The concerns addressed by the civilian rules on unworthiness to inherit (indignitas succedendi) must be addressed by any legal system. When they arose in Scotland, responses tended to be found by the extension or development of other rules. Even where there was reference to the idea of...

When the European Commission initiated the Common Frame of Reference process, it aimed, in particular, at a revision of the acquis communautaire in the field of consumer contract law. However, such revision has not, to date, been undertaken. The Draft Common Frame of Reference is marked by a...

The property of a deceased person can pass only to someone who has survived him or her. It can, however, turn out to be impossible to establish the order of death, particularly if both persons have died in a common peril or "calamity". In the sources of Roman law we find two...

Deutsche Zusammenfassung: Der vorliegende Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel, die rechtspolitische Diskussion um das Pflichtteilsrecht wiederzubeleben. Er befasst sich mit den für dessen Legitimierung vorgebrachten Gründen und fragt, warum § 1615 BGB anordnet, dass Unterhaltsansprüche mit dem Tod...

The essay traces the history of the ordinary as well a extra-ordinary will types in German law. It commences with an analysis of private wills in 19th century Germany and relates the debates surrounding the introduction - at the last conceivable moment and against protracted opposition - of the...

Civilian codifications recognize a number of situations in which an heir is “unworthy to inherit” because he is guilty of a serious interference with the testator’s freedom of testation: he kills the testator, unlawfully prevents him from making or revoking a will, induces him, by fraud or...

The article analyses the development of the concept of indignitas succedendi in 10 codifications of Western Europe. Apart from the fact that all legal systems regard a person who has intentionally killed the deceased as unworthy to inherit, we have a very patchy picture. Some light can be shed...

If a person kills another, the former forfeits whatever right he may have had to inherit the property of the latter. He is “not worthy to inherit” from the person whom he has killed. The present article examines the origin of this rule, known in all modern codifications, in Roman law. It...

La historia del derecho ayuda a entender el derecho moderno, revela las premisas en las cuales éste se basa, constituye una rica fuente de experiencia que es valiosa tanto para el desarrollo de la dogmática jurídica moderna como para las reformas legislativas. También puede revelar en qué...

La historia del derecho ayuda a entender el derecho moderno, revela las premisas en las cuales éste se basa, constituye una rica fuente de experiencia que es valiosa tanto para el desarrollo de la dogmática jurídica moderna como para las reformas legislativas. También puede revelar en qué...