Promise of Marriage under Italian Law

Under Italian Law, the promise of marriage is an act by which a person commits to another person to enter into marriage with him/her. This old institution of Italian Law is still regulated by the Italian Civil Code (Art. 79), which does not actually provide for any legal obligation to enter into marriage: marriage is […]

Legitimate Defence Law: what’s new

The new Italian law on legitimate defence has been recently approved on 28.03.2019. The law widens the scope of legitimate defence and intensifies penalties for theft, robbery and trespassing. The reform amends Article 52 of the Italian Criminal Code, which rules legitimate defence. In particular, it is stated that the defence is always considered proportionate […]

The Surname of the spouse after divorce

The Italian Civil Code, at Article 143-bis, rules that the wife adds her husband’s surname to her surname and keeps it during her widowhood, until she moves on to a new marriage. When the spouses separate, the wife continues to use her husband’s surname because the marriage relationship has not yet completely ceased. It may […]

Life Insurance policy and inheritance

The life insurance policy is a contract in favour of a third beneficiary party, who acquires the right to receive a payment at the moment of the death of the policyholder. The identification of the third party may be made by the last Will, even in general terms. In this case, it should be noted […]

Divorce of foreign citizens in Italy

If foreign spouses residing in Italy want to divorce, the Italian Court will rule, even if the marriage was celebrated abroad. This principle was recently stated by the Court of Monza (judgement no. 3001/2018), which recalled EU Regulation no. 1259/2010. In fact, according to this European Regulation, it is up to the Court where the […]