Wills in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author: Azur Prnjavorac, attorney at law and mediator · Last updated: 17 September 2026

How the office works: Law Office Prnjavorac drafts wills and represents parties in disputes about their validity: absence of the prescribed form, the testator's capacity to reason at the time of making, defects of intention and infringement of the forced share. An overview of the service is on our page on the inheritance law attorney in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A will in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a unilateral, personal and revocable declaration of intention by which a testator disposes of property for the event of death. The forms of will recognised by law in BiH are the holograph will, the written will before witnesses, the court will, the notarial will, the consular or diplomatic will, the shipboard or aircraft will, the oral will and the international will. A will is valid only if it was made in the form prescribed by law and by a person capable of reasoning.

Our office advises on and draws up wills for domestic and foreign clients who own real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina or other property there and wish to regulate their succession in law.

Requirements for the validity of a will

A will is a strictly personal act which may be made by any person capable of reasoning who has reached the age of 15. A will is null if at the time it was made the testator had not reached the age of 15 or was not capable of reasoning. Unless the contrary is proved, the testator is presumed to have been capable of reasoning when the will was made. A testator was not capable of reasoning if at that moment they were unable to understand the meaning of their declaration and its consequences, or unable to control their intention sufficiently to act in accordance with that understanding. A loss of the capacity to reason arising after the will was made does not affect its validity.

In Republika Srpska the age threshold under the Law on Inheritance is likewise 15, so the same requirement applies whichever entity's law governs the estate.

Form as a condition of validity

A will is valid where it was made in a form laid down by law and on the conditions the law provides. After the succession has opened, annulment of a will for want of form may be sought only by a person with a legal interest, within one year of learning of the will and at the outside within ten years of the will being proclaimed. The one-year period cannot begin to run before the will has been proclaimed.

The time limit for reducing testamentary dispositions

A reduction of testamentary dispositions may be sought within three years of the proclamation of the will. A reduction of dispositions made by a contract of inheritance, and the return of gifts, may be sought within three years of the testator's death, or from the day on which the decision declaring the testator dead, or the decision establishing the death, became final.

The forms of will in BiH

The holograph will

A will is valid if the testator wrote it in their own hand and signed it. For the validity of a holograph will it is not essential that it states the date on which it was made, though stating the date is advisable.

The written will before witnesses

A testator who can read and write may make a will by signing in their own hand, in the presence of two witnesses, a document drawn up by someone else, declaring before them that it is their will. The witnesses sign on the will itself, and it is advisable to note their capacity as witnesses and any other circumstances that would make them easier to trace.

The court will

A judge of the competent court may make a will for the testator as dictated by the testator, having first established the testator's identity. Once the testator has read and signed such a will, the judge certifies on the will itself that the testator read and signed it in the judge's presence.

The court will where the testator cannot read it

Where a testator is unable to read the will the judge has made, the judge reads it to the testator in the presence of two witnesses. The testator then signs the will in the presence of the two witnesses, or places a fingerprint on it, after declaring that it is their will. The witnesses sign on the will. The judge certifies on the will that all these steps were carried out.

The notarial will

A notary may make a will for the testator in the form of a notarially processed document, in accordance with the special law governing the notarial processing of documents. The notarial will is a form of ordinary public will.

The consular and diplomatic will

A will may be made for a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina abroad, under the provisions applying to the making of a court will, by a consular representative or by a diplomatic representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina performing consular functions.

The shipboard and aircraft will

On a vessel or an aircraft of Bosnia and Herzegovina a will may be made by the master of the vessel or the commander of the aircraft, under the provisions applying to the making of a court will. A will made on a vessel or in an aircraft of Bosnia and Herzegovina ceases to have effect 30 days after the testator returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The oral will

A testator may declare their last wishes orally before two witnesses only where exceptional circumstances make it impossible to make a written will. An oral will ceases to have effect 30 days after the exceptional circumstances in which it was made have ended.

Witnesses to an oral will

Only persons who may be witnesses to a court will may act as witnesses to an oral will, but they need not be able to read and write.

The international will

An international will is valid as to form, whatever the place where it was made, the place where the property is, or the citizenship, residence or place of stay of the testator, provided it was made in the form of an international will in accordance with Articles 83 to 89 of the Law on Inheritance. An international will must be made in writing. The testator need not write it in their own hand. It may be written in any language, by hand or by any other means. In the presence of two witnesses and a person authorised for international wills, the testator declares that the document is their will and that they know its content. The testator is not obliged to disclose the content of the international will to the witnesses or to the authorised person.

The content of a will and the appointment of heirs

A testator may appoint one or more heirs by will. An heir under a will is a person whom the testator has appointed to inherit the whole of the estate, or a part of it determined by reference to the whole. A person to whom the will leaves one or more specific things or rights is also treated as an heir where it is established that the testator's intention was that this person should be an heir.

Nullity of a will

A will is null if the testator was incapable of reasoning, or had not reached the age required by the applicable law (15 in both the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska), or was compelled to make it by threat or duress, or decided to make it because of deceit or while acting under a mistake. Threat, duress or deceit renders the will null even where it comes from a third person. Testamentary dispositions are also null where there is a mistake about the facts that prompted the testator to make them. Where only some provisions of a will were included under threat or duress, through deceit or under a mistake, only those provisions are null.

Case law on wills in BiH

Two judgments of the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina show how the courts treat the form of a will and the boundary between a challenge to a will and a property claim against the estate. The summaries below set out the legal propositions; the full texts of the judgments in the original language are on the Bosnian version of this page.

Wills for the BiH diaspora: citizens of BiH living abroad

Citizens of BiH living in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and elsewhere have several ways of making a will that will also be recognised in BiH:

• The consular will, made before a consular or diplomatic representative of BiH abroad, has the same legal force as a court will.
• The international will, in the uniform form introduced by the Washington Convention of 1973 providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will and taken over into Articles 83 to 89 of the Law on Inheritance, is valid as to form whatever the place where it was made, where the property is, or the citizenship of the testator.
• Recognition of the form of a foreign will is additionally governed by the Hague Convention of 1961 on the conflicts of laws relating to the form of testamentary dispositions, under which a will is valid as to form if it complies with the law of any one of several connected states.
• A will made abroad is valid as to form if it complies with the law of the place where it was made, the law of the testator's citizenship or residence, or the law of BiH (Article 31 of the Act on the Resolution of Conflicts of Laws); no separate recognition procedure is conducted, but a certified translation and, where needed, an apostille are required.

Our office advises clients in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other EU states on the legal effects of a will on property in BiH.

Frequently asked questions about wills in BiH

How old must I be to make a will?

In the Federation of BiH, under the Law on Inheritance of the FBiH, a person must have reached the age of 15 and be capable of reasoning. In Republika Srpska, under the Law on Inheritance of RS, the age threshold is likewise 15.

Must a will written in my own hand bear a date?

No, the date is not a condition of validity of a holograph will, but it is advisable in order to avoid disputes where more than one will exists.

How much does it cost to have a will drawn up by a lawyer in BiH?

The price depends on the complexity of the dispositions and on the form of the will. The Attorneys' Tariff of the Federation of BiH sets out the basis of the calculation in detail.

Can I make a will abroad as a citizen of BiH?

Yes. A citizen of BiH abroad may make a will before a consular or diplomatic representative of BiH, who acts under the provisions governing the court will. Alternatively, an international will may be made under the Washington Convention of 1973, whose provisions have been taken over into the Law on Inheritance.

Can a will be challenged, and within what time?

Yes. Annulment for want of form may be sought by any person with a legal interest within one year of learning of the will, and at the outside within ten years of its proclamation. A reduction of testamentary dispositions may be sought within three years of the proclamation.

Is a notarial will compulsory?

No. The notarial will is only one of several forms the law provides. A holograph will, a court will and a written will before witnesses are equally valid, provided the statutory requirements for each are met.

What is the forced share, and can a will exclude it?

The forced share is the part of the estate that belongs by operation of law to the forced heirs (children, the spouse, and parents in certain cases) and that a will cannot take away, except in the cases of unworthiness or the grounds for disinheritance that the law provides.