Lawyers in Greee - Residence Permit

RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR ALL NON EU CITIZENS, VALID IN ALL SHENGEN COUNTRIES IN CASE OF A PROPERTY PURCHASE IN GREECE EQUAL TO OR ABOVE 250.000 EURO.

According to Law 4146/2013, third-country citizens (non-EU citizens), who buy property in Greece, the value of which reaches or exceeds the amount of €250.000, may obtain 5 year residence permits. A husband and wife can purchase the said property in joint ownership, of €250.000 total value. This type of residence permit may be renewed for the same duration of five years and every five years period of duration, with the only condition that the property remains in the ownership of the holder of the residence permit, so in this way, the owner can be legally residing in Greece permanently.

Apart permanent residence in Greece, this permit is valid for traveling and staying for 6 months per year in almost all E.U. countries ( All Schengen countries).

Family members (spouse and under age children) of the buyer or the investor have the right to obtain the same permit for the same duration. OUR SERVICES LawyersGreece services include an overall representation of the client, namely:

• • Contacts with the vendors and real estate agents – arrangement of the details of the contracts.
• • Preparation of power of attorneys.
• • Representation before the bank and banking transactions related to the contract.
• • Representation at the tax office - Issuing of tax number in Greece – submission of property transfer tax statements.
• • Preparation and submission of the file for residence permit before the competent authority in Greece.

ONE OFFICE TO COMPLETE THE WHOLE PROCEDURE Our co-operating lawyers organise the professionals involved, represent you in every step of the process, no other professional’s intermediation is required. This is an economic and safe method. One associating law firm, to make all actions, to guide the whole procedure with professionalism and efficiency, guaranteeing for the safety of he purchase, residence permit acquisition, bank account opening, tax number issuing, and all these actions will be performed based on one power of attorney in which all relevant orders are included so that one law office and the associates, all members of our network, will fully represent you in all stages and until completion.

Lawyers Greece - Property Law

Property law is the area of law that governs real property. Real property (or imovable propery in distinction with movable property)  is land and ordinarily anything erected on, growing on, or affixed to it, including buildings and crops. The practice area of real estate and property law deals with a variety of related issues, including the following: rights and interests in real estate and real property; sales, purchases and other transfers of real estate and real property; legal aspects of rental property and landlord issues; tenants’, renters’ and homeowners’ rights; title to real property; settlement of claims against property rights; property development; zoning and land use

Inheritance

The Greek Inheritance Law is regulated by a whole section of the Greek Civil Code, namely the articles 1710 to 2035.
There are two main categories in inheritance succession:
a) Succession by virtue of a testament (will).
b) Succession by virtue of law, which implies in cases that either there is no will, or the will has been claimed invalid.

a) Succession by virtue of a testament.

A person can decide freely what will become of his property by leaving a will, which can be of three legal forms:

•  The handwritten will. This is the most common and simple king of will. It has to be written entirely by the hand of the testator, dated and signed by him.
• In this case the will has to be published and verified before the competent Court at a public hearing. The public will. This has to be read and signed before a notary and three witnesses or before two Notaries and one witness.
•  The secret will, which has to be handed by the testator to a notary at the presence of three witnesses or another notary and one witness. The document must be enclosed in a sealed envelope.

b) Succession by law

If the deceased has not left a will of any kind, or the one left was claimed invalid, then the deceased succession is regulated by law. The inheritors are organized by law in 6 ranks, each one of which excludes the next:

•  The first heir rank concerns the children and the grandchildren of the deceased. Children come into inheritance first, if children have predeceased, then the grandchildren come into the inheritance.
•  The second heir rank concerns the parents and brothers or sisters of the deceased. If they have predeceased, then their children or grandchildren come into the inheritance.
•  The third heir rank concerns the grandparents. If they have predeceased, then the great grandparents come into the inheritance.
•  The fifth heir rank concerns the spouse. Spouse inherits the whole of the inheritance if no relatives of the previous ranks alive at the time of death of the deceased. Spouse also inherits: A share of ½ in all categories if any living relatives of any category alive at the time of the death of the deceased, except if any living relatives of the first rank, where spouse inherits a share of ¼. Spouse also inherits all movable property which was used during his or her common living with the deceased. This includes vehicles too.
•  The sixth heir rank is solely the Greek Public. If no surviving relatives of the deceased at the time of his or her death, the property is inherited by the Greek Public.

An heir is considered that has silently accepted the inheritance if not officially stated that he or she has renounced it within 4 months, this deadline elapsing from the time that the death of the deceased came to the knowledge of the inheritor. This deadline extends to 1 year for inheritors living permanently abroad, or if the deceased had his or her last residence abroad.

Lawyers Greece - Property / Real Estate

Generally, there are no restrictions in purchasing property in Greece, apart from certain specified by law areas, for which a special license is required for non E.U. citizens or companies. For the legal or physical E.U entities all restrictions have been lifted long ago for the whole Greek territory, so that the E.U. citizens and companies can purchase property in Greece under the same terms and conditions as the Greek citizens and companies.

1. Costs of acquiring and maintaining property in Greece

•    The cost of purchasing property in Greece should be estimated 6% to 7% of the purchase price approximately, depending on the contract’s price and the professionals involved.
•    Of which 3,1% approximately is transfer tax.
•    Annual property tax depends on the particular property (size, location, etc.).

2. Procedure

•    Property contracts in Greece are notarial acts, namely drawn, signed and filed by Notaries, who in the Greek legal system are public servants and represent the state in all property contracts. Notaries maintain all original contracts in their archives and can provide authorized copies to the contracting parties.
•    Each contract gets registered (transcribed) at the land registry of the area of the property.
•    A topographic drawing is also required, stamped by a qualified professional, usually civil engineer or the qualified topographer, which imprints the property and secures the building conditions and the legality of the building(s), if any. Also a so called „energy efficiency certficate” is required for buildings above 50 sq. meters in area.

3. Lawyer’s tasks in specific

Vendee’s lawyer is the person to perform a full legal check in order to  protect the client’s interests in this process. The standard check of the Lawyer includes:
i.    Title check in order to secure that the ownership status of the vendor is solid and without any legal defects; to ensure that the continuity of the owners before the vendor has not been “broken” at any point in the past; that all contracts up to date were signed legally.
ii.    Property current legal status check in order to secures that there are no incumbencies, mortgages, confiscations, claims, or  any other real property rights registered on the property.
iii.    In case the vendor is a legal entity, the Lawyer of the vendee has also to ensure that the status of the company is in perfect legal; that the director or the proxy or the legal representative of the company is authorized to sign and commit the company with his or her signature ; that the relevant decisions of  the board of directors ensure the legality of  the procedure.

The overall inspection of the procedure usually belongs to the duties of the lawyer, as he or she is the representative of the client, most of the times with authority to execute orders due to relevant power of attorneys.