When one has family in Malta the distance between Malta and the UK can seem a long way when something happens to the family. In case of death one has to make arrangements to travel in a short period of time and this can be a hard thing to do. When the first period of mourning is over there will be time to think about the inheritance of the deceased person and this is often a ground for many misunderstandings and sometimes even arguments and even fights among the heirs. Especially for those who do not have a large knowledge of the Maltese Law this page will explain in brief the facts around the Causa Mortis in Malta.

Causa Mortis in Malta handles what will happen to the immobile property from a deseased person with regards to the succession. When a person deceases the heirs will inherit the inheritance of this person including all assets and liabilities. To see who these heirs are one has to check if the deceased has left a Will sometimes also referred to as the Testament. If this is the case the heirs are normally mentioned in the will or Testament. If the deceased did not leave a Will or Testament the Maltese Law provides the rules by which the heirs have to be established. This will be done according to the degrees of family relations from the survivors. One can also leave legacy’s in the will, a legacy is when the person who makes the Will (the testator) wants a particular person to have a particular object.

Tax is due over the succession of immovable property and this is paid to the Inland Revenue Department. The rates of this tax vary according to the different circumstances. A Declaration of Causa Mortis in Malta has to be enrolled by virtue of a deed published before the Notary and tax is to be paid on the value of the immovable property inherited. This deed has to be published by a Notary Public and since it is a public deed it has to be registered in the Public Registery of Malta.

Every heir can go to a Notary Public and ask for a Maltese Causa Mortis to be made for his or her share only. The heirs together are not required to make the Malta Causa Mortis together but off course it can save some time and expenses.

Formalities

There are a number of formalities that have to be followed to make the deed of Causa Mortis for Maltese Law applicable. Some of the questions that the Notary Public will have to ask before being able to proceed to make the Causa Mortis with Maltese Law compliant are:

a) The date of death

b) If there is a will or not

c) If there are any children and in case there is a will if there are any children not mentioned in the will and if so how many

d) If the immovable property or a share of the immovable property belonged to the deceased

With answers to these questions the Notary public can proceed to draw up the public Deed of a Causa Mortis in Malta. This Causa Mortis in Maltese conformity with the Laws of Malta should contain the following:

a) The particulars of the person asking to draw up the Causa Mortis in the particulars of the deceased

b) The date and place of death of the deceased

c) The particulars of the immovable property or properties or the rights to the property or part of the property

d) The particulars of the way the immovable property or properties will be transferred to the heir

A Maltese Causa Mortis should also include a statement by the heir of the actual value of the property or properties or the share or shares of it that are being transferred.

In Malta Causa Mortis does involve stamp duty which has to be paid. This is regulated by the The Duty on Documents and Transfers Act which are part of the Laws of Malta. This Duty on Documents and Transfers Act imposes the stamp duty on the heirs of the immovable property. The general rule is that the stamp duty over property owned by an individual is at a rate of five percent. When the rights transferred are a part of a property that the rate would be five percent of the part of the value of the property to which heir is entitled to. There can be a number of exceptions on the above described general rule and your Public Notary can tell you all about these exceptions.

One can in certain circumstances benefit from rebates in the stamp duty that has to be paid by the heirs and that is described in the Causa Mortis in Malta. For this the Causa Mortis deed must be concluded within six month from the date of death of the deceased. If the Causa Mortis is concluded more than one year of the date of death of the deceased, this will result in interest charged on the due taxes.

For more information regarding Causa Mortis in Malta you can visit the Notary Public. Your Notary Public will be happy to inform you about all that is involved by making a deed of Causa Mortis with Malta Laws in general and you specific circumstances in particular.