By Anastasia Miliou, Attorney at the Supreme Courts
Most people have heard of usucaption (known in Greek law as chrisiktisia). In simple terms, it means that if someone uses a property as if it were their own for 20 continuous years, they can eventually become its legal owner.
This 20-year period counts from the first moment the person starts acting like the owner.
But things become more complicated when the property is shared — for example, a home inherited by siblings, where each one owns a part of it.
By default, the law says that if you are a co-owner and you use the whole property, you are considered to be doing so on behalf of all co-owners. This means you cannot claim full ownership just because you used it more than the others.
A co-owner can eventually take full ownership through usucaption, but only if they clearly inform the other co-owners that:
- they will now be using a larger share than their own, or
- they will be using the entire property exclusively for themselves.
Once the other co-owners are aware of this, the 20-year countdown begins.
The notification can be:
- Explicit – directly telling the others in writing or in person
- Indirect – through actions that clearly show the person is taking over the whole property (for example, locking out others, renting it out alone, or making major renovations)
What matters is that the other co-owners become aware of it.
If the co-owners have already made an informal division among themselves — even verbally — and each person uses their agreed part exclusively, then no extra notification is needed. From that moment, each person uses their part on their own responsibility.
In many families, shared properties come from inheritance. For example:
- A father dies and leaves a house to his three children.
- They all own it together as co-heirs.
Even if one child lives in the entire house, the law still sees them as holding it for all three, unless they clearly tell the others that they now claim it exclusively for themselves.
Summary
A co-owner can become full owner of a shared property only if:
- They clearly inform the other co-owners that they now claim the whole property.
- From that point on, they use it exclusively for at least 20 years without interruption.
Simply living in or using the whole property is not enough.
*Anastasia C. Miliou is an Attorney at Law at the Supreme Courts with experience in international law and a large clientele in both Greece and abroad. Her telephone number is 6945028153. If you would like questions answered as part of her articles in English online, you can e-mail her at natmil@otenet.gr or visit www.legalaction.gr
