Making a will in Cyprus
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A will or testament is a legal document that includes a person's wishes regarding the division of their assets after their death. This process is governed by the Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195.
Wills in Cyprus follow the rules set out in Cap. 195. This page explains who can make a will, the formal requirements for a valid one, how much it costs, and how a will can be changed or revoked.
Anyone who owns assets in Cyprus, including any movable and immovable property, and is interested in making a will based on Cyprus law, should consult a lawyer. To be valid and executable in the future, the will must meet specific criteria provided by local law.
How to make a will in Cyprus, step by step
- Confirm capacity. The person making the will must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind.
- List the assets and the people who will receive them, keeping within the disposable portion limits set by Cap. 195.
- Draft the will in writing and in clear terms. A lawyer usually prepares it to avoid ambiguity.
- Choose an executor to carry out the will. The executor later applies to the Court for probate in Cyprus.
- Sign the will at the foot, in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time.
- Have both witnesses sign in the testator's presence.
- Register the will at the District Court for safe custody. This step is optional and does not affect validity.
The ability of a person to draft a will in Cyprus
Any person over the age of 18 who is of sound mind has the legal capacity to draw up a valid will in Cyprus.
The person can dispose of all or part of the available share of his/her property (Articles 21 and 22 of the law).
The conditions for a valid will in Cyprus
For a will in Cyprus to be valid, it must be written and executed in a specific way (Article 23 of the Law) and clearly express the testator's final wishes. The will must meet the following requirements:
- First condition: The will must be signed at the end or bottom by the testator or by another authorised person in the testator's presence. An illiterate person, instead of a signature, may put his mark or seal.
- Second condition: The signature of the testator or of a person acting on his behalf must be made in the presence of at least two witnesses present at the same time. The testator and both witnesses must be present for the entire signing.
- Third condition: The witnesses sign the will to confirm that the testator signed it.
- Fourth condition: If the will consists of more than one sheet of paper, the testator and the witnesses must sign or initial each sheet before the last.
A will must comply with these formalities to stand. Draft it as precisely as possible, because the intention to give a specific asset must be clear.
If any of the above requirements of Article 23 of Chapter 195 are not met, then the will is invalid and cannot be executed or survive based on witnesses who can orally confirm its validity.
Clarifications regarding the requirements of Article 23
By signing below the signature of the testator, witnesses only confirm that the testator signed in their presence. They do not need to know the contents of the will.
Criteria for choosing the witnesses of a will
The witnesses of a will must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. Under Article 27, a gift in the will to a witness, to that witness's spouse, or to that witness's child is void.
The person who witnessed loses the gift, and the rest of the will stands. For this reason a beneficiary and their close family should not act as witnesses.
Law to apply in a will
For deaths on or after 17 August 2015, Cyprus applies Regulation (EU) 650/2012 to decide which country's law governs a person's succession. The default rule points to the law of the country where the testator had their habitual residence at death.
A testator may instead choose, in the will, the law of a country of their nationality. That choice must be made expressly. A person with more than one nationality may pick any of them, and the chosen law can be the law of a non-EU country. A later change of residence does not, by itself, cancel a valid will.
For a testator connected to Cyprus, the forced heirship rules of Cap. 195 still apply, except where a valid choice of national law has been made.
Contesting a will in Cyprus
The heirs may ask the Court to set aside a will that was not executed in the form required by Article 23, was made without capacity, was signed under undue influence, or is forged. The grounds, the burden of proof, the eight-year time limit, and the court process are covered in our guide to contesting a will in Cyprus.
Cost of making a will
The cost of legal services for creating a will in Cyprus starts from €500 plus VAT (19%).
Revocation of a will
Any individual interested in forming a will must be aware that the original draft should always be kept in a safe location. The original will must be presented to the Court to enforce its terms.
Registering it at the Court is a method to secure the original will. If, in such a case, the testator wants to withdraw it, he or she should address the Registrar with his/her request, and the will should be destroyed in the testator's presence.
A will may be revoked in any of the following ways
- By the execution of a later will by which the previous will is revoked.
- By destroying it, another person can destroy it under the instructions and in the testator's presence.
- Under Article 38 of Chapter 195, a will is automatically invalidated if the testator marries or has a child after the will was created. The only exception is if the will explicitly states it was made in anticipation of a future family.
What part of their estates in Cyprus or abroad can testators allocate by will
As explained in Article 41 of the Cyprus Wills and Succession Law, each person may lawfully allocate the available portion of his/her inheritance by will to any person or organisation.
For example, when a person dies, leaving:
- spouse and/or children, the available portion of the inheritance shall not exceed ¼ of the net worth of the inheritance
- spouse or father or mother, but not children, the available portion of the inheritance shall not exceed ½ of the net value of the inheritance
- neither spouse, children, father, nor mother, the available part of the inheritance is the total of the inheritance.
For example, if a testator dies, leaving a spouse and children, they should receive equal shares.
If a person allocates by will more than his/her available portion based on the above requirements, then the portion that will be allocated will be decreased to match the above criteria.
If a person dies leaving a spouse but no children, neither father nor mother, then the spouse is allowed to inherit, if provided by the will, up to the total available assets of the deceased, which, for example, could be shares in a Company, bank account balances, property in Cyprus, cars and so on.
Outside the disposable portion set by Article 41, the forced heirship rules apply.
Getting a will drafted
A lawyer prepares the will in clear terms and arranges the signing before two witnesses. Our will and probate lawyers in Cyprus draft and register wills, keep the original in safe custody, act as executors, and apply for probate when the time comes.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of will is considered valid?
A valid will must be made by a person aged 18 or over who is of sound mind, and must meet the formal requirements of Article 23 of the Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195.
There are four requirements:
- The testator signs at the end or bottom of the will.
- The signature is made in front of at least two witnesses who are present at the same time.
- Both witnesses sign the will in the testator's presence.
- On a will of more than one sheet, each sheet before the last is signed or initialled.
A will that misses any of these requirements is void and cannot be executed. Witnesses do not need to know the contents of the will. They confirm only that the testator signed in front of them.
Is a handwritten or unwitnessed will valid in Cyprus?
No. Cap. 195 requires a will in writing, signed at the foot by the testator in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time, and signed by those witnesses.
A handwritten will that nobody witnessed has no effect in Cyprus, even where the testator's intention is clear.
Do I need a lawyer to make a will in Cyprus?
You are not legally required to use one. A will you draft yourself is valid if it meets the requirements of Article 23.
A lawyer is worth using for two reasons. A will that misses a single formality is void, and the disposable portion limits are easy to breach without meaning to.
Is making a will in Cyprus expensive?
The cost of legal services for making a will in Cyprus starts from €500 plus VAT (19%).
How do I register a will in Cyprus?
A will can be deposited for safe custody at the District Court of the district where the testator lives.
Registration is optional and does not change whether the will is valid. It protects the original document, which must be produced to the Court before the terms of the will can be enforced.
When does a will take effect?
A will takes effect on the testator's death, through a procedure carried out by the executor or administrator of the estate before the Court.
Who is the executor of a will in Cyprus?
The executor is the person the testator names in the will to carry out their last wishes.
The executor applies to the Court for probate and then administers the estate under the supervision of the Court.
Can a will in Cyprus be cancelled or changed?
Cancelling a will is called revoking it. A will can be revoked in four ways:
- By a later will that expressly revokes the first.
- By a later will with provisions that contradict the first.
- By destruction, such as burning, by the testator or by another person in the testator's presence. The testator must act with the intention of revoking the will.
- By the testator marrying or having a child after making the will, except where the will makes clear that the testator anticipated the marriage or the birth.
Changing a will does not require rewriting it. An amendment must meet the same formalities, so it must be signed in front of two witnesses, and the signatures of the testator and the witnesses must appear next to the amendment.
When can I contest a will?
The grounds are failure to meet the form required by Article 23, lack of capacity, undue influence, or fraud. The person challenging the will must prove the ground they rely on.
These grounds void a will. A will that leaves the heirs less than their statutory portions is not void. The Court readjusts the shares to the percentages required by law.
What are the rules of inheritance in Cyprus?
Cyprus has a forced heirship regime. A statutory portion of ¾ of the estate must go to the rightful heirs, meaning the children or their descendants and a spouse. The remaining ¼ is the disposable portion, which the testator may leave to anyone.
Where the deceased leaves no children, the disposable portion changes:
- A spouse, or a father or mother, but no children: up to ½ of the estate.
- No spouse, no children, no parents: the whole estate.
What is the Succession Regulation?
The EU Regulation on Successions is Regulation (EU) No 650/2012. Cyprus applies it to deaths on or after 17 August 2015.
It settles which country's court handles the succession, which country's law applies, and it creates a European Certificate of Succession that heirs can use in another member state without a second court process.
The default is the law of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence. A testator may choose the law of their nationality instead. That choice must be stated expressly in the will. People with more than one nationality may pick any of them.
The chosen law can be the law of a non-EU country. The United Kingdom never joined the Regulation and is treated as a third country, so a UK national living in Cyprus can still choose UK law to govern their succession.
Is an English will valid in Cyprus?
If the English will is valid in the UK and has been sealed by a UK court, or a UK court has granted administration documents concerning it, it can be resealed in a Cyprus court and operate as a valid will.
Can I make a will in Cyprus for UK assets?
Yes, this is possible. Because the two legal systems can conflict, the safer route is a separate UK will covering your UK assets and a Cyprus will covering your Cyprus assets.
Is there any inheritance tax in Cyprus?
No. Cyprus abolished estate duty in 2000 and has charged no inheritance tax since.
Other costs can still arise. Transferring inherited immovable property at the Land Registry attracts fees, and some probate documents carry stamp duty.