Inheritances with Extraneous Elements - The International Testament

• Author: Ionas, D.G.
• Position: Faculty of Law, Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 57-64

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 6 (55) No. 2 - 2013

INHERITANCES WITH EXTRANEOUS

ELEMENTS - THE INTERNATIONAL

TESTAMENT

Diana G. IONAŞ1

Abstract: Inheritance involves the transmission of the patrimony of a

deceased individual to one or more people alive. The inheritance is opened

at the last domicile of the deceased. In case there are extraneous elements in

the inheritance, meaning any circumstance which would determine the

possibility of simultaneous application of certain legal provisions belonging

to two or more law systems, then national law provisions are no longer

applicable, but those of private international law. In order to uniformly

regulate the inheritances with extraneous elements and consequently of the

international testaments, considering the freedom of movement is an

acknowledged fact for the European citizens within the community, a number

of measures have been adopted both in the legislative as well as in the

procedures related to succession debate also the creation of a unique system

of record of the testaments drawn up at European level. This paper aims at

examining the issue of inheritances with extraneous elements and

international testaments, namely the regulation and the measures taken at

EU level regarding this issue.

Key words: inheritance, extraneous element, testament, European norms.

1 Faculty of Law, Transilvania University of Braşov.

The inheritance law can be defined as all

the legal rules which regulate the

transmission of rights upon death. The

matter of successions comprises "all rules

governing the transmission of assets of the

deceased to his/her heirs."[1] By

inheritance we mean, according to article

953 of the New Civil Code "the

transmission of a deceased person's assets

to one or more people alive." So, by

opening the legacy, the legal effect of

transmitting the heritage occurs. It has a

special legal significance as the heirs,

whether legal or testamentary heirs may

not acquire any rights to the assets until the

opening of inheritance through death.

Therefore, the transmission of the

inheritance is a transmission upon death

(mortis causa) whereas it only occurs after

the physical death and the effect

ascertained or judicially declared of an

individual (viventis hereditas non datur). In

fact, before opening the inheritance, we

cannot speak about heirs or succession, the