legittima

Legittima is an Italian term that functions both as an adjective meaning legitimate or lawful and as a legal noun referring to a protected share in a decedent’s estate. The word derives from Latin legitimus, and in contemporary usage it appears in everyday language as well as in formal legal contexts.

In Italian civil law, la legittima denotes the portion of an estate that must be reserved by law for certain heirs, known as forced heirs. This share cannot be freely disposed of through a will or through gifts made during life. The remaining portion of the estate, called la disponibile, can be freely allocated by the decedent. The exact size of the legittima depends on the number and status of the forced heirs (for example descendants and, in some cases, the spouse) and is defined by the Civil Code. When a testament or lifetime dispositions infringe the legittima, the affected heirs may invoke a reduction action (azione di riduzione) to restore their reserved share.

In practice, the legittima serves to protect the succession rights of family members and to limit gratuitous dispositions that would undermine those rights. The concept also interacts with intestate succession, where the legittima still applies and determines the portion assigned to forced heirs in the absence of a will. Beyond inheritance, legittima appears in phrases describing lawful or rightful situations, such as legittima difesa (justified self-defense) or autorità legittima (legitimate authority). The term is central to Italian succession law and is mirrored in other civil-law jurisdictions with similar forced-heirship rules.