If you help me, I'll leave you my apartment.

An ageing population also brings with it legal issues of this kind. And given the increase of elderly people, frequently alone, the matter I am talking about here today is also of general interest in my opinion.

Is it legally valid, even if there would be heirs, to leave one's home to a third party, if that party provides care and assistance?

The positive answer was given by the Court of Cassation in a ruling a few months ago, which affirmed that there was 'the existence of the conditions capable of legitimising the conclusion of the atypical support contract'.

Technically, in fact, in the case at hand, a public notarial deed was drawn up, whereby the elderly person ceded to a third person the nude ownership of his home. The third person undertook to provide moral and material care and assistance.  This agreement is legally called a support contract.

Confirming previous decisions, it was held that there was no disproportion between the benefits given and those promised, since the death was not foreseeable in the near future, nor was the intensity of the assistance to be provided. This is not to be confused with the case of contracts or agreements of this kind, which were entered into in different circumstances, in which the disappearance of the assisted person is evidently imminent.

All in all, it seems to me an encouraging possibility for many elderly people, which balances their interests and those of their carers.

And which might make those relatives, who often have little concern for their elderly, to think about.

Even in cases such as these, however, all the specific circumstances and especially the values involved must be carefully assessed by a professional consultant.

Obviously this  solution is to be considered acceptable and valid, if there is a fair and reasonable relationship, between the value of the property and the assistance provided.

last update June 2024