Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. — 523 p. — ISBN-10: 0199696802, ISBN-13: 978-0199696802Launching 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.About the Author
A qualified solicitor, Kenneth Creid 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 Dewall 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).Contents
Preface
List of Contributor
List of Abbreviations
Testamentary Formalities in Roman Law
Testamentary Formalities in Early Modern Europe
Testamentary Formalities in France and Belgium
Testamentary Formalities in Spain
Testamentary Formalities in Latin America with particular reference to Brazil
Testamentary Formalities in Italy
Testamentary Formalities in the Netherlands
Testamentary Formalities in Germany
Testamentary Formalities in Austria
Testamentary Formalities in Hungary
Testamentary Formalities in Poland
Testamentary Formalities in Islamic Law and their Reception in the Modern Laws of Islamic Countries
Testamentary Formalities in England and Wales
Testamentary Formalities in Australia and New Zealand
Testamentary Formalities in the United States of America
Testamentary Formalities in South Africa
Testamentary Formalities in Scotland
Testamentary Formalities in Historical and Comparative Perspective
Index
