it can be advisable to have a separate will kept in each country, but this is not essential.