Succession Agreements in Spain

Susanna Navas has recently posted on SSRN her article entitled Particular Succession Agreements in the Catalan Civil Code, 2 InDret. (2009).

The abstract of the article is below:

Law 10/2008, of July 10, of the fourth Book of the Civil Code of Catalonia, regarding inheritance law, provides a new regulatory framework for succession agreements admitting those appointing heirs and those of particular succession. This article analyzes the latter kind of succession agreements and for that purpose, a distinction is made between the different legal positions of the parties to the succession agreement and third parties (beneficiaries) affected by it. The following essay further stresses the difference between the succession agreement as a contract and each of its particular provisions, one of them could concern a specific particular succession. Assessing the legal framework of this particular succession (parties, transfer and performance), we take into account the rules concerning legacies because of the application of article 431-30.5 of the Civil Code. Finally, this work criticizes the position of the Catalan legislator, who has distinguished these two kinds of succession agreements (those appointing heirs and those of particular succession). The author advocates for the introduction of a different approach in the regulation of succession agreements, an approach without these distinctions.

Those interested in international law or comparative law should find this particularly interesting.