The European Heir Certificate

Abstract

Opening the borders of member states and the circulation of all citizens within the European states resulted in succession procedures with foreign elements. In this context, the following question arose: which law will apply in the case of a succession procedure of a citizen who used to live in a state without having the citizenship of that state, but also when the inheritance contains goods that are located on the territory of another state? In order to unify European law and avoid discriminatory treatment, these situations had to be regulated by a document that would apply throughout the entire European Union. That is why, starting with August 15th, 2015, The European Union enforced EU Regulation no 650 of July 4th, 20012, of the European Parliament and the Council regarding the competence, the applicable law, the acknowledgment and the execution of legal sentences, and the acceptance and performance of authentic documents in regard to succession and the creation of a European heir certificate.