By G. Palaitsakis
An alarming increase, to the tune of 56.25 percent, has been recorded in the number of legal waivers of inheritances over the period 2013 to 2015, mostly issued to individuals wishing to avoid property taxes, related arrears and higher inheritance fees.
The figures were collected from justice of the peace-level courts in the country, under whose jurisdiction probate cases are adjudicated, and forwarded to Parliament.
By acquiring such a waiver, inheritors do not assume the debts and tax burdens that accompany whatever property they inherit. The development is also linked with the “burst bubble” in the country’s real estate sector, as prices in some regions continue to shrink.
Legal petitions for inheritors’ waivers increased dramatically in 2014, the year that the first property taxes were slapped on owners by the then Samaras coalition government.
Specifically, inheritance waivers totaled more than 45,000 in 2015; more than 29,000 in 2013 and roughly 41,000 in 2014. In the greater Athens area, the most populous region in Greece, waivers reached 9,566 in 2015 alone.
