The Ministry of National Economy and Finance is launching a digital safari for “orphaned” inheritances. Through electronic cross-referencing across the Land Registry, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), civil registry offices, the Civil Registry, and banks, the relevant authorities will be tracking down real estate and assets belonging to deceased individuals where no legal heir has yet been established.
Inheritances: The goal is to “map” assets and family ties
The goal is to “map” both the assets and the family relationships of deceased individuals in order to determine whether eligible heirs exist or whether the estate may revert to the state. The path to electronic cross-referencing has been opened by a ministerial decision issued by Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, which provides for the interconnection of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance’s public benefit estates information system with six digital services through the Interoperability Centre.
How unclaimed properties are identified
According to the ministerial decision, the digital services will enable the following:
1. Searching for relatives and heirs: Through the Civil Registry, birth certificates, family status certificates, and next-of-kin records will be retrieved. This data will be used to build the family tree of the inheritance succession, identifying individuals related to the deceased and determining whether the state holds a right of inheritance.
2. Death registration records: It will be possible to search for death records using tax identification numbers, full names, year of birth or death, and other personal details. The process will cover both the deceased and any relatives who have also passed away, in order to establish the line of inheritance.
3. Properties in the Land Registry: Through the electronic services of the National Land Registry, properties belonging to estates and public benefit trusts will be identified. Data on property codes (KAEK), addresses, buildings, and ownership percentages will be retrieved using tax identification numbers and recorded in the corresponding digital registries.
4. Deceased individuals’ properties in the Asset Registry: The Ministry will be able to retrieve real estate data for deceased taxpayers. This information will be used by will executors, liquidators, and guardians of dormant estates to register the properties under their administration.
5. Land Registry records: Provision is made for the electronic retrieval of land registry documents and their submission to the relevant supervisory authorities by will executors, liquidators, and guardians through the digital public benefit estates platform.
6. Bank accounts: Through cross-referencing of IBANs and tax identification numbers, the accuracy of bank accounts belonging to scholarship beneficiaries of bequests managed directly by the Ministry will be verified. A corresponding check will be carried out for accounts related to public benefit estates and dormant inheritances when they are entered into the relevant registries.
Personal data protection
The ministerial decision includes specific safeguards for the handling of information. The Ministry of National Economy and Finance is required to record and monitor access to electronic systems, ensure the traceability of searches, and protect personal data. The information will be used exclusively for the purposes defined by the decision — specifically, for the administration of public benefit estates and dormant inheritances.
