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Comparative Succession Law: Volume I Testamentary Formalities

Comparative Succession Law: Volume I Testamentary Formalities

Author: Kenneth G C Reid; Marius J de Waal; Reinhard Zimmermann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199696802
Published In: October 2011
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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The first volume in a landmark research project examining the principles of succession law in comparative perspective
Provides a jurisdiction by jurisdiction analysis of testamentary formalities, including Islamic Law, Latin America, South Africa, Australia, England, the United States, and Germany
Chapters on testamentary formalities in Roman Law and Early Modern Europe aid comprehension of the historical background
Creates an analytical framework for understanding the subject by drawing together the development of the law in different countries at different periods
Launching a major new research project examining the principles of succession law in comparative perspective, this book discusses the formalities which the law imposes in order for a person to make a testamentary disposal of property. Among the questions considered are the following. How are wills made? What precisely are the rules - as to the signature of the testator, the use of witnesses, the need for a notary public or lawyer, and so on? Is there is a choice of will-type and, if so, which type is used most often and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How common is will-making or do most people die intestate? What happens if formalities are not observed? How can requirements of form be explained and justified? How did the law develop historically, what is the state of the law today, and what are the prospects for the future?

The focus is on Europe, and on countries which have been influenced by the European experience. Thus in addition to giving a detailed treatment of the law in Austria, Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, the book explores legal developments in Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, and in some of the countries of Latin America with a particular emphasis on Brazil. It also includes chapters on two of the mixed jurisdictions - Scotland and South Africa - and on Islamic Law. The book opens with chapters on Roman law and on the early modern law in Europe, thus setting the historical scene as well as anticipating and complementing the accounts of national history which appear in subsequent chapters; and it concludes with an assessment of the overall development of the law in the countries surveyed, and with some wider reflections on the nature and purpose of testamentary formalities.

Readership: Academics, practitioners, and advanced students studying the laws of succession.
Introduction
1: Thomas Rüfner: Testamentary Formalities in Roman Law
2: Nils Jansen: Testamentary Formalities in Early Modern Europe
3: Walter Pintens: Testamentary Formalities in France and Belgium
4: Sergio Cámara Lapuente: Testamentary Formalities in Spain
5: Jan Peter Schmidt: Testamentary Formalities in Latin America with particular reference to Brazil
6: Alexandra Braun: Testamentary Formalities in Italy
7: Wilbert D Kolkman: Testamentary Formalities in the Netherlands
8: Reinhard Zimmermann: Testamentary Formalities in Germany
9: Christiane C Wendehorst: Testamentary Formalities in Austria
10: Lajos Vékás: Testamentary Formalities in Hungary
11: Frederyk Zoll: Testamentary Formalities in Poland
12: Nadjma Yassari: Testamentary Formalities in Islamic Law and their Reception in the Modern Laws of Islamic Countries
13: Roger Kerridge: Testamentary Formalities in England and Wales
14: Nicola Peart: Testamentary Formalities in Australia and New Zealand
15: Ronald J Scalise Jr: Testamentary Formalities in the United States of America
16: Marius J de Waal: Testamentary Formalities in South Africa
17: Kenneth G C Reid: Testamentary Formalities in Scotland
18: Kenneth G C Reid, Marius J de Waal, and Reinhard Zimmermann: Testamentary Formalities in Historical and Comparative Perspective
Edited by Kenneth G C Reid, Professor of Scots Law, University of Edinburgh, Marius J de Waal, Professor of Private Law, University of Stellenbosch, and Reinhard Zimmermann, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law, Hamburg

A qualified solicitor, Kenneth Reid has taught at the University of Edinburgh since 1980. He was appointed to the Chair of Property Law in 1994 and to the Chair of Scots Law in 2008. From 1995 to 2005 he served as a Scottish Law Commissioner, where he was responsible for a major programme of reform of land law, which was implemented by legislation.

Marius de Waal is Professor of Private Law at the University of Stellenbosch. His main fields of interest are the law of succession and the law of trusts, on which he has written a number of textbooks, including co-authoring the the fifth edition of Honoré's South African Law of Trusts (Juta 2002, with Edwin Cameron, Basil Wunsh and Peter Solomon).

Reinhard Zimmermann is a Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and is Chairman of the Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities Division of the Max Planck Society. He is the author of numerous books on comparative law and legal history, including The Law of Obligations (OUP, 1996) and The New German Law of Obligations (OUP, 2005).

Contributors:

Alexandra Braun, Fellow and Tutor in Law at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Sergio Cámara Lapuente, Professor of Private Law, University of La Rioja
Marius J de Waal, Professor of Private Law, Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch
Nils Jansen, Professor of Roman Law, Legal History, German and European Private Law at the Institute for Legal History, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Roger Kerridge, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Bristol
Wilbert D Kolkman, Professor of Private Law and Notarial Law, University of Groningen
Nicola Peart, Professor of Law, University of Otago
Walter Pintens, Professor of Private Law, Catholic University, Leuven
Kenneth G C Reid, Professor of Scots Law, University of Edinburgh
Thomas Rüfner, Professor of Private Law and Roman Law, University of Trier, and Judge at the Regional Appeal Court of Koblenz
Ronald J Scalise Jr, Professor of Civil Law, Tulane Law School, New Orleans
Jan Peter Schmidt, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
Lajos Vékás, Emeritus Professor of Private Law and Private International Law, Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest
Christiane C Wendehorst, Professor of Private Law, University of Vienna
Nadjma Yassari, Senior Research Fellow and Max Planck Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
Reinhard Zimmermann, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, and Professor of Private Law, Roman Law, and Comparative Legal History, University of Regensburg
Frederyk Zoll, Professor of the Private Law, Jagiellonian University in Cracow and DFG-Mercator Professor, University of Osnabrück.