Per una modifica quantitativa della legittima in ossequio ai principi di solidarietà e di autoresponsabilità

The essay argues for a quantitative revision of forced heirship, maintaining that the current structure of reserved shares no longer adequately reflects contemporary social and familial transformations. Starting from the growing relevance of affective bonds and the declining centrality of blood ties as the sole benchmark of succession-related protection, the author shows that population ageing, the pluralization of family forms, and the increasing prominence of the spouse or partner have rendered a system based on rigid quotas and broad hereditary reservations progressively less convincing. Particular attention is devoted to the succession priority of the surviving spouse, also examined in light of recent case law, and to the criticism of the automatism by which the protection of forced heirs continues to privilege formal family status over the actual quality of interpersonal relationships. From this perspective, the author advocates a reduction in the reserved share, not in order to deny the solidaristic function of the institution, but rather to recalibrate it in a manner more consistent with the principles of solidarity and self-responsibility, while at the same time enhancing testamentary freedom and allowing greater consideration of relationships that are concretely meaningful in the distribution of wealth upon death. The article ultimately advances a proposal to rebalance succession law, aiming at a model of protection that is less automatic and more closely attuned to the realities of contemporary family life.