{"id":2676,"date":"2025-04-23T08:14:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T06:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/?p=2676"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:57:11","slug":"challenging-a-deed-of-donation-when-it-is-possible-to-do-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/blog\/challenging-a-deed-of-donation-when-it-is-possible-to-do-so\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging a deed of donation: when it is possible to do so"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/inheritance\/\">Inheriting<\/a> less than expected or discovering that part of the estate has been donated during life can generate doubts and tensions within a family. It is not always a question of bad faith or improprieties, but it is important to know that there are situations in which it is possible to <strong>challenge a deed of donation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understanding <strong>when a donation can be contested<\/strong> and what the steps to follow are can help both those who fear an <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/will\/contestation-of-the-will\/contestation-of-the-will-for-harm-to-forced-heirship\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2378\">impairment of the reserved share<\/a><\/strong>, and those who wish to protect their estate without creating future problems for the heirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let us look together at the most common cases, the subjects involved and what to do to act in compliance with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When a donation can be challenged: the cases provided by law<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not all <strong>donations<\/strong> can be contested. The law provides for specific cases in which it is possible to start a legal action, which concern above all:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Invalidity of the donation<\/strong>: the deed can be declared null if fundamental requirements are missing, such as the written form by public deed or the presence of two witnesses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defects of the deed of donation<\/strong>: if the donor was not capable of understanding and acting, or if they were induced by deception or coercion, the donation can be annulled.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Donation impairing the reserved share<\/strong>: if the deed has compromised the minimum share that is due by law to certain heirs (the so-called <strong>legitimate heirs<\/strong>), they can <strong>challenge the donation<\/strong> after the opening of the succession.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Revocation of the donation<\/strong>: in some cases (such as serious ingratitude or supervening children) the donor themselves can request the <strong>revocation of the donation<\/strong>, if entitled to do so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understanding these situations well is the first step to assess whether it is possible to proceed legally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can contest a donation and within what timeframes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only certain persons have standing to <strong>challenge a deed of donation<\/strong>. In particular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/blog\/intestate-heir-and-legitimate-heir-what-is-the-real-difference\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/blog\/intestate-heir-and-legitimate-heir-what-is-the-real-difference\/\">Legitimate heirs<\/a><\/strong> (spouse, children, in their absence the parents) can act if the donation has reduced or annulled their share of <strong>inheritance<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other heirs or interested subjects<\/strong> can act only in the case of formal or substantive defects of the deed (e.g. donor&#8217;s incapacity or absence of the required form).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Timeframes are essential: to contest a <strong>donation impairing the reserved share<\/strong>, one has <strong>ten years from the opening of the succession<\/strong>. For <strong>annulment for defects<\/strong>, the term is <strong>five years from the discovery of the defect<\/strong>. In any event, the sooner one acts, the simpler it is to safeguard one&#8217;s rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to proceed to challenge a donation effectively<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who suspect an <strong>invalidity of the donation<\/strong> or an <strong>impairment of the reserved share<\/strong> should follow a well-defined path. Here are the fundamental steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Verify the documentation<\/strong>: recovering a copy of the deed of donation is essential. Form, date, and whether it was made by public deed and witnesses must be checked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Assess the value of the donated assets<\/strong>: to understand whether the residual <strong>inheritance<\/strong> respects the rights of the legitimate heirs, it is necessary to calculate the deceased&#8217;s entire estate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Request legal advice<\/strong>: a lawyer experienced in successions can assess the presence of <strong>defects in the deed of donation<\/strong> or any margins for the <strong>revocation of the donation<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Start a legal action<\/strong> if there are grounds: one can proceed with an action for reduction or annulment of the deed, depending on the case.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acting with calm and awareness is essential: a legal action is not always necessary, but knowing one&#8217;s rights makes it possible to avoid hasty or harmful decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inheriting less than expected or discovering that part of the estate has been donated during life can generate doubts and tensions within a family. It is not always a question of bad faith or improprieties, but it is important to know that there are situations in which it is possible to challenge a deed of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2711,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2676\/revisions\/2711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familylawboschetti.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}