Its regime is established in Regulation 650/2012 regarding successions mortis causa and creation of a European certificate of succession, Chapter VI, arts. 62 to 73. (RS), Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1329/2014 of the Commission of December 9, 2014 establishing the forms mentioned in Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012, as well as in the Final provision 26th Law 29/2015 Cooperation Jca. International
It is not a judicial or notarial document, it is a sui generis document. It is a European public instrument.
It is public because it is authorized by one of the national authorities in charge of issuing succession documents in accordance with their national laws, mainly judges and notaries, subject to the formal European regulatory regime.
- It is European, because it is created and regulated entirely by a European standard, regulation 650/2012. The succession certificate is not a foreign document, it is a European document, and therefore internal.
Its PURPOSE It is to prove the status of heir, legatee or administrator of the inheritance in another State (only for transnational successions). It does not replace national documents, although once issued, it will also produce effects in the State of issuance. (Articles 62 and 63 RS).
The COMPETENCE TO ISSUE IT, the Member State whose authorities are competent in accordance with articles 4, 7, 10 or 11. The competent authority, in general, will be the authority of the state of the applicable law, be it the one of habitual residence or , prior choice, that of the nationality of the deceased.
As for the national authority, it will generally be the judicial authority, although it may also be another authority that, in accordance with national law, is competent to substantiate successions mortis causa: the notary, in most cases.
The national authorities responsible for public records must provide the authority issuing the certificate with access to the information necessary to prepare the certificate. Said access must be under the same conditions as those offered to the competent national authorities for the same purposes (art. 66.5 RS).
CONTENT OF THE CERTIFICATE.- It appears included in the art. 68, where all the mentions that it must contain appear. This precept is complemented by the annexed certificate model approved in Implementing Regulation 1329/2014 of the European Commission. Said regulation includes the CSE with a general body and also five annexes that must be completed in each case, all, some or none, related to the heirs, legatees, administrator, matrimonial property regime,…
The rights that correspond to the widowed spouse in the liquidation of the community of property may not be the object of the certificate, since they are excluded from the scope of the law and the certificate. However, the recent judgment of the ECJ C-558/16 Mahnkopf Case of March 1, 2018 allows the quota in which the spouse’s hereditary quota is increased as a result of the liquidation of the conjugal partnership to appear in the certificate, since according to the art. 1371 of the German BGB, said fee, despite coming from the liquidation of the matrimonial economic regime, has a succession nature.
The award of specific assets to the heir may not be directly incorporated into the certificate when it comes not directly from the succession title, but from the subsequent act of partition.
The certificate will take effect in all Member States without the need for any special procedure. It does not require a special recognition procedure, the regulation avoids using this expression (art. 69-1 RS). The certificate does not require legalization, apostille or any other subsequent formal procedure (art. 74 of the RS). The certificate will be issued in accordance with the multilingual annex model (the translation requirement is a registration requirement art. 36 RH).
-The issuing authority will keep the original and issue an authentic copy of the certificate.
-The authentic copy is valid for six months. They will state the expiration period. Exceptionally, the term may be extended, and this will be stated.
The regulation endows the certificate (article 69 of the RS), the following effects:
1) It will be presumed that the certificate proves the ends accredited in accordance with the law of succession
2) It will be presumed that any person who makes payments or delivers goods to the person designated in the certificate to receive them, has dealt with a person authorized to do so, unless they do not act in good faith (art. 69.3 RS).
3) It is considered that whoever acquires dealings with a person who appears in the certificate with powers to transfer assets of the inheritance has acquired has dealt with a person empowered to dispose of the assets (art. 69.4 RS).
4) The succession certificate will be a registrable title
