Brussels, 08/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 7 June, the Council adopted a regulation to simplify the settlement of international successions, which the Commission presented in 2009. The regulation relates to “jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions, acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession” and will help ease the legal burden when a family member with property in another EU country passes away. It defines a single criterion for determining both the jurisdiction and the law applicable to a cross-border succession: the deceased's habitual place of residence. At the same time, citizens have the option to plan their succession by choosing the law of their nationality. The text applies the principle of mutual recognition to legal decisions and transactions, as well as authentic acts to facilitate their acceptance in all of the different member states. Adoption of the regulation paves the way for the introduction of the European Certificate of Succession, which will allow people to prove that they are heirs or administrators of a succession without further formalities throughout the EU. The result will be faster and cheaper procedures. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark will not be subject to this legislation. Around 450,000 international successions are registered every year in the EU, which represents an estimated amount of more than €120 billion.
In a press release, the Notaries of Europe welcomed the adoption of this legislation. They consider that the new regulation is “a major step towards providing legal certainty for the thousands of families in Europe confronted with international successions”. Tilman Götte, the president of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union, stated: “The new regulation clarifies the rules applicable to international successions and brings greater legal certainty for citizens and their families. We are pleased that the principle of 'controlled autonomy' has been kept, according to which the law applicable to the succession is that of the place of habitual residence of the deceased. At the same time, citizens have the option to plan their succession by choosing the law of their nationality. We also welcome the creation of a European Certificate of Succession, which will provide evidence of the capacity of heir in all the member states and will make the steps the beneficiaries need to take considerably easier.” (SP/transl.fl)