Who inherits without a will in Cyprus?

The net estate is divided in equal parts between the spouse and the children.

If siblings or parents survive, the spouse takes half the net estate. If there are no relatives up to the fourth degree, the spouse takes three quarters. In all other cases the spouse takes everything.

Relatives up to the sixth degree may become heirs under the Wills and Succession Law. The official page does not set out their order.

The official fact sheet does not describe rights for unmarried or registered partners. Treat an unmarried partner as having no automatic right and take advice.

Children may claim up to a quarter of the net estate. If there is no child but a surviving spouse or parent, the claim is up to a half.

In this EU country the Succession Regulation applies to people who die after 16 August 2015: the whole estate is generally governed by the law of the country where the person had their habitual residence at death, unless they chose the law of their nationality in a will. A foreigner living here, or a citizen living abroad, can therefore be governed by a different law than the one described on this page.

Cyprus belongs to the Mixed: civil and common law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Cyprus legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Cyprus? →

• European e-Justice Portal: succession in Cyprus