Inheritance Law

Este Trabajo Fin de Grado trata de presentar la situación actual y los posibles desarrollos del debate acerca de la libertad de testar en materia de sucesiones hereditarias, según las más recientes contribuciones en España así como en Italia, país del entorno más cercano con ciertas características peculiares. La evolución del tema y las propuestas de cambios se relacionan también con las nuevas perspectivas que en la materia se abren en el ámbito de la Unión Europea, con el Reglamento de Sucesiones 650/2012 a punto de ser plenamente aplicable, en la línea de ampliar la autonomía de la voluntad del causante.

Wills are formal legal affairs that must satisfy strict prerequisites in order to be valid. Otherwise, they will be either automatically null or voidable. The rules pertaining to the form of wills have always been strict and have required wills to be made in a certain way. It is said that the amplified formalism promotes testamentary intent, ensures reliable evidence of testator’s wishes and reinforces the gravity of testation. However, it seems that, as of late, formalism sometimes clashes with the real intent of the decedent. Some countries have already adopted rules that allow judges to consider documents that do not meet all of the formal requirements needed for wills, to be valid and have effect. By doing so, they have opened the door to creation of certain new types of wills, made with the help of digital technology, that have never existed before – i.e. wills created with the help of smartphones, cameras or computers. Wills made with the help of digital technology are extremely informal but nonetheless; they purport testamentary intentions of the people who made them. These wills would not have any effect in most countries, however, in some, they can be declared valid, under certain conditions. This paper deals with a number of such examples and implications of abandoning strict formalism concerning the form of wills.

The paper discusses varying jurisdictions and evolving structures of the law of succession in Poland within last 100 years. It proves that basic notions of the law of succession remain unshaken, because the stability of the private law has been guaranteed in Poland after 1918 by the acceptance of Roman legal tradition. The paper pretends to present practical legal history. The fact is that many cases of succession have been left neglected for decades. Practical legal history is designed to be a useful presentation of the day-by-day changes to anyone in need of instruments for orientation in the law of succession over the previous 100 years. And it is the practical considerations which demand delving back even to times before World War I. The analysis focuses on the legal status at a given place and time: just after 1918, in times of codifications of trade law, obligations or private international law, in the epoch of unification efforts after World War II and under the 1964 Polish civil code that has been amended several times. Because of the many changes to the Polish law of succession and the multitude of jurisdictions as well as variety of legal traditions, the example of evolution of Polish legislation on successions seems useful and instructive to everyone interested in the evolution of private law in Europe.

Действия на съдебният изпълнител при смърт на длъжника в хода на изпълнителното производство В хода на времето към мени разбира се и към колегисе отправяха множество въпроси във връзка с проблемите на наследяването в изпълнителното производство.

Portuguese report to the Common Core of European Private Law volume on "immoral contracts". Report includes analysis of case scenarios on a range of issues, from sex work to surrogacy, from freedom to marry to inheritance issues, from suretyships to usury.

In 1776 Jefferson said that the most important change he made to make Virginia laws more democratic was his bill to alter Virginia's inheritance law. His bill allowed for land and goods of those who died without a will to be equally divided among his or her children (with a life interest of part of the estate to a wife or husband) and the breaking of entails. Entails had locked a great portion of the land into hereditary descent by primogeniture: on the eve of the revolution about 3/4 of the land in Virginia's tidewater was locked into entails. Such restrictions were called "feudal" by contemporaries: It is especially interesting because Virginia laws allowed enslaved people and their progeny to be "attached" to estates. This article challenges received scholarship (pre-1997, when it appeared) to argue that what contemporaries called feudalism was alive and well in colonial Virginia and the revolution brought some radical reforms. What it meant for enslaved people was more complex, since they could afterwards be more easily sold and divided among the children of the testator.

This paper seeks to respond to defences of the right to bequeath wealth, focusing mainly on arguments that appear in libertarian writings. I argue that bequeathing property is typically subject to a lower opportunity cost than various ways in which persons use property while alive, including the act of gift-giving. Consequently, we should view an inheritance tax as less coercive than other forms of taxation, and possibly revise our views about whether bequest is an especially generous act.

This introduction to private law takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the different facets and dimensions of the field, from the family home to Kuta Beach and from Thomas Piketty to Nina Hagen. This concise book provides an accessible and fresh introduction to private law, presenting the topic as a unified whole of which the main branches – on contract, tort, property, family and inheritance – are governed by conflicts between individual autonomy and countervailing principles. The book stands out as a unique account of how private law allows individuals to optimally flourish in matters of economy, work, leisure, family and life in general.

The United States Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392 (cert. granted May 17, 2021). During said arguments, by many accounts, the majority of the justices seemed to be showing their cards in favor of a pro-life ruling of some manner. This paper speculates on what pro-life litigation may look like in the future.

Tener persona
On Identity and Identification in Early Modern Societies
This article aims to clarify the logics that governed operations of identification and claims to personal identity under the early modern Spanish Monarchy by contextualizing them within ancien régime legal culture. It analyses the sources produced by the Juzgados de bienes de difuntos (Tribunals of property of deceased persons), responsible for adjudicating successions of uncertain attribution and verifying the identity and kinship of those involved in inheritance transmissions on a global scale. Rather than adopting an evolutionist interpretation of “proof of identity,” this paper seeks to understand its development, starting from the observation that before the late eighteenth century legal personality was conceived as a possession—that is, as a thing that was owned and actively claimed by its use, publicly exercised and acknowledged. It will be shown that identity was held, like any other right, through “acts of possession” and not simply through title deeds, which were instead seen as a way of transcribing acts of possession of status. The article therefore suggests that in the early modern era it was necessary to continually produce proof of one’s identity, not only because of inadequate bureaucratic procedures and data archiving practices, but above all due to a different relation to the “thing of identity,” or, in other words, a different way of “possessing personhood.”

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Cet article vise à éclaircir les logiques qui présidaient aux opérations d’identification et de revendication de l’identité personnelle dans la Monarchie espagnole d’Ancien Régime, en les contextualisant au sein de la culture juridique de leur époque. J’analyserai les sources produites par les Juzgados de bienes de difuntos (« Tribunaux des biens des défunts »), chargés d’adjuger les héritages d’attribution incertaine, en vérifiant l’identité et la parenté des personnes impliquées dans des successions à échelle mondiale. Au lieu d’interpréter la « preuve d’identité » de manière évolutionniste, je chercherai à comprendre sa production en partant de la constatation que, durant l’Ancien Régime, la personnalité juridique se concevait comme une possession, revendiquée activement par son usage, publiquement exercé et reconnu. Il s’agira donc de montrer que l’identité était détenue, comme tout autre droit, à travers des « actes de possession », et non simplement grâce à des titres de propriété, considérés plutôt comme une façon de transcrire les actes de possession d’état. L’article avance donc que, dans les sociétés d’Ancien Régime, il fallait continuellement produire la preuve de sa propre identité, en raison non seulement de l’insuffisance des procédures bureaucratiques et des pratiques d’archivage des données, mais, surtout, d’une manière différente de posséder la « chose identité », c’est-à-dire d’une autre façon de « tenir personne ».

This opinion gives an explanation of canon 668 of the Code of the Canon Law for the Latin Rite.  It deals with the question of a member of a religious institute who inherits a great deal of money.  In this particular case the member is a Sister who has professed perpetual vows.  Her relatives question who gets the money when she dies:  her religious institute or her living relatives.

La produzione del testamento olografo non in originale ma in copia giustificherebbe, secondo la costante giurisprudenza di legittimità, la presunzione che il de cuius lo abbia revocato distruggendolo deliberatamente, presunzione che potrebbe vincersi mediante la prova dell’esistenza della scheda al tempo dell’aperta successione.
Siffatta presunzione non appare giustificata se solo si considera il rapporto tra documento e dichiarazione, e tra dichiarazione e documentazione. Ai fini dell’esistenza del negozio è, infatti, sufficiente e necessaria la formazione del documento (documentazione), là dove il risultato della documentazione (documento) è piuttosto funzionale alla prova del negozio.
Se il testatore fotocopia la scheda testamentaria oppure ne redige una copia in carta carbone, nemmeno può sostenersi che egli con ciò abbia inteso revocare soggettivamente le disposizioni di ultima volontà, giacché tra le due determinazioni volitive (il testamento e la produzione della copia) non si ravvisa alcuna incompatibilità materiale. Non si avrà, dunque, revoca e la successione non sarà regolata dalla legge ma dalla copia del testamento, che non può che essere oggettivamente compatibile con il contenuto del negozio mortis causa.

According to the case law of the Court of Cassation, the availability of a copy and not original will upon the testator’s death raises the presumption that the will was destroyed by the testator with intent to revoke. This presumption may be rebutted by evidence showing that the will was found at the time of the death.
However, holding the will revoked does not seem reasonable given the relation between document and declaration, and between declaration and documentation. The development of the document (i.e. documentation) affects the effectiveness of the legal act, whereas the result of the documentation (i.e. document) concerns the evidence of this act.
Nor can it be maintained that where the testator made a photocopy or carbon copy of the will, by doing so he meant to intentionally revoke the will. Indeed, there is no objective incompatibility between the two decisions (the will and the making of a copy). Hence, the will is not revoked and the rules of intestate succession do not apply, being the copy surely compatible with the content of the will.

This paper deals with two selected institutes of czech land inheritance law in the Middle Ages. Based on analysis of legal sources dedicated to the progresive development of legitimate hereditary, which extended the benefit of survivors while limiting the sovereign right of escheat.
The rules of the legitimate succession under the land law have evolved as follows. By the year 1310 the son was the heir, if there were no son the heiress would be the daughter, if there were no children then the heir was the closest relative (giving preference to men). Since 1310, respectively from the late 40‘s of the 14th century, in the absence of sons and daughters the closest relatives of the fourth degree of kinship (again favoring men) became heirs. Since 1497, if there weren´t any heirs mentioned and the testator has not made any acquisitions for death during his life, the heir was the closest relative (with the exclusions of foreigners) first male relatives and then female relatives (again favoring men). If in these periods there weren´t heirs in those categories, the estate passed to the right of escheat to the emperor respectively to the king´s chamber.

Erfrechtelijke vraagstukken dienen tot heden opgelost te worden op grond van maatschappelijke spelregels van 1869  hoewel we nu, anno 2007, in een andere tijd leven: een tijd waarin - anders dan in 1869 - het krijgen van kinderen  en zelf het moment van overlijden  een keus kunnen zijn. Zou het Surinaamse publiek van 2007 vanwege de maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen die sinds 1869 hebben plaatsgehad niet zoals het Nederlandse publiek, iets anders willen? Iets dat van deze tijd is? Of wil het Surinaamse publiek ondanks de maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen (nog) geen grote wijziging van het erfrecht? In Nederland heeft, na verschillende consultaties van het publiek, notarissen en anderen op 1 januari 2003  namelijk de grote wijziging in het systeem van het erfrecht plaatsgehad.  Hierdoor zijn de verschillen tussen het Surinaamse en het Nederlandse erfrecht heel groot geworden. De meest opmerkelijke verschillen tussen het huidige Surinaamse en het Nederlandse erfrecht betreffen mijns inziens de positie van de langstlevende echtgenoot (artikel 4: 13-25 NBW), het karakter van de legitieme portie (artikel 4: 63-66 NBW),  en de invulling van het begrip huwelijk en daarmee het begrip echtgenoten ( artikel 1: 30 jo artikel 4: 8 lid 1NBW). In onderstaand stuk zullen de ingrijpende wijzigingen van het Surinaamse erfrecht vanaf 1869 besproken worden, waarna ingegaan zal worden op de genoemde verschillen tussen het Surinaamse en het Nederlandse erfrecht. Het richten van de blik op het Nederlandse (erf)recht is op zijn plaats omdat een bepaalde mate van concordantie met het Nederlandse recht voor Suriname namelijk een essentieel vereiste blijft. Dit omdat de Surinaamse rechtsgemeenschap te klein is om een eigen zelfstandige rechtswetenschap en rechtsspraak te kunnen schragen, het Surinaamse recht een variant is van het Nederlandse en het voor de continuïteit en om praktische en financiële redenen nodig is.  Het ontwerp Boek 4 Nieuw Surinaams Burgerlijk Wetboek  is om die reden waarschijnlijk in hoofdlijnen een weergave van het Nieuwe Nederlandse erfrecht. Hoewel een bepaalde mate van concordantie van het Surinaamse (erf)recht met het Nederlandse (erf)recht essentieel is, hoeft dit Surinamisering van het (erf)recht niet in de weg te staan.  Reden waarom ook zal worden aangegeven welke typisch Surinaamse ontwikkeling bij wijziging van het erfrecht meegenomen zou kunnen worden.

Succession law has been developing intensively in the Russian Federation since the collapse of
the Soviet Union. One of the recent proposals to the Russian succession law has been the
introduction of the inheritance contract. The research examined specific aspects of the
inheritance contract in general and foreign experience, i.e. that of the countries that envisage
inheritance contract in their legislations (e.g., Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Ukraine).
Furthermore, the author analysed prospects of implementing the inheritance contract into the
Russian legislation. The research provided ways to improve and enhance the draft bill proposed
in the Russian Federation in May, 2015 with regard to provisions relating to the inheritance
contract. The author singled out a number of loopholes in the draft bill and suggested options to
overcome them, thus avoiding the possibility of disputes that may arise due to deficiencies in
law. Indeed, in order to adopt a new mechanism into the legislation of a country it is useful to
study foreign practice and to implement and adapt it in a suitable and effective way. The
research suggested that the Russian legislator should use the German model of the inheritance
contract, which is the most appropriate one for Russia.

მემკვიდრეობის არსი
კანონით და ანდერძით მემკვიდრეობა
სავალდებულო წილი
მემკვიდრე
უღირსი მემკვიდრე
სამკვიდრო მოწმობა
სამკვიდროს გახსნა
სამკივდრო მოწმობის გაცემა, სამკვიდროს მიღება
ნოტარიუსის სხვა უფლებამოსილებანი სამემკვიდრეო საქმისწარმოების სფეროში
სამკვიდროს დაცვა
სამკვიდროს მმართველის დანიშვნა
უმკვიდრო ქონება

U radu se govori o svojeručnom testamentu kao jednom od najčešćih oblika zavještanja. Autor navodi većinu nedoumica koje se pojavljuju u teoriji i praksi u vezi sa formom olografskog testamenta. Primjenom naučnih metoda, kritički su analizirani stavovi više pravnih teoretičara, zakonodavstva država nastalih na tlu SFRJ, kao i normativna rješenja nekoliko evropskih zemalja i SAD. U zaključku, autor naglašava da bi trebalo reformisati pravne propise kojima se uređuje ova oblast u zemljama nastalim na prostoru bivše Jugoslavije. Između ostalog, trebalo bi preciznije regulisati pojam, uslove i postupak sačinjavanja, kao i potpisivanje i datiranje svojeručnog testamenta. Takođe, autor zaključuje da se u teoriji i praksi mora praviti razlika između sastavljanja i sačinjavanja zavještanja, odnosno svojeručnog pisanja i unošenja teksta.
In this paper, the author analyses the procedural provisions for making holographic will. A holographic will is will that is handwritten and signed by the testator. This will are one of the most common form of last will and testament. The author presents and calls attention to the most substantial problems that exist in theory and practice. The author makes a comparative analysis laws in former Yugoslavia, with the laws of Germany, Austria, France, England and the law of UPC. European laws requires all that the will be entirely handwritten, while Uniform Probate Code in the USA only requires that material portions of the document be in the testator’s handwritting. 
After analysis, the author concluded that the inheritance laws in the states of the former Yugoslavia must be reformed. The author especially criticizes imprecise rules about writing, signing and dating the will.

Druga część artykułu dotyczy wykładni i stosowania na ziemiach centralnych Polski przepi-sów Kodeksu Napoleona o spadkach wakujących. Kodeks nie zawiera definicji spadku waku-jącego. Kluczowe znaczenie dla interpretacji przepisów o nabyciu przez państwo spadków wakujących ma użyte w dawnym art. 811 Kodeksu Napoleona sformułowanie "poczytuje się" (franc. est réputée vacante, zob. aktualny art. 809 k.c.f., który pomija określenie "poczytuje się"). spadek za wakujący. Określenie to wskazuje, że w braku odpowiednich spadkobierców ustawowych prawo wprowadzało swoiste wzruszalne (mogące być obalonym) domniemanie spadku wakującego, a zatem należącego do państwa. Dopiero upływ odpowiedniego czasu domniemanie przekształcał w pewność, tj. skutkował niemożnością powoływania się na tytuł do dziedziczenia. W praktyce oznaczało to, iż z upływem trzydziestu lat od czasu koniecznego do sporządzenia inwentarza spadku i do namysłu (ad deliberandum) spadek osta-tecznie przypadał państwu. Przyjęty w Kodeksie Napoleona mechanizm umożliwiał z jednej strony nabycie przez dziedziców spadku, pozostającego przez okres domniemanego "spoczy-wania" pod dozorem kuratora, z drugiej-uniemożliwiał istnienie spadków bezdziedzicznych, tj. takich, które pozostawałyby pozbawione uprawnionego. Wraz z uchwaleniem przez władze komunistyczne w okresie powojennym kolejnych aktów prawnych dotyczących przepisów prawa spadkowego zmieniały się terminy zgłaszania się dziedziców. Ostatecznie bowiem w przepisach ujednolicających prawo spadkowe na ziemiach polskich od 1947 r. ustawodawca nie przyjął modelu spadków wakujących, lecz rozwiązanie analogiczne do tego, które zostało przewidziane w niemieckim kodeksie cywilnym z 1896 r. (BGB). "Skrócenie" czasu przedawnie-nia wpłynęło również na ocenę dopuszczalności dalszego stosowania w okresie PRL przepisów Kodeksu Napoleona o spadkach wakujących (mimo obowiązywania odmiennych rozwiązań prawa spadkowego). Słowa kluczowe: reprywatyzacja, prawo spadkowe, dziedziczenie, spadki bezdziedziczne, spadki wakujące.

This article deals with the until now research of the possession of serf immoveable properties on the territories of Bohemia and Moravia. Attention is being paid to primary sources and methodological approaches suitable for investigating the transfer of rural homesteads throughout the Early Modern Age and the 19 th century. The current study deals with the issues of inheritance law; the transfer of homestead farms within a family itself; the choice of new farmers and the departure of the older generation’s members in exchange for the creation of an easement (in Czech výměnek). The aim of this contribution is to summarize the results of contemporary research; to draw attention to themes as yet not investigated and to outline possible perspectives for further research taking account of topical historiographical trends abroad.

The so-called principle of the personal character of the testament becomes more and more often raised as an argument by Polish legal scholars. The text provides the first systematic analysis of the principle in Polish law. To verify the view that such a principle is a norm and that it could be treated as a principle, two approaches have been used: a theoretical one (based on Dworkin’s and Alexy’s concept of principles and rules) and a practical one (based on concepts developed in academic analyses of Polish private law).

The validity of the principle of the personal character of testament is unquestionable in Article 944 § 2 of the Polish civil code, which prohibits making and revoking testaments by a representative. There is, however, a wide range of situations with no clear answer concerning the applicability of that principle, e.g. a variant or alternative bequest (zapis wariantowy or zapis alternatywny) or a special-purpose bequest (zapis celowy) – these situations have been analysed in the text.

One of the most debated issues that European lawyers are tackling is the enforcement of fundamental rights in private law. Nonetheless, the intersection between inheritance law and fundamental rights is still neglected, due to the misleading idea of the static nature of the former. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether in Europe a nexus exists between the evolutionary patterns of inheritance law and fundamental rights. The article ascertains if and how the rules aimed at identifying the heirs have been influenced by the jurisprudence on fundamental rights, considering that those rights have emerged as leading factors in directing many legislative reforms. The paper then concludes by examining the possibility of a horizontal application of fundamental rights and, more specifically, if the will of the testator can be limited, somehow , by direct application of those rights, such as the principle of non-discrimination or the respect of private and family life.

A draft translation of the 'Edictum de beneficiis regni italici' (Edict on the Benefices of the Kingdom of Italy), also known as the 'Constitutio de feudis' (Constitution or Ordinance on Fiefs) issued by Emperor Conrad II (r.1024-1039) on 28th May 1037. The Edict confirmed and consolidated the hereditary quality of Lombard benefices, and also regulated other issues, such as the right to trial by peers, and had a far-reaching impact on property regulations in the kingdom of Italy.

I. Introducción.— II. Antecedentes normativos y regulación vigente en España
del llamado arbitraje testamentario.— III. El arbitraje testamentario como
un supuesto atípico de arbitraje.— IV. El árbitro testamentario y otras figuras
afines.— 1. Árbitro y Arbitrador.— 2. Árbitro y Albacea.— 3. Árbitro y
Contador-Partidor.— V. Ámbito de aplicación del arbitraje testamentario.—
1. Ámbito subjetivo.— 1.1. ¿Quién puede ser árbitro testamentario?— 1.2.
¿A quién puede afectar el arbitraje testamentario?— 2. Ámbito objetivo.—
VI. El arbitraje testamentario en otros ordenamientos jurídicos.— VII. Un
modelo concreto de cláusula testamentaria arbitral.— VIII. Justificación y
utilidad del arbitraje testamentario: reflexiones críticas para un debate.