Wills & Reserved Shares in Serbia

A will determines who is to receive a person's property after their death. It may cover the whole estate, a share of it or particular assets, provide for someone who would not otherwise inherit, create a legacy or impose a duty on a beneficiary. Serbian legislation uses the term zaveštanje for a will.

For those wishes to take effect, the will must comply with a recognised legal form, the testator must understand the decision, and the dispositions must be lawful. A signature on a printed document, or a family's conviction that it reflects the deceased's wishes, cannot by itself replace the statutory requirements. A separate issue is the reserved share: a will may be valid while a close family member remains entitled to claim that share.

Who can make a will and what property it can cover

Under Serbian law, a person aged fifteen or over who has the capacity to reason may make a will. This is a strictly personal act, so an attorney acting under a power of attorney cannot make it on the testator's behalf. A lawyer may draft the document and explain its consequences, but the choice of beneficiaries and the declaration of testamentary intent must be the testator's own. ^[1]

Capacity is assessed at the time the will is made. Old age, illness or a need for care does not by itself establish a lack of testamentary capacity. The question is whether the person could understand the significance and consequences of the decision at that time. In litigation, relevant evidence includes medical records from that period, witness testimony and expert opinion. A subsequent loss of capacity generally does not affect a will that was validly made. ^{[1], [8]}

A testator disposes of their own property. Where an apartment forms part of the spouses' joint marital property, only the deceased's entitlement enters the estate, even if the deceased was the sole registered owner. The surviving spouse's entitlement must first be separated. Making a will also leaves the owner free to sell or give away property during their lifetime. A beneficiary under the will has no vested right to that property while the testator is alive. ^{[1], [4]}

A handwritten, or holographic, will

A person who can read and write may make a holographic will by writing the entire text by hand and signing it. Witnesses and notarisation are not required for its validity. A printed document bearing only the testator's handwritten signature does not meet the requirements of this form. Nor does a document handwritten by someone else and merely signed by the testator. ^[1]

A date is not mandatory, but it should be included. It can be decisive in establishing which of several wills was made later and whether the testator had capacity at the relevant time. The wording should clearly express an intention to dispose of property on death and identify the beneficiaries and property sufficiently.

The advantage of this form is its simplicity. Its weaknesses become apparent when the handwriting or signature is disputed, additions have been made or the original cannot be found. Safe custody therefore matters as much as the wording. Depositing the document with a court or public notary does not cure defects in the will, but it reduces the risk of loss or concealment. ^{[1], [2]}

A written will before witnesses, or allographic will

An allographic will may be prepared by another person, including a lawyer, and may be printed. The testator must be able to read and write, must read the document, and must declare before two witnesses present together that they have read it and that it expresses their last will. The testator then signs it by hand, and the witnesses sign the same document as part of that act. It is advisable to identify them expressly as testamentary witnesses. ^[1]

The witnesses must be adults, literate, fully legally capable and able to understand the language in which the testator makes the declaration. The law excludes certain relatives and close associates, including a spouse, a current or former unmarried partner, lineal relatives and collateral relatives up to the fourth degree. Dispositions benefiting a witness or certain close relatives of a witness are also invalid. The proposed witnesses should therefore be checked before signing.

Collecting two witness signatures later, separately from the testator's declaration and signature, is insufficient. Having a lawyer or witness read the document aloud also does not replace the testator's own reading. In Rev 10009/2023, the Supreme Court upheld the annulment of a will because the testator had not personally read it or made the required declaration, although it had been read aloud to him and he had signed it. ^[5]

This form is unsuitable for an illiterate person or someone unable to read and personally sign the document. A fingerprint cannot replace the signature required for this form, as confirmed in Rev 2630/2020. Another legally recognised form should be chosen in those circumstances. ^[6]

A notarial will and other recognised forms

A notarial will is drawn up by a Serbian public notary as a notarial deed. The notary establishes identity, examines the requirements for the legal act, clarifies the testator's wishes and explains the legal consequences. Special rules on preparation of the document and participation of other persons apply where the testator cannot read, write or sign. ^{[1], [2]}

Merely certifying a signature on an existing document does not turn it into a notarial will. This form requires a notarial deed. Conversely, a handwritten will or a written will before witnesses does not require subsequent notarisation if it has been made in accordance with the law.

The notarial form provides greater assurance about how the will was made and how the document is kept. The Chamber of Public Notaries maintains a special register, and the notary has duties concerning delivery of the will on learning of the testator's death. This form nevertheless remains open to judicial challenge and does not remove reserved-share rights.

Serbian law also recognises court, consular, international, shipboard, military and oral wills. An oral will is permitted only in exceptional circumstances that prevent a written will from being made, and requires three witnesses present together. It ceases to be effective thirty days after those circumstances end. An ordinary conversation about who should receive property, a message or a video recording does not dispense with the statutory formalities. ^[1]

The reserved share and the supposed “half of the estate” limit

There is no general rule that a will may dispose of only half of a person's property. It may cover the entire estate. Whether the dispositions will have to be limited depends on whether there are protected heirs, the extent of their reserved shares and whether those shares have already been satisfied. If there are no protected heirs, there is no restriction on that ground.

A person can qualify as a protected heir only if they would be called to inherit under the statutory order of succession in that particular case. Children and the surviving spouse are the most familiar examples. Parents may also qualify. Siblings, grandparents and more remote ancestors, as well as an adopter under an incomplete adoption, must meet additional conditions: permanent incapacity to earn a living and insufficient means of subsistence. Kinship alone is not enough. ^[1]

For descendants, adopted children and their descendants, and the surviving spouse, the reserved share is one half of the share each would inherit by law. For other protected heirs, it is one third of their statutory share. The fraction therefore applies to each person's individual entitlement on intestacy.

Suppose the deceased leaves a spouse and two children, each of whom would inherit one third under the ordinary statutory rules. Each person's reserved share is one sixth of the estate's calculation value. Together, their reserved shares amount to one half. This explains the familiar shorthand, but it does not apply to every family situation. Earlier gifts may also change how much must still be provided from the remaining property.

A reserved share is ordinarily a monetary claim. It does not automatically confer co-ownership of every apartment or parcel of land in the estate. At the protected heir's request, the court may award a share of the estate's assets and rights; the testator may also determine the nature of the reserved share. If that share has been infringed, the remedy is to secure its satisfaction. Simply omitting a child from a will does not invalidate the entire will. ^[1]

Calculating the estate value for the reserved share

The calculation is not confined to assets still registered in the deceased's name. It begins with the property and recoverable claims held at death. Debts, inventory and valuation costs, and customary funeral expenses are deducted. Gifts that must be taken into account under the law are then added back. ^[1]

Gifts to persons within the statutory class of heirs are added regardless of when they were made, their place in the order of succession or whether they will actually inherit. This includes gifts which the deceased expressly exempted from being brought into account against an inheritance share. For recipients outside that class, gifts made during the last year of the deceased's life are included.

A gift need not be documented as a gift agreement. It can include forgiving a debt, providing money to purchase a home or another gratuitous disposition. Statutory exceptions include modest customary gifts, gifts for charitable or other public-benefit purposes, and expenditure on the maintenance and education of a statutory heir. Special rules apply to property covered by a valid agreement for lifetime assignment and distribution of property.

A gifted asset is assessed at its value at the time the estate is valued, but in the condition it was in when given. If the recipient later extended a house at their own expense, that investment is not automatically treated as part of the deceased's gift.

For example, the deceased leaves no spouse, has two children and a net estate worth EUR 120,000. One child previously received a gift valued at EUR 80,000 under the rules above. The calculation value is EUR 200,000, each child's statutory share is EUR 100,000 and each reserved share is EUR 50,000. If the other child received nothing by gift or will, their reserved share is calculated against EUR 200,000, rather than merely the EUR 120,000 remaining at death.

These values must be proved in litigation. In Rev 514/2019, the claim failed because the facts needed to establish the calculation value and the amount of the reserved share had not been proved. Gift agreements, debt records, payment evidence and property valuations can therefore be as important as the will itself. ^[7]

Heirs, legatees and duties imposed by a will

An heir succeeds to the deceased's estate as a whole or in a specified fraction. A legatee ordinarily receives a particular benefit: an asset, a sum of money, release from a debt, maintenance or another right. For example, one person may be appointed heir to the entire estate subject to an obligation to pay another person a specified legacy. ^[1]

The distinction also matters for debts. An heir is liable for the deceased's debts up to the value of the inherited property. A legatee is not ordinarily an heir, and the legacy ranks after the deceased's creditors and protected heirs. However, leaving someone a particular asset does not invariably create a legacy: if the testator intended that person to be an heir, the law permits that interpretation. The intended status should therefore be made clear.

A testamentary charge, or nalog, may require an heir or legatee to do something, or refrain from doing something, such as maintaining a grave. Unlike a legacy, the charge does not itself create a claim by its beneficiary against the person burdened with it. Culpable failure to comply may result in the loss of the right granted under the will. The executor and a person with a legal interest may seek a judicial determination of that consequence.

Charges and conditions must be lawful, possible and intelligible. A testator cannot validly appoint their heir's own successor, prohibit the heir from disposing of the inherited asset or prohibit or restrict partition of the estate. A substitute may, however, be appointed in case the first heir is unable or unwilling to inherit. A reserved share cannot be burdened by a charge, legacy, condition or time limit in a way that reduces the protected heir's entitlement. ^[1]

Disinheritance and exclusion from succession

A protected heir does not lose the reserved share merely because the will omits them or states that they are to receive nothing. Exclusion requires a statutory ground, such as a serious breach of a legal or moral duty towards the testator. The law gives examples including abusive or grossly offensive treatment and certain intentional criminal offences. A quarrel or loss of contact should not automatically be treated as sufficient; the particular circumstances must be assessed. ^[1]

Exclusion may be total or partial and must be expressed unambiguously in a legally valid testamentary form. It is advisable to describe the ground, which must exist at the time of death. In a dispute, the person relying on the exclusion bears the burden of proving it. The rights of other heirs are determined as though the excluded person had died before the deceased. Excluding a child therefore does not automatically exclude that child's descendants.

A separate mechanism allows an over-indebted or prodigal descendant to be deprived of the reserved share for the benefit of that descendant's own descendants. Additional conditions apply: at the testator's death, the deprived descendant must have a minor child, or a minor grandchild through a previously deceased child, or an adult child or such grandchild who is incapable of earning a living. Unworthiness to inherit is another distinct institution. It arises from serious acts specified by law against the deceased or their testamentary wishes, and the court considers it of its own motion.

Revoking or changing a will

A testator may revoke all or part of a will while retaining the necessary testamentary capacity. Revocation can be expressed in any recognised testamentary form; it need not use the same form as the original. A notarial will can therefore be revoked by a later valid handwritten will. ^[1]

A written will can also be revoked by intentionally destroying the document. However, the disappearance of the original does not by itself prove revocation. The law permits the existence, form and contents of a will to be proved where it was lost, concealed or destroyed without the testator's intention.

A later will does not necessarily cancel every earlier provision. Unless the earlier will is expressly revoked, provisions consistent with the later will remain effective. Selling or otherwise disposing of a specifically identified asset left by will operates as revocation in respect of that asset. When changing a will, it is therefore useful to state precisely what is revoked, what remains effective and how the operative document is to be kept.

Challenging a will and the time limits for claims

Dissatisfaction with the distribution is not itself a ground for annulment. Nullity, voidability and infringement of a reserved share must be distinguished. A forged will is void. So is a will made by someone under fifteen or by a person fully deprived of legal capacity on grounds of inability to reason. By contrast, an inability to reason at the time of execution, defects of consent and failures to observe the required form are addressed by the statutory rules on voidability. ^[1]

Annulment of a voidable will may be sought by a person with a legal interest. Coercion, threats, fraud or mistake must be shown to have affected the testamentary decision. A reserved-share claim does not require proof that the will is invalid: it seeks satisfaction of the protected heir's entitlement. Where recourse to gifts is necessary, the statutory order applies, starting with later gifts and working backwards.

Main time limits under the Serbian Inheritance Act
Claim	Time limit and starting point
Annulment for lack of capacity to reason or defects of consent	One year from learning of the ground of voidability, and no later than ten years from formal proclamation of the will. The one-year period cannot begin before proclamation.
Annulment for defective form	One year from learning of the will, and no later than ten years from its formal proclamation. This one-year period also cannot begin before proclamation.
Reserved share infringed by the will	Three years from formal proclamation for payment of the monetary equivalent or reduction of testamentary dispositions.
Reserved share infringed by gifts	Three years from the deceased's death for a monetary supplement or return of gifts.
Performance of a legacy	One year from when the legatee learned of the right and was entitled to demand performance.
Invoking nullity	The right does not expire through the passage of time, without prejudice to rules on acquisitive prescription, acquisition from a non-owner and limitation of claims.

For lack of testamentary capacity and defects of consent, Article 169 also provides a special twenty-year period from proclamation for annulment against a person acting in bad faith. That rule should not be extended to defects of form, which have a separate regime. Nor does the ten-year outer limit in the table allow a claimant to disregard a one-year period that has already begun.

Proclamation is the official opening and reading of the will, recorded in minutes. It does not certify the will's validity. Where material facts are disputed in estate proceedings, the parties are referred to litigation. The period fixed by that referral, which cannot exceed thirty days, must be distinguished from the Inheritance Act periods above. Failure to act may allow the estate proceedings to continue without determining the disputed claim. ^[3]

Preparing a claim therefore requires establishing precisely what is challenged, when the will was proclaimed, when the claimant learned of the relevant facts and what evidence is available. When making a will, clear wording, the appropriate legal form and safe custody of the original can prevent many of these problems.

Legal Sources and Case Law

This article concerns Serbian law, based on legislation in force on 24 October 2026.

Wills in Serbia: Forms, Reserved Shares and Challenges