When the deceased did not make a will, the slovenian Inheritance Act assumes Intestate succession, which means that based on the valid law (Inheritance Act) certain relatives of the deceased inherit his estate.
First and foremost wife or husband (or domestic partner) inherits the estate of the deceased. If there is no spouse or the spouse is deceased, the children of the deceased inherit. If there are no children then brothers or sister and so on other relatives further down the family tree.
These persons inherit in hereditary orders. Heirs that are closer to the deceased exclude from inheritance persons more remote relatives.
In Slovenian inheritance law no one is forced to be in heir. Every heir has to accept the inheritance before the court that is leading the succession case. If she or he declines the inheritance, the next heir in line the hereditary order is called to make a declaration if he or she accepts the inheritance. If there are no possible heirs the estate belongs to the Republic of Slovenia.
The will according to the Slovenian Inheritance act can be made of sound judgement and at least 15 years old. The will can be made in different
ways: holographic will, holographic will with witnesses, judicial will (made by a judge), will made in a foreign land (made by a consular or diplomatic representative), international will and an oral will (made infront of two witnesses).
Inheritance and gift tax is in place in Slovenia and is regulated by the Inheritance and Gift Taxation Act.
The base of the tax is the value of the inherited or gifted estate – assets at the time of tax liabilities, after the deduction of debts, costs and burdens borne by the estate – assets, from which the tax is paid. The tax liability arises on the day when the order of succession is final or when the gift is received. Heirs from the first hereditary order (wife/husband/common-law partner, same-sex partner, children) are exempt from gift tax or inheritance tax. For the second hereditary order it depends on the value of the inheritance or gift. For example: if the value of the inheritance/gift is below 10.000 EUR the inheritance/gift tax for someone in the second inheritance order is 5%. For value from 10.000-50.000 EUR is 500, 00 EUR+ 6% and so on. For heirs further down the hereditary order or for other people, who are not heirs, when it comes to receiving gifts, the tax intensifies and is higher. For example: if the value of the inheritance/gift is below 10.000 EUR the inheritance/gift tax for someone who is not a part of the hereditary order (ex. a friend) is 12%.
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This information was compiled by Law firm Vidovič & Partners.