Towards the European inheritance rules. European inheritance Certificate.

09 Apr Towards the European inheritance rules. European inheritance Certificate.

The Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament has recently adopted the proposal for the regulation on legal issues in relation to Inheritance Law in the European area and creation of a European certificate of inheritance, whose purpose is to facilitate the process concerning cross-border inheritances within the framework of the European Union. The approved text must now be submitted to the plenary of the European Parliament and the Council of the Ministers of Justice of the 27 Member States of the EU for approval.  The adopted text is an initiative which aims to enable agility and clarity to the complexities of inheritances in which there are elements of different nationalities due to the different situations of residence of the persons concerned, as well as the location of their economic interests in several Member States of the European Union.

In this regard, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament aims to provide inheritances having international elements establishing the regulation and the jurisdictional competence to them, giving a substantial relevance to the concept of habitual residence of the testator. Another important issue is the creation of the European certificate of inheritance. This instrument will play a significant role on legal proof in the entire area of the Union’s influence about  the holder’s status of heir, legatee, administrator or executor of an estate and will grant a recognition of full and free movement in the European Union; In addition, it will serve as a title for the inscription in the public registry in a way that when the testator has properties in different States of the Union this will not involve multiple inheritance procedures.