Summary
Succession by contract, hereinafter life beneficiary contract, is considered to be the most important instrument in the law of succession. It results in regulating relations under the law of obligations and generates the effects of the law of succession and therefore is deemed to have significant importance in terms of law in general. While analyzing life beneficiary contract it is significant to differentiate between two types of this contract. The first is regulated by the law of inheritance and represents synthesis of legal actions inter vivos and mortis causa, as it is entered into by legal actions inter vivos and takes effect mortis causa. The second is not regulated by the law of inheritance and is entered into by legal actions inter vivos and this is how it takes its full effects.
Owing to its significance life beneficiary contract has endured in the legal system ever since the medieval law up until the modern times, being originally regulated by the common law and having its first written rules in the XIV century.
One must not, however, forget to indicate that life beneficiary contract does not come without imperfections, one of them implying that the property included in this form of contract is not a part of decedent’s estate intended for the recipient, and that it cannot be used to satisfy the needs of the heirs apparent.
|