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Inherited Property in Bulgaria: The Seven Risks to Resolve Before You Buy or Sell

11 August 2026 · by Blagoy Tumbarov, attorney-at-law, Sofia Bar Association

An inherited property in Bulgaria is risky for three main reasons: it usually has several owners who never chose to be co-owners; a will may exist that nobody knows about — and it changes who the owner actually is; and the ownership history is long, and there are the possibilities of hidden encumbrances, debts and gaps. Every one of these risks can be identified and managed before the transaction. Almost none of the issues outlined above can be resolved cost-effectively at a later stage.

Inherited properties are among the most frequent sources of disputes and collapsed deals in our practice — and they are everywhere in Bulgarian city centres, exactly where foreign buyers look to buy. This guide works in both directions: if you are buying a property the seller acquired by inheritance, and if you are an heir — often living abroad — selling one. For the purchase process as a whole, start with our guide Buying Property in Bulgaria: The Legal Checks.

Why is co-ownership between heirs different from any other?

When several people buy a property together, they chose to be co-owners. Inheritance is the opposite: co-ownership arises by operation of law, wanted by no one. Each heir has their own finances, their own urgency and their own idea of what the purchase price should be. That is why inherited co-ownership often produces blocked sales — one heir’s refusal can prevent the sale of the property as a whole.

For the buyer this leads to one iron rule: the entire property can be safely acquired only when all co-owners participate in the transaction or are properly represented. Signing a preliminary agreement with only some of the heirs is a risk we treat as a red flag in its own right.

Heirs living abroad — extremely common with Bulgarian inherited property — do not need to travel: participation through a properly drafted power of attorney with an apostille and certified translation is standard, and our firm routinely structures sales where several heirs sign from several countries.

How do you find out whether there is a will nobody knows about?

If the property is inherited, someone has died — and besides the heirs at law (typically the children and the surviving spouse), it is entirely possible the deceased left a will and told no one, precisely because it disinherits someone close.

This is not a theoretical risk. Two cases from our practice:

The first case. A 70-year-old man puts up for sale the property inherited from his parents, who died more than 15 years earlier; he has used it undisturbed ever since. He goes straight through a real estate agent (realtor), without a lawyer. A buyer appears — our client. Our firm’s standing practice is that where there are deceased persons in the chain of title, we always run a will check. The check found a will by which the parents had left the property to another person. The seller — the man who had used the property for 15 years — was in fact not its owner. The check saved our client’s money.

The second case. A 60-year-old man decides to sell the property inherited from his parents in the center of Sofia — and, unlike the first seller, comes to us before the sale. We established handwritten wills by which first his father, ten years earlier, and then his mother, three years earlier, had disinherited him. Moreover, a month before he came to us, the beneficiary had presented the will before a notary but had not registered it — rare behavior that suggests intent. After our involvement, the relations between our client and the beneficiary were settled to the benefit of both.

The conclusion from both cases is the same: a will check must be a standard part of preparing any transaction with inherited property — no matter how many years the heirs have used it undisturbed. Heirs who are entitled to a reserved share under the Inheritance Act — including children, a spouse and, in certain circumstances, parents — should know that the law protects them: under Arts. 28–30 of the Inheritance Act they can claim restoration of their reserved share where a will infringes it.

What happens to the debts of the deceased?

The inheritance includes not only the deceased’s assets but also their liabilities. These may include outstanding utility debts, secured obligations such as a mortgage, and liabilities connected with pending disputes. Before a sale, these liabilities must be identified and, where necessary, addressed as part of the transaction.

How often? According to our practice, roughly every third inherited property in the transactions we handle carries old debts to the heating utility. In one case the accumulated debt exceeded €70,000. After our involvement the client paid three to four times less and sold without obstruction — because a significant part of such old debts is open to challenge, including on limitation grounds. It does not happen by itself; it takes active legal work.

Heirs about to accept an estate with unclear debts should also know about acceptance under inventory (Art. 61 of the Inheritance Act), which caps their liability at the value of what they inherit.

What if one heir wants more than the property is worth?

The classic blockade: the property is on the market, a buyer exists, but one heir insists on an above-market price and obstructs the rest. Where agreement fails, the legal exit is partition — voluntary first, judicial if necessary. Judicial partition can be lengthy and costly and, depending on the circumstances, may result in a public sale of the property, potentially at a price below market value.

The real work of the lawyer therefore happens before court: settling the relations between the co-owners so that judicial partition never becomes necessary. Our firm’s success rate in exactly this — out-of-court settlement between heirs — is very high, and what it saves is measured not only in thousands of euros but in the scarcest resource: the clients’ time.

How far back must the title check go?

The standard encumbrance check covers the last 10 years. For an inherited property that is almost never enough. The deceased was most often elderly, owned the property for decades — and sometimes inherited it themselves. The correct check starts from the first ownership document, however far back it leads. In our practice we have run title checks starting in 1899.

The longer the history, the greater the risk of gaps: an incomplete chain of heirs where the property passed through two or three successions, an heir that has been missed in a previous transaction, old registrations that no one ever verified.

When is a handwritten will a fraud signal?

The handwritten (holographic) will is a legally recognized form of testamentary disposition of property in Bulgaria. But one situation should trigger every alarm: the seller acquired the property under a handwritten will, and the beneficiary has no family or life connection to the deceased whatsoever.

In our practice, this combination has appeared in cases involving suspected property fraud, particularly where the beneficiary had no apparent personal or family connection with the deceased — the handwritten will is the instrument of choice because it is typically made without witnesses and without a notary. Our firm has developed a reliable way to verify the authenticity of such a will at a very early stage, before our client has taken on any financial commitment.

For the buyer, the rule is simple: a property acquired by the seller under a handwritten will from an unrelated person should not be purchased without thorough prior verification.

What is a contract for sale of inheritance — and why is it a red flag?

The contract for sale of inheritance (Art. 212 of the Obligations and Contracts Act) lets an heir sell not just a specific property but their entire inheritance or a share of it. The instrument is lawful — but in practice it is also used to circumvent Art. 33 of the Ownership Act, the rule obliging a co-owner, before selling their share to a third party, to first offer it to the other co-owners.

When a contract for sale of inheritance appears in a property’s history, it is a major red flag requiring careful analysis of how and why it was used. Our firm has personally acted in a multi-million-euro transaction in which one of the owners had acquired their share precisely this way.

And if I am the heir who is selling — from abroad?

Everything above applies in mirror image to the seller. Before listing an inherited Bulgarian property, save yourself months of uncertainty with four preliminary steps: a will check; an encumbrance certificate from the first ownership document, not just the last 10 years; clarity on the deceased’s debts; a clear, written agreement among all co-owners on the price and sale terms. A property with a clean legal history sells faster and at a better price — there is greater certainty that buyers and their banks will be willing to proceed at the right price.

None of this requires you to be in Bulgaria. And if the property is about to go on the market, our colleagues at Imotni Sdelki handle the sale itself while the firm handles its legal side — one team for the whole transaction. Proceeds can be lawfully transferred abroad through the banking system once the tax side is settled — a step we plan into the transaction, not after it.

Frequently asked questions

Can an inherited property in Bulgaria be sold if one heir disagrees?

The whole property — no. Each heir can dispose only of their own share, and a sale of that share to a third party is subject to the pre-emption procedure under Article 33 of the Ownership Act: first it must be offered to the other co-owners. In a lasting disagreement the exit is partition, but an out-of-court settlement is almost always the faster and better outcome for everyone.

How do you check whether the deceased left a will in Bulgaria?

Notarial wills and wills deposited with a notary can generally be traced through the relevant testamentary records. A handwritten will, however, may never have been deposited — so the check combines several methods and is done for every deceased person in the chain of title. In our firm it is a standard step in every inherited-property transaction.

Do heirs owe the debts of the deceased?

Yes — accepting the inheritance means accepting the obligations. Liability can be capped by acceptance under inventory (Art. 61 of the Inheritance Act), up to the value of what is received. And part of old debts — utility debts in particular — is often open to challenge, including on limitation grounds.

What is a reserved share and who has it?

The reserved share (Arts. 28–30 of the Inheritance Act) is the part of the estate the law protects for the closest family — children, spouse and parents — even against a will in favor of someone else. An heir whose reserved share has been infringed may bring a claim before the court for its restoration.

Is it risky to buy a property the seller acquired under a will?

It depends on the will. A notarial will, or a handwritten will in favor of a close person, are ordinary situations. A handwritten will in favor of a person with no connection to the deceased is a known fraud pattern and requires authenticity verification before any financial commitment.