ERA Conference on Cross-Border Successions

On 22 and 23 November 2012 the Academy of European Law (ERA) will host a bilingual (English/German) conference in Trier on the new regulation on cross-border successions. The conference is set up for practitioners (lawyers, notaries, ministry officials) and academics. Key topics are:

• Scope of the instrument
• Jurisdiction and applicable law
• Recognition and enforcement of decisions
• Authentic documents in matters of succession
• Creation of a European Certificate of Succession

The official inivitation reads as follows:

On 7 June 2012, the Regulation aimed at simplifying the settlement of international successions was adopted by the EU’s Justice Council. This new Regulation will ease the legal burden when a family member with property in another EU country passes away.

Under the Regulation, there will be a single criterion for determining both the jurisdiction and the law applicable to a cross-border succession: the deceased’s habitual place of residence. People living abroad will, however, be able to opt for the law of their country of nationality to apply to the entirety of their succession. The Regulation will also permit citizens to plan their succession in advance in more legal certainty.  This new instrument paves the way for the European Certificate of Succession which will allow people to prove that they are heirs or administrators without further formalities throughout the EU.

The conference will provide an in-depth discussion of the most topical issues regarding successions and wills in a European context.

More information is available at the ERA’s website.