Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, Sentence No. 18197/2020
Art. 458 of the Italian Civil Code
In summary, the spouses drew up, on the same day, their respective wills with two separate acts, appointing themselves respective beneficiaries and as a replacement nominating and/or bequeathing assets to their children.
The wills, drawn up on the same day in separate deeds, contained reciprocal provisions for the two testators.
The surviving testator would inherit the other’s share. Both testators required a replacement in case the designate did not want or could not accept the goods, in which case they would go to their son Thomas. The two wills contained provisions for the other son Michael, to whom the testators left agricultural land, an outbuilding, another building, and a garage.
The Supreme Court is clear that in the foundation of the two wills there is an agreement between the spouses to regulate their respective succession, thus confirming the nullity of said wills for prohibiting the establishment of successor agreements, as per Art. 458 of the Italian Civil Code.
Demonstration of specific and objective agreement between the testators.
Three elements: simultaneity, identity of the content, identity of the format. I would recommend making wills at least a few days apart. I would also change the format, or rather vary the difficulty of the writing if the objective is the same. Finally, if the estate is substantial, I would add a couple of separate final legacies so as to differentiate them just enough so that this ruling cannot be revoked, or at least making it more difficult to do so.