Conflicts of international inheritance laws in the age of multinational lives

• Published in: Cornell international law journal Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 675 - 716
• Main Authors: Adam F Streisand, Lena G Streisand
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2020
• Subjects: BENEFICIARIES; CIVIL LAW; CONFLICT OF LAWS; Freedom of testation; HISTORY; Inheritance and succession; JURISPRUDENCE; Law and legislation; Social aspects; SUCCESSION; Wills; UNITED STATES; RUSSIA
• ISSN: 0010-8812

In this article the authors begin in Part I at a sensible place: ancient Rome, which gave birth to the foundation of civil law now firmly rooted in Europe and Latin America. We trace the historical development of civil law in Part II and the common law in Part III, and in particular, the laws of succession. Within the context of that historical development, we look at the relationship of laws concerning the making of a will; the laws of intestacy, which apply when a person dies without a will; and the concepts of testamentary freedom and forced heirship. Given the importance of the topic of conflicts in inheritance laws, we discuss the succession regime in Islamic law nations in Part IV and Russia in Part V. In Parts VI and VII, we discuss modem forced heirship laws and free testation regimes, respectively. Part VIII focuses on how nations determine which laws of which nations to apply in given cases.