England and Wales While the testator is alive, they are generally the only person entitled to receive a copy of their will (with very limited exceptions). After the testator's death, the will remains a private document until the Grant of Probate is issued (if ever), during which time only the executors are entitled to [...]
England and Wales 1) REQUIREMENTS OF A VALID WILL In order to make a valid will in England and Wales, the testator must be of sound mind and at least 18 years old. There is an exception for soldiers in active military service or sailors at sea, who can execute their will at any [...]
Succession cases throughout the world share one thing in common: the principle that heirs can be appointed by will. Domestic succession laws can, however, place limitations on the testator's power, such as the concept of 'reserved shares'. In some cases, however, it is not easy to determine whether testamentary heirs should receive the entire [...]
The death of a person, and the transmission of his estate to his heirs, can trigger inheritance tax. The inheritance tax is calculated in the inheritance tax return, this is a form established by the tax administration. The calculation of inheritance tax goes through several stages. Once the heirs are identified, the taxable assets [...]
Often in life insurance policies, legal heirs are designated as beneficiaries. However, their rights will not be divided according to the shares they are entitled to by inheritance. According to case law, the benefit is divided among them in equal shares The effects of the designation, in life insurance policies, by the policyholder of [...]
The revised Swiss Inheritance Law will come into effect as per 1st January 2023. The statutory share of descendants is reduced from three quarters to half of the legal share of the estate (Art. 470 para. 1 and Art. 471 new Civil Code). In addition, the parents of the deceased are no longer protected [...]
The so-called "de facto family," a socially relevant and widespread phenomenon, occurs in the case of a stable affective union of a couple with mutual moral and material assistance between two persons of age not bound by relationships of kinship, affinity or adoption, nor bound by marriage or civil union In the Italian legal system, [...]
As a pillar of French inheritance law, the hereditary reserve for descendants (forced heirship) benefits, in international context, from varying degrees of protection through times. Very recently, the French legislator reaffirmed this protection by reintroducing, in internal law, a compensatory deduction right on property located in France in the event that the foreign law [...]
