Practical guide
Handling inheritance and co-ownership in a condominium
It is common for a condominium unit to belong to more than one person at the same time: siblings who inherit their parents' apartment, spouses under joint property ownership, or an investment purchased together by several people. This situation, frequent in Italian condominium practice, raises practical questions for the property manager and the owners themselves: who votes at the assembly, who receives official notices, who is liable for unpaid charges. Italian civil law sets precise rules for these cases, notably Article 67 of the implementing provisions on representation and Article 1123 on cost allocation. Understanding them prevents disputes over resolutions and delays in collecting fees, and lets the manager keep an orderly registry that would otherwise become a recurring source of errors.
Who counts as a co-owner of a unit
Co-ownership of a condominium unit arises from different situations with similar effects on condominium management. The most frequent is inheritance: on the owner's death, the heirs become proportional owners of the property until any formal division, remaining in the meantime in an undivided estate. Other recurring cases are joint marital property between spouses, a purchase made together by several people (often parents and children, or siblings), and undivided co-ownership in shares that need not be equal.
In all these cases the property remains a single cadastral and condominium unit: the ownership shares assigned to it and the voting weight at the assembly are not multiplied, but the way co-owners exercise their rights and meet their obligations toward the condominium changes. It is essential for the manager to record all names correctly in the condominium registry, as required by Article 1130 of the Civil Code, which obliges the manager to collect owners' personal details and legal status.
Representation at the assembly: the common representative
When several people co-own the same unit, the law does not allow each of them to cast a separate vote at the assembly: Article 67 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code requires co-owners to appoint a common representative for exercising participation and voting rights. If they cannot agree on who should represent them, the appointment can also be ordered by a court at the request of one or more co-owners or of the manager itself.
In practice, the manager should ask the co-owners in writing to designate a single point of contact, for instance through a simple written proxy signed by all of them, kept on file together with the meeting notice. This prevents several people from showing up at the assembly for the same unit and each claiming to vote separately, a situation that can make the resolution voidable if the vote was counted more than once for the same ownership shares.
It is worth distinguishing this from ordinary co-ownership among people who own different units: here the discussion always concerns the same unit, with the same block of ownership shares to be voted only once.
Notices, meeting calls and minutes
Once the common representative is identified, assembly notices and official communications should be addressed to that person, unless the co-owners provide different written instructions. This does not exclude the other co-owners' right to access condominium documents and be informed of decisions taken, but the day-to-day handling of communications rests with a single person to avoid duplication or missed notices due to error.
A management platform such as AmministraPro helps concretely on this point: the condominium registry allows multiple names to be linked to the same unit, records who is designated as the representative for voting purposes, and still keeps track of all co-owners for informational communications, reducing the risk of errors when the composition of the co-ownership changes or a new proxy is submitted.
Joint liability for condominium expenses
On the financial side, co-owners of a unit are jointly and severally liable for condominium obligations relating to that unit, regardless of any internal cost-sharing agreement among themselves, which is not binding on the condominium. In practice, the condominium can claim the full amount due from just one of the co-owners, who will then have a right of recourse against the others for their internal share.
This principle is particularly relevant for inherited estates: until the estate is divided, the heirs remain jointly liable for condominium expenses accrued on the inherited property, including extraordinary expenses resolved after the estate opened. A manager pursuing debt recovery can therefore address any co-owner or heir listed in the registry, without first having to verify the internal arrangements between them.
For this reason it is important that the condominium registry, in addition to the designated representative, lists all co-owners with their respective shares, useful both for correctly allocating ownership shares and in case of future disputes or a later division of the estate.
What changes when the co-ownership ends
Co-ownership, whether from inheritance or another arrangement, can end at any time through division, whether voluntary or ordered by a court, or through the sale of a share by one co-owner to a third party or to the other co-owners. In these cases the manager must promptly update the condominium registry as soon as notice of the transfer is received, in line with Article 63 of the implementing provisions on the buyer stepping into the seller's rights and obligations toward the condominium.
It is good practice to always request a copy of the notarial deed or the registered inheritance declaration, in order to verify the new ownership shares and correctly update the shares allocated to each person, avoiding outdated names remaining in the expense allocation statements.
Frequently asked questions
If two siblings inherit an apartment, who votes at the assembly?
As long as the estate remains undivided, the siblings are co-owners of the same unit and must appoint a common representative under Article 67 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code. Only that person has the right to attend and vote at the assembly for that unit. If they cannot agree, the appointment can be requested from a court by either heir or by the manager. It is advisable to formalize the choice with a written proxy kept on file, so the manager knows whom to address for notices and communications.
Can the condominium demand the full debt from just one heir?
Yes. Heirs in an undivided estate are jointly and severally liable for condominium obligations on the inherited unit, so the condominium can lawfully claim the full amount due from just one of them, who can then seek reimbursement from the other co-heirs for their respective shares. This rule also applies to extraordinary expenses resolved after the estate opened, until the estate is formally divided among the heirs.
Is a notarial deed required to appoint the common representative for the assembly?
No, a notarial form is not required. A written proxy signed by all co-owners, indicating who represents them for assembly voting purposes, is sufficient and should be handed to the manager before or during the meeting. If the co-owners cannot agree, the appointment of the representative can be requested from a court, as provided under Article 67 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code.
What should the manager do when notified of an inheritance?
The manager should update the condominium registry with the names of all heirs listed in the inheritance declaration or the notarial deed, record their respective shares, and ask them to designate a common representative for assembly votes, in line with Article 1130 of the Civil Code on the manager's duties. A platform such as AmministraPro allows multiple names to be linked to the same unit, keeping both the designated representative and all co-owners traceable for communications and expense allocation.
Does co-ownership change the unit's ownership shares or number of votes?
No. The ownership shares remain those assigned to the unit and are not multiplied based on the number of co-owners, just as the vote at the assembly remains single and is cast by the designated common representative. Only the internal ownership structure and the way condominium rights are exercised change, not the unit's weight in votes or in expense allocation based on the ownership tables.
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