The new digital platform diathikes.gr, through which all wills deposited with a notary from November 1, 2025 are published, was presented in mid-October by the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis and the Deputy Minister Giannis Bougas. This reform fully digitizes the publication procedure, reducing completion time from 400 days down to just 3 to 7 days.

From November 1, 2025, wills are published electronically by the notary even on the same day of the request, at the latest within 7 days. Each notary will enter in the new Registry of Wills every holographic, secret, or public will that has been drafted or deposited before him/her. The registry is maintained by the Notarial Association of the Courts of Appeals of Athens–Piraeus–Aegean and Dodecanese, ensuring speed, transparency, and security.

For pending cases, a legislative regulation will follow within November so that all wills will fall under the new system. Citizens will be able to search nationwide if a will has been deposited with a notary or consul, and a certificate of existence or non-existence will be issued the same day.

The benefits are multiple:

• Drastic reduction in publication time and issuance of certificates.
• Immediate access of citizens to the registry while respecting GDPR.
• Relief of courts and better utilization of judicial staff.
• Increased safety and transparency in the process.
• Connection with the European Wills Registry (ARERT) for cross-border search.

The General Registry of Wills now consists of two sections:

Section A includes:

• Holographic wills deposited with a notary or consul
• Secret and public wills
• Acts of revocation of wills

Section B includes:

• Publication acts of wills
• Copies of publication protocols from a consul or foreign authority
• Acts declaring holographic wills genuine.

A holographic will is declared genuine by the notary, if requested, in the presence of witnesses and with an attorney present, unless the honored person is “exotic”, in which case additional handwriting forensic analysis is required.