Technical article

Can a Family Trust Own a Flat in Spain or Portugal, Italy, France or Greece?

Under Madeira's trust law, a Madeira trust cannot hold property in Portugal.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Imagine a widow in Texas with two sons, one in Mexico and one in Spain. She owns a flat in southern Europe and has a family trust at home. She wonders whether the trustee can go on the title, so the flat passes to her sons without a court. The flat is worth EUR 400,000 in this example. The figure is an example, not a forecast.

The answer depends on the country. ## What the sources show

The Hague Trusts Convention is a treaty on recognising trusts made under another country's law. Italy has ratified it, and it has been in force there since 1 January 1992 (the treaty body's table, tier B). The other four are not on that table as parties. France signed in 1991, but the table shows no ratification.

Italy

An Italian lawyer's article (tier C) says doubts arise when the settlor keeps wide powers, or when the trust is self-declared. A 2024 Italian lawyer's article (tier C) gives a 2% mortgage tax and a 1% cadastral tax when the home goes into the trust. A September 2026 trade report (tier U) says a new decree extends entry taxation to those two taxes, without showing the rates. A trade-press report (tier U) says gift and inheritance tax on trust assets is normally due when the trust pays out, from 1 January 2025. The rates are 4% for a spouse or child above EUR 1 million per heir, 6% for siblings above EUR 100,000, and 8% for others (PwC, tier B). An Italian tax-information site (tier C) says Italy keeps a register of trusts and their owners, with a fine of EUR 103 to EUR 1,032 for missing filings.

Spain

A Chambers practice guide (tier B) says Spain does not recognise foreign trusts, and a trust cannot be registered as owner. Foreign private foundations cannot be registered either. For tax, the assets count as the settlor's during life and the beneficiaries' after death. A Spanish tax ruling from 2016 treated a trust made in the settlor's lifetime for a named beneficiary as a taxable gift when created. A 2026 law-firm note repeats that view. The state scale for gifts and inheritance runs from 7.65% to 34%, and regions change it.

Portugal

Portugal is not on the table. Under Madeira's trust law, a Madeira trust cannot hold property in Portugal. When a trust ends and the assets go to someone who is not the settlor, stamp duty is 10%, as for a gift (tier B and C).

France

France taxes what it does not codify. Putting assets into a trust with a French link counts as a gift or inheritance, up to 60% in some cases. A yearly 1.5% levy applies to trust assets not declared. The fine for a missing form is EUR 20,000 in the newer sources, and older sources give EUR 20,000 or 12.5% of the trust's value, whichever is higher (tier B). The tax office (tier A) says a trust or a fiducie that holds French real estate owes 3% of market value each year, unless exempt.

Greece

A Greek law-firm note (tier C) treats a foreign trust as a legal entity for tax. The yearly 15% charge on the objective value applies to entities, and it falls away if the owners are disclosed. An accounting-firm guide (tier B) says a 2023 tax-authority decision extends that to entities held by foreign trusts, if neither the trust nor the trustee sits in a non-cooperative state and the deed and beneficiary list are filed.

An objection and some doors

You might say: if the trust is not recognised, why not skip it? Fair question. Some families do, and put the flat in a person's name. The sources above show the yearly charges that follow.

You could ask the lawyer in each country three things. Will the registry take the trustee's name? What does the tax office call the trust? And what does the yearly charge cost in euros, for a flat of your size?

If you own a flat in any of these countries, did you put it in your own name, in a trust, or in a company? Share what you found, and someone choosing may be glad to hear it.

Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.