Adaptation of Rights in rem in Cross-Border Succession within EU (EU-ADAPT)

EU co-funded Project 101007501, JUST-AG-2020 / JUST-JCOO-AG-2020

Participants: Universidade de Coimbra, Università di Genova, Universitat de Valencia, Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg, Turun Yliopisto Turku.

Duration: from 1.2.2021 to 31.12.2022 (23 months).

Project summary: The purpose of the project is to simplify cross-border succession whenever the applicable law to the whole of the succession grants a right in rem on immoveable property which is unknown to the law of the Member State in which such right is invoked. In these circumstances, article 31 of European Succession Regulation establishes adaptation “to the closest equivalent right in rem under the law of that State, taking into account the aims and the interests pursued by the specific right in rem and the effects attached to it”. This is a difficult task, since legal professionals must have knowledge of rights in rem of two different applicable laws, in order to decide its conversion, which may be unforeseen by the parties. The project will analyse and develop tools granting legal certainty on the adaptation of rights in rem within cross-border successions. The Project aims to establish a system of equivalence between the rights in rem, so that the correspondent right in rem of lex situs to the right provided for by lex successionis can be anticipated. This equivalence shall be provided through the use of an e-justice platform, which can advise authorities dealing with the succession to find the correspondent right in rem granted by the law applicable to the succession. In order to achieve it, the Project will analyse rights in rem of Member States, retrieving a characterisation of each right in rem through unified criteria supporting the indication (not biding) of the equivalent right in rem. Additionally, it shall provide an explanation, in English, of its aims and purposes, helping the authorities dealing with the succession to find the closest equivalent to the right entitled by lex succesionis. The Project aims to include such e-justice platform in the existent networks of cooperation between the authorities of Member States dealing with the succession — specially Land Registry authorities — creating a cooperation method between authorities of different Member States.

Members of the Geanoa Team: prof. dr. Ilaria Queirolo – National coordinator; dr. Stefano Dominelli – team member.

National Experts that have cooperated with the Genoa Team for the research: Boriana Musseva (Sofia University, Bulgaria Report); Magdalena Pfeiffer (Chalres University in Prague, Czech Republic Report); Michael Šatylov (Chalres University in Prague, Czech Republic Report); Benjamin Saunier (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France Report); Phuong-Thao Phan (Université de Lorraine - Università degli Studi di Torino, France Report), and Dana Rone (TURIBA University, Latvia Report). 

Disclaimer excluding Commission responsibility: The content of the EU-ADAPT Projeject and its deliverables, amongst which this webpage, represents the views of the authors only and are their sole responsibility. The European Commission nor any other institution accepts no responsibility for use that may be made of the information deliverables contain.