<p>When someone dies there will always be an inheritance, an inheritance that earlier has been seen as a national concern. However, every year there are about 450 000 deaths within the European Union linked to more than one country, either when the deceased has changed his state of residence or when he has assets in another state, for example a Swedish national with a summer house in Spain. The problem is to determine which na-tional law that is supposed to be applicable to the inheritance.</p><p>There are two principles that can be applicable on the choice of law, the principle of na-tionality and the principle of residency. If the principle of nationality is used the inherit-ance will be regulated by the deceased`s citizenship while the principle of residency takes aim on the deceased´s last domicile instead. Conflicts can occur between the two principles so that the legacy must be divided between two different legislations.</p><p>In October 2009 the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and authentic instruments in matters of succession and the creation of a European Certificate of Succession was presented, a regulation that will try to create harmonized rules on in-teralia the inheritance matters. The principle of residency is supposed to be the general rule according to the regulation, but the deceased should still have the privilege to choose the rules in his country of nationality to govern the succession. But is it really necessary to harmonize the rules of applicable law or is it satisfying with the rules that is today? This is questions that will be answered in this essay.</p>

When someone dies there will always be an inheritance, an inheritance that earlier has been seen as a national concern. However, every year there are about 450 000 deaths within the European Union linked to more than one country, either when the deceased has changed his state of residence or when he has assets in another state, for example a Swedish national with a summer house in Spain. The problem is to determine which na-tional law that is supposed to be applicable to the inheritance. There are two principles that can be applicable on the choice of law, the principle of na-tionality and the principle of residency. If the principle of nationality is used the inherit-ance will be regulated by the deceased`s citizenship while the principle of residency takes aim on the deceased´s last domicile instead. Conflicts can occur between the two principles so that the legacy must be divided between two different legislations. In October 2009 the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and authentic instruments in matters of succession and the creation of a European Certificate of Succession was presented, a regulation that will try to create harmonized rules on in-teralia the inheritance matters. The principle of residency is supposed to be the general rule according to the regulation, but the deceased should still have the privilege to choose the rules in his country of nationality to govern the succession. But is it really necessary to harmonize the rules of applicable law or is it satisfying with the rules that is today? This is questions that will be answered in this essay.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the European certificate of succession, and how it affects Swedish inheritance law. The European certificate of succession is a European document that will be introduced in august 2015 in the EU regulation of succession. The certificate of succession is meant to simplify the current process of cross-border inheritance by legitimizing the concerned parties, which according to the regulation are: heirs, legatees, executors of wills and administrators of the estate. According to the regulation, the member state of which the deceased had habitual residence shall have jurisdiction to rule on the succession as a whole. Since the certificate is a European document, it will have legal effect in all member states. Because of this, a decision from one authority/court in a member state will also be applicable in the other member states. This means that national law in a certain capacity becomes cross-border law, which requires strong regulation. The certificate itself cannot be counted as an estate inventory, choice of law, will, or similar. It can however be a basis for a decision concerning inheritance. The certificate can be considered as an acknowledgement of a decision from one member state, which will also be applicable in the other member states. In Sweden, the certificate will be issued by “Skatteverket” (the Swedish tax agency). The European certificate of succession will considerably simplify the cross-border inheritance process for EU-citizens. / Uppsatsens syfte är undersöka arvsintyget som rättshandling och diskutera dess följder på svensk arvsrätt. Det europeiska arvsintyget är en europeisk rättshandling som kommer införas i augusti 2015 i samband med EU:s nya arvsförordning. Arvsintyget är menat att förenkla processen vid gränsöverskridande arvsfrågor genom att legitimera de berörda parterna. Vilka enligt förordningen är: arvtagare, testamentstagare, boutredningsmän och testamentsexekutorer. I och med den nya arvsförordningen kommer hemvistprincipen få en större roll inom den europeiska arvsrätten och arvsintyget kan då användas för att förmedla ett domslut/bestämmande från en medlemsstat till en annan. Även universalitetsprincipen är av stor vikt vid behörighetsfrågor om gränsöverskridande arv, då den innebär att all kvarlåtenskap ska ingå i samma boutredning. Eftersom arvsintyget är en europeisk rättshandling kommer den ha rättsverkan i alla EU-länder som är bundna av arvsförordningen. Därför kommer ett beslut från myndighet/domstol i en medlemsstat även gälla i andra medlemsstater, vilket meddelas genom arvsintyget. Detta leder till att nationell lag i viss kapacitet blir gränsöverskridande, vilket kräver strikt reglering. Arvsintyget kan inte i sig självt räknas som en fördelning av kvarlåtenskap, lagvalsavtal eller liknande. Det kan dock ligga till grund för beslutande angående arvsskifte. Arvsintyget kan anses vara en kvittens av ett beslut från en medlemsstat, vilket ska gälla även i andra medlemsstater. Arvsintyget kommer i Sverige utfärdas av Skatteverket och kommer betydligt underlätta för EU-medborgare vid gränsöverskridande arvsfrågor.