Inheritance in Georgia: how an estate passes to heirs and onto the registry

მემკვიდრეობა: an estate, with its debts, passing on death

Inheritance (მემკვიდრეობა) is the passing of a deceased person's estate, meaning everything they owned and everything they owed at the moment of death, to heirs named by law, by a will, or by both at once.

The rules sit in the Civil Code of Georgia (English text on Matsne). Article 1306(1) sets out the two grounds, law and will, and Article 1328(1) defines the estate as the total of assets and liabilities at the moment of death, so debts travel with the flat. For a flat or plot in Georgia, the process ends in two documents: a Georgian notary's certificate of inheritance (სამკვიდრო მოწმობა), and then registration of the heir's ownership in the Public Registry.

Three features surprise buyers who know the word from elsewhere. First, nothing passes automatically: an heir must accept, either by a declaration to a notary or by actually taking over the property. Second, the Georgian certificate is a notarial document, not a court order, so a Hebrew speaker should not call it a צו ירושה, the Israeli court order. Third, Georgia has no separate inheritance tax; what an heir receives is treated as income, with broad family exemptions. Which country's law applies turns on the deceased's nationality at death, as our guide to a foreigner's property after death explains.

By law, by will, or partly each: Articles 1306 to 1308

Article 1306(2) lists three situations in which the statutory rules (intestacy) apply: there is no will, the will disposes of only part of the estate, or the will is void in whole or in part. A will that leaves a Tbilisi flat to a niece but says nothing about a bank deposit sends the deposit to the heirs by law.

So only a will can leave a flat to a company, and only to one that exists when the owner dies. Will forms are covered in our guide to making a will in Georgia.

The day the estate opens, and what is inside it

Every later deadline counts from the opening of the estate.

Where friends bought together, the heirs step into a share alongside the surviving owner (see co-ownership). For a marital flat, the survivor's own half is outside the estate altogether, as the worked example shows.

If nobody inherits, the estate passes to the State (Article 1343). The Constitutional Court struck down an exception for care institutions on 19 September 2025, with effect from 1 July 2026. Law No 1757 of 23 June 2026 then amended Article 1343, and the current text has no such exception.

Acceptance: one act covers the whole estate

Article 1421 allows acceptance by a declaration to a notary or by taking possession of or managing the property.

• Part means all. Under Article 1421(3), taking possession of part of the estate counts as accepting all of it, "irrespective of its nature and location". Collecting rent from a Batumi flat accepts the Tbilisi flat and the debts too.
• Renouncing for someone is accepting. Under Article 1421(4), giving up your share in favour of another heir is itself treated as acceptance.

The deadline is short: "An estate shall be accepted within six months after the day that the estate is opened" (Article 1424). Heirs called to the estate later get the time remaining or at least three months (Article 1425). A court, or the consent of heirs who have accepted, can let a late heir in (Article 1426). The Notary Chamber's succession register at heritage.notary.ge and its General Registry of Wills, kept since 1 September 2011, support the process.

Fees are where we stop short. Under Article 18(1) of Government Resolution No 507 of 29 December 2011, the notary's charge for a certificate "is calculated from the value of the estate" (სამკვიდრო მოწმობის გაცემისათვის საზღაური გამოიანგარიშება სამკვიდროს ღირებულებიდან). For matrimonial property only the deceased's part is valued, from registry data. We could not confirm the scale that currently applies to certificates, so we quote no amount. Registering the heir's ownership then costs GEL 150, GEL 270 or GEL 350 depending on speed.

What the certificate of inheritance and the extract show

The key document is the სამკვიდრო მოწმობა, issued by a Georgian notary after six months, or earlier where no other heirs exist (Articles 1499 to 1500).

Compare the certificate's cadastral code with the current registry extract, and check that its shares add up to the whole estate. A foreign heir who cannot travel can act through a power of attorney, and documents from abroad also need a certified Georgian translation.

Worked example: a Tbilisi flat, a widow and two children

Our own arithmetic, assuming Georgian law applies. A man dies on 10 March 2026 without a will, leaving a wife, two adult children and a Tbilisi flat bought during the marriage, valued at GEL 300,000.

1. Take out the spouse's half. Half the flat, GEL 150,000, is the wife's own matrimonial share and never enters the estate (Article 1339).
2. Divide the estate. The other half, GEL 150,000, is the estate. The wife and both children are heirs of the first degree and share equally (Article 1336): GEL 50,000 each. His parents would also be first-degree heirs; here they died before him.
3. Add up the shares. The wife ends with 2/3 of the flat (1/2 plus 1/6); each child holds 1/6.
4. Watch the clock. Acceptance must be declared to a notary, or shown by taking possession, by 10 September 2026 (Article 1424).
5. Tax. Wife and children are first-line relatives under the Tax Code, so the inheritance is exempt income (Article 82(1)(g)).
6. Costs. Registration at the standard speed is GEL 150. The notary's fee is calculated on the GEL 150,000 estate only; we do not quote it because the current scale is unconfirmed.

A later buyer of the whole flat needs all three co-owners, or their attorneys, on the contract.

Inheritance next to will, gift, tax and "order"

Georgian uses one word, რიგი, for both lists; Russian, Hebrew and Arabic use очередь, דרגה and الدرجة for the Civil Code degree but линия, קו and الخط for the tax line. Gifts are covered under gift deed, and the tax lines in our guide to inheritance and gift tax.

Inheritance, estate and certificate in five languages

The notarial tariff in Resolution No 507 uses სამკვიდრო for the estate and სამკვიდრო მოწმობა for the certificate, and these are the forms to expect on the Georgian notary's paperwork.

Assumptions that go wrong with inherited property

• Waiting for the will to be "read". The six months run from the opening of the estate, not from the moment the family learns of a will.
• Collecting rent "just for now". Managing part of the estate is acceptance of the whole, debts included (Article 1421(3)).
• Giving a share to a sibling to stay out of it. Renouncing in someone's favour counts as accepting (Article 1421(4)).
• Valuing the whole marital flat. Only the deceased's part is in the estate, and only that part is valued for the notary's fee.
• Treating a foreign certificate as final. A Georgian notary works from it, but registration needs the Georgian certificate.
• Buying from an heir too early. Before the six months end or the certificate is issued, the heir cannot dispose of the estate (Article 1427).

Using the inheritance rules on a real flat

1. Fix the opening date

   Day of death or of the court decision.

2. Search the succession register

   heritage.notary.ge shows any open case.

3. Separate the marital half

   Only the deceased's part is the estate.

4. Accept within six months

   Declaration to a notary, or possession.

5. Check the certificate

   Heirs, shares and cadastral code.

6. Register the heirs

   Public Registry, GEL 150 to GEL 350.

Frequently asked questions

What does მემკვიდრეობა mean?

Inheritance: the passing of a deceased person's assets and liabilities to heirs by law, by will or both.

Can one estate pass partly by will and partly by law?

Yes, where a will covers only part of the estate or is partly void (Civil Code Article 1306(2)).

Can a company inherit a flat in Georgia?

Only under a will, and only if it exists on the day the estate opens (Articles 1307 and 1308).

How long do heirs have to accept?

Six months from the opening of the estate (Article 1424).

Does using part of the estate count as acceptance?

Yes, and it covers the whole estate wherever it is (Article 1421(3)).

Who issues the certificate of inheritance for a Georgian flat?

A Georgian notary; a foreign certificate needs an apostille and a Georgian translation first.

How much is the notary's fee for the certificate?

It is calculated from the estate's value under Resolution No 507; ask the notary for a written figure.

Is there inheritance tax in Georgia?

No separate tax; the heir's receipt is income, exempt for first and second-line relatives.

Sources

1. Civil Code of Georgia, Articles 1306 to 1343, 1378, 1421 to 1427 and 1499 to 1500, Matsne (accessed 28 October 2026)
2. Law of Georgia on Private International Law, Articles 4, 10 and 55, Matsne
3. Tax Code of Georgia, Article 82, Matsne
4. Government Resolution No 507 of 29 December 2011 on notarial tariffs, Articles 18 and 23, Matsne (accessed 28 October 2026)
5. Immovable property registration fees, National Agency of Public Registry
6. Answers to hot topics, Notary Chamber of Georgia
7. United succession register, Notary Chamber of Georgia
8. Inheritance Tax Manual, IHTM47030, HM Revenue and Customs

Change log

• 28 October 2026 - Glossary entry published from the Civil Code, the Law on Private International Law, the Tax Code and Resolution No 507 on Matsne, the National Agency of Public Registry, the Notary Chamber of Georgia and HM Revenue and Customs.