- Public (dictated to a notary and signed in front of two witnesses),
- Secret (delivered to a notary in a sealed envelope), or
- Handwritten (written by hand by the testator and kept by friends or relatives).
After the death of the testator, the will must be published. If the will is public or secret, it is promptly published by the notary. If it is handwritten, the law states that anyone in possession of such a will must present it to a notary for publication. Destroying it, under any circumstances, is a crime. However, any parties requesting publication of a will in which they are named as heirs, can legitimately decide not to accept their inheritance.
The publication of the will consists of a notary deed through which the will becomes public. The notary proceeds with publication in the presence of two witnesses and drafts a report, in which the state of the will is described, its contents are reproduced and its opening is announced.
When the testator merely names the heirs, it is not necessary to list the assets included in the inheritance, since the heirs will presumably claim the entire estate of the deceased, in whole or in extracted shares.
On the other hand, if the testator intends to dispose of their estate in a manner that favors one or more parties, they can describe their assets in any way they see fit, even if those assets are easily identifiable. This applies both to dispositions by way of bequest and to the division of assets (or indications given on the composition of the individual shares) made by the testator. For example, in the case of shares or bonds, or other financial instruments, it is appropriate to identify them by their exact names, unless the intention is to leave a single subject all the financial instruments existing at a credit institution. In this case, indicating the name of the bank and the specific branch is sufficient.
In terms of notification, the notary usually sends a registered letter, informing all parties concerned that the will has been published. Naturally, if the notary cannot locate the heirs, they cannot notify them of the will’s existence. It is therefore advisable, particularly when the heirs are not close relatives, for the testator to indicate the best way to reach said parties: either in the will or in a separate document. It should be kept in mind that the notary is under no legal obligation to track down heirs, particularly those living outside of Italy.