Italy Supreme Court issues rulings on usufruct and inheritance valuation

The Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) has issued two significant rulings regarding property rights and inheritance laws.

In a decision concerning usufruct, the Court clarified that the death of a spouse results in the extinction of their share of usufruct rights on a family home under the legal community of property regime. Unless a specific 'accrescimento' (accretion) clause was explicitly documented by a notary at the time of purchase, the deceased spouse's portion of the usufruct does not automatically transfer to the surviving spouse. Instead, that portion reverts to the bare owner.

In a separate ruling regarding inheritance disputes, the Court established that the valuation of assets for calculating a forced heir's legitimate share must be based on market value (valore venale) rather than cadastral value (valore catastale). The ruling specifies that the estate's mass must be determined according to the market value of the assets at the time of the testator's death to ensure a fair and concrete rebalancing of relationships between heirs.