Italian Supreme Court rules unrecorded apartment excluded from inheritance division

The Italian Supreme Court (Cassazione civile) has issued a ruling (sentence no. 25955/2026) stating that an unrecorded apartment cannot be included in an inheritance division. The case involved a real estate complex consisting of a warehouse and two apartments, within which a third two-room unit had been created through internal modifications.

Although the creation of this third unit did not increase the overall volume of the building, the unit had not been registered with the Land Registry (Catasto) and lacked a distinct income rating. The Court ruled that the formal nullity of transfer acts, as per Law 52/1985, prevents the inclusion of properties with significant cadastral discrepancies, even if urban planning compliance is otherwise addressed.

The decision emphasizes that cadastral non-compliance is a formal and textual issue, meaning that mere attestations of urban planning regularity are insufficient to overlook the lack of official registration.