THE EUROPEAN CERTIFICATE OF SUCCESSION – The Solution for Cross-Border Succession Cases
If you have inherited real estate in Croatia as a result of succession proceedings conducted abroad and are wondering how to have yourself registered as the owner with the Croatian authorities, you should know the following:
Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions, acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession (hereinafter: the “Regulation”) introduced the European Certificate of Succession as a document intended to facilitate heirs’ ability to prove their status and succession rights in cross-border succession cases within the Member States.
The Regulation applies in all Member States of the European Union, with the exception of Denmark and Ireland.
The Regulation provides for the issuance of a European Certificate of Succession using a prescribed standard form. This document serves as evidence of the heir’s status as well as of the rights acquired by the heir by virtue of succession, such as ownership rights.
Importantly, under the Regulation, succession proceedings may only be conducted in one Member State, namely the State in which the deceased had their habitual residence. Therefore, it is necessary to declare to the authority competent for the succession proceedings all of the deceased’s assets, including assets located in other Member States, so that the entire estate can be properly distributed among the heirs.
In practice, this frequently concerns cases where the deceased owned real estate located in a Member State other than the one in which the succession proceedings are conducted. In such a case, the heir is entitled to request the issuance of a European Certificate of Succession from the authority that conducted the succession proceedings, in order to use it abroad, i.e. before the authorities of the Member State in which the real estate is located. On the basis of the European Certificate of Succession, the heir may apply to be registered as the owner in the relevant public register of that Member State.
In Croatia, for example, ownership and other rights in rem are registered in the land register, which constitutes a public register. Depending on the type of asset, however, other registers may also be relevant, such as the ship register, the register of shareholders, or comparable registers.
We recommend requesting the issuance of the European Certificate of Succession from the competent authority conducting the succession proceedings using the prescribed bilingual form. In addition, care should be taken to ensure that the European Certificate of Succession also contains information concerning the assets comprising the estate. If the estate includes real estate, for example, at least the land parcel number (cadastral parcel number) and the cadastral municipality in which the real estate is located should be specified.
This is particularly important in light of the case law of the Croatian courts, under which certain land registry departments refuse to register ownership on the basis of a European Certificate of Succession if the certificate does not contain all the information concerning the real estate required under Croatian land registry law.
If you would like to know how the recognition and practical implementation of a European Certificate of Succession can be ensured in the Republic of Croatia, we would be pleased to provide you with legal advice and assistance.