Private Law Theory

In the course of the past decades, more and more property has passed on death in ways other than by will or intestacy rules. In other words, property is increasingly transmitted through so-called ‘will-substitutes’, such as, for instance, joint bank accounts, trusts, life insurance policies and pension schemes. Among the reasons for this count not only tax considerations but, for instance, also the desire to avoid probate and to speed up the transfer on death. This development questions the role and the scope succession law rules are having in the transfer of wealth, as many of these mechanisms are not subject to the same policy driven rules applicable to wills … (more)

[Institute of European and Comparative Law, Oxford]

First posted 2014-11-12 06:55:20