Family And Succession Law In Germany

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this concise exposition and analysis of the essential elements of law with regard to family relations, marital property, and succession to estates in Germany covers the legal rules and customs pertaining to the intertwined civic status of persons, the family, and property. After an informative general introduction, the book proceeds to an in-depth discussion of the sources and instruments of family and succession law, the authorities that adjudicate and administer the laws, and issues surrounding the person as a legal entity and the legal disposition of property among family members. Such matters as nationality, domicile, and residence; marriage, divorce, and cohabitation; adoption and guardianship; succession and inter vivos arrangements; and the acquisition and administration of estates are all treated to a degree of depth that will prove useful in nearly any situation likely to arise in legal practice. The book is primarily designed to assist lawyers who find themselves having to apply rules of international private law or otherwise handling cases connected with Germany. It will also be of great value to students and practitioners as a quick guide and easy-to-use practical resource in the field, and especially to academicians and researchers engaged in comparative studies by providing the necessary, basic material of family and succession law.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this concise exposition and analysis of the essential elements of law with regard to family relations, marital property, and succession to estates in Germany covers the legal rules and customs pertaining to the intertwined civic status of persons, the family, and property. After an informative general introduction, the book proceeds to an in-depth discussion of the sources and instruments of family and succession law, the authorities that adjudicate and administer the laws, and issues surrounding the person as a legal entity and the legal disposition of property among family members. Such matters as nationality, domicile, and residence; marriage, divorce, and cohabitation; adoption and guardianship; succession and inter vivos arrangements; and the acquisition and administration of estates are all treated to a degree of depth that will prove useful in nearly any situation likely to arise in legal practice. The book is primarily designed to assist lawyers who find themselves having to apply rules of international private law or otherwise handling cases connected with Germany. It will also be of great value to students and practitioners as a quick guide and easy-to-use practical resource in the field, and especially to academicians and researchers engaged in comparative studies by providing the necessary, basic material of family and succession law.

This third volume in a series on Comparative Succession Law concerns the entitlement of family members to override the provisions of a deceased person's will to obtain money or assets (or more money or assets) from the person's estate. Some countries, notably those in the civil law tradition (such as France or Germany), confer a pre-ordained share of the deceased's estate or of its value on certain members of the deceased's family, and especially on the deceased's children and spouse. Other countries, notably those in the common law tradition (such as England, Canada, or Australia), leave the matter to the discretion of the court, the amount awarded depending primarily on financial need. Whichever form it takes, mandatory family provision is both a protection against disinheritance and also, therefore, a restriction on testamentary freedom. The volume focuses on Europe and on countries influenced by the European experience. In addition to detailed treatment of the law in Austria, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Scotland, and Spain, the book also has chapters on Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Canada, the countries of Latin America, and the People's Republic of China. Some other countries are covered more briefly, and there is a separate chapter on Islamic law. The book opens with accounts of Roman law and of the law in medieval and early-modern Europe, and it concludes with a comparative assessment of the law as it is today in the countries and legal traditions surveyed in this volume.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: 29/30, University of Trento, course: Seminar zum russischen Recht, language: English, abstract: This assignment deals with the law of succession in Russian Federation and Germany. The law of succession does not seem very interesting to the majority of the law students - and wrongly so! It is one of the oldest areas of law which roots go back almost to the Stone Age. It is based on the fundamental human right of property since it obviously does not exist in societies where the individual right to own and to transfer the ownership is not recognized by law or custom. In addition, this topic never stops being actual because nowadays almost everyone is confronted with it sooner or later by inheriting and/or bequeathing. In case of Russia, we can additionally observe the particular situation of a state challenged to establish a new legal system after the collapse of the Soviet Union taking into account human rights in a relatively short period of time. The law of succession as part of legal order had also to be adapted to the new reality determined by the free market economy and developed rapidly. Finally, Germany is one of the leading European countries with a very elaborated codification and broad scope of the judicial review whose example among others is bound to influence the Russian legal experts searching for time-tested patterns and trying to combine foreign experience with the peculiarities of the own country in order to create modern legislation. In the following, we will overview the historic development of the law of inheritance both in Germany and Russia. After this, we will analyze the current legal situation in both countries, attempting to establish its relationship with the respective constitutional law as well as trying to show the similarities and find possible explanations for the differences. The conclusion will then summarize the findings obtaine

Preface Contents Abbreviations i Authors i part i Harmonization of Succession Law in Europe: The Current Debate chapter 1 Need and Opportunity of Convergence in European Succession Laws Walter Pintens chapter 2 Testamentary Freedom or Forced Heirship? Balancing Party Autonomy and the Protection of Family Members Andrea Bonomi part ii New Trends in Catalan Succession Law chapter 3 Between Tradition and Modernisation: A General Overview of the Catalan Succession Law Reform Esther Arroyo Amayuelas - Miriam Anderson chapter 4 Testamentary Freedom and Its Limits Esteve Bosch Capdevila chapter 5 Freedom of Testation, Compulsory Share and Disinheritance Based on Lack of Family Relationship Antoni Vaquer Aloy chapter 6 Freedom of Testation Versus Freedom to Enter Into Succession Agreements and Transaction Costs Susana Navas Navarro part iii National Perspectives on the Law of Succession in the 21st Century chapter 7 Freedom of Testation in England and Wales Roger Kerridge chapter 8 Law of Succession and Testamentary Freedom in Germany A. Röthel chapter 9 The Law of Succession in Hungary Zoltán Csehi chapter 10 Freedom of Testation in Italy Andrea Fusaro chapter 11 Acquisition of Property by Succession in Dutch Law. Tradition between Autonomy and Solidarity in a Changing Society J. Michael Milo chapter 12 The Norwegian Approach to Forced Share, the Surviving Spouse's Position and Irrevocable Wills Peter Hambro chapter 13 Restraints on Freedom of Testation in Scottish Succession Law Eric Clive chapter 14 Freedom of Testation in Slovenia Suzana Kraljić chapter 15 Freedom of Testation, Legal Inheritance Rights and Public Order under Spanish Law Sergio Cámara Lapuente.

The compulsory portion of the German law of succession is a personal claim by a close family member of the deceased against the latter's heir, or heirs, to receive the value of one half of his or her intestate share. The range of persons entitled to a compulsory portion is limited to the deceased's descendants, his parents, and his surviving spouse. The right to a compulsory portion can be lost as a result of having been deprived of it by the deceased (which is possible in a limited number of situations), as a result of being unworthy to receive a benefit from the deceased's estate, or as a result of having waived the right. All in all, the system enacted in the BGB has proved to be comparatively stable; even the amendments brought about in 2010 as a result of the Act on the Reform of the Law of Succession and Prescription were rather modest and have shifted the balance between freedom of testation and family solidarity only very slightly in the direction of freedom of testation. That can be taken as confirmation that, essentially, the rules of the BGB provide a solution that is both pragmatic and reasonable. The Federal Constitutional Court has even, in 2005, ruled that a certain minimum participation for children in a deceased's estate not only does not contravene the constitutional guarantee of 'property and the right of inheritance' in Art. 14 (1) GG, but is itself protected by that provision.

It is nearly ten years since the appearance of the successful first edition of this convenient English-language introduction to the law of Germany. This new edition covers all the significant changes and innovations that have occurred during that period, encompassing the pervasive impacts of European law and of globalisation, the major recent reform of the German Civil Code, and the greatly increased activity of the German legislature in every area. With fifteen lucid chapters written by academic expects in their respective fields of law, as well as detailed bibliographies, this is the ideal starting point for research whenever a question of German law must be answered. The authors clearly explain the legal concepts, customs, and rules arising from such basic elements as the following: characteristic problems of Germany legal unity; principles and practices of constitutional law; administrative law and procedure; the German Commercial Code; formation and conduct of corporations and partnerships; contracts; tort liability; property rights; family law; succession and inheritance; labor and employment; issues of private international law; courts and civil procedure; the penal code and criminal procedure. Introduction to German Law, Second Edition provides an authoritative description of all issues likely to emerge in the course of normal application of German law in any context.

This book brings together a range of views on the reciprocal influences of substantive and private international law in the fields of family and succession law. It outlines some key elements of this interplay in selected jurisdictions and provides a basis for discussion and future work on the reciprocal influences of domestic and European law.

The Iranian legal system is not well known in the West and many clichés persist, clichés and prejudices that have increased since the "clash of civilizations" has been conjured up. A fresh encounter and an open dialogue between Islamic and Western professionals are badly needed and are offered in this book. Iran's family law has not been static in recent years: the dower has been adapted to the inflation rate; a compensatory claim for repudiated women as well as the concept of best interest of the child in custody law has been introduced. Today Islamic scholars are questioning the unilateral right of the husband to repudiate his wife and the unequal inheritance shares for men and women. Furthermore questions on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are raised and a list of suggestions offered to foster the co-operation between Iran and Germany.Contributors:Jürgen Basedow, Dagmar Coester-Waltjen, Mathias Rohe, Nadjma Yassari, Seyyed Mostafa Mohaqeq Damad, Hossein Safa’i, Hassan Hamidian, Hossein Mehrpour, Reza Valavioun, Mansour Pournouri, Wolfgang Wurmnest