After someone’s death there are assets that can remain dormant for years, such as houses, land, bank accounts, company shares and valuables. It happens when the deceased does not leave a will and has no spouse, children or identifiable relatives, or when those called upon to inherit do not accept or do not show up within the expected deadlines. It’s more common than you might imagine.
The case of Modena
The latest case comes from Modena: a man who died in March 2009, without known heirs, whose real estate assets remained in a dormant procedure for years. After the checks required by law and the succession deadlines having expired, the court declared the inheritance vacant. We are faced with a succession for which there are no heirs who can or want to take over from the deceased. Thus, the sentence sanctioned the transfer of houses and other assets to the State, as provided for by the Civil Code. But how does it work?
How vacant inheritance works
When there is no one who can or wants to take over from the deceased, the inheritance does not remain without an owner. The Civil Code provides a closing solution: after relatives up to the sixth degree, if there are no successors and there is no valid will, the inheritance is devolved to the State.
Before reaching this point, however, an intermediate phase may open up: the lying inheritance. It is the situation in which the deceased’s estate exists, but there is not yet an heir who has accepted it. The court can appoint a trustee, who is responsible for administering and preserving the assets, taking inventory, responding to urgent needs and protecting the estate until someone accepts the inheritance or until it becomes clear that no one will.
Article 586 of the Civil Code deals with the case in question. The law establishes that, “in the absence of other successors, the inheritance is devolved to the State and that the purchase “is carried out by right without the need for acceptance”. In other words, the State must not behave like a private heir: it does not present a declaration of acceptance and cannot renounce. At the same time, the law sets a limit: the State is not liable for inheritance debts and legacies beyond the value of the acquired assets.
A “treasure” around Italy: how much the State can really collect
In the Modena case, according to the available journalistic reconstruction, the judge declared the cessation of the stock due to the prescription of the right to accept the inheritance on the part of those called. The ordinary deadline for accepting an inheritance is ten years from the opening of the succession, which coincides with the death of the person. After that period, if no one has the title or no one accepts, the property can be acquired by the State.
From cases like this the State can find an authentic “treasure” over time. A study by Evaluation Lab and Fondazione Giordano Dell’Amore for Fondazione Cariplo has estimated some scenarios. In the most optimistic scenario, the assets of people without heirs that could change hands are estimated at 20.8 billion euros in 2030 and 88.1 billion in 2040. In another scenario the estimate is 8.4 billion in 2030 and 35.7 billion in 2040.
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Furthermore, the share of vacant inheritances “confiscated” by the State is destined to grow over time for demographic reasons. Italy has fewer and fewer births, an older population and more people living alone. In 2025, according to Istat, births dropped to 355 thousand, while deaths were 652 thousand; the average number of children per woman is estimated at 1.14. Single-person families are now the most widespread type: 37.1% of the total in the two-year period 2024-2025. Projections also indicate that by 2050 the over 65s could reach 34.6% of the population and the elderly alone could rise from 4.6 million to 6.5 million in 2024.
Fewer children, more families without direct descendants and more single people mean potentially more complex and less accessible successions. And potential proceeds for the State.