Ethical Wills – a Continental Law Perspective

• Main Authors: Frederik Swennen, Renate Barbaix
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2014-04-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Ethical wills; personality rights; estate planning; public policy; human rights; testamentary freedom; Testamentos éticos; derechos de personalidad; planificación y gestión patrimonial y sucesoria; políticas públicas; derechos humanos; libertad testamenta
• Online Access: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2431115

<p>Ethical wills are testaments, or planning instruments mortis causa alike, that contain provisions regarding the deceased&rsquo;s (non-economic) values rather than his (economic) valuables. The authors define and analyse the substance and form of ethical wills from a comparative Continental law perspective, drawing on Belgian, Dutch, French and German law. The focus primarily is on charges or conditions in restraint or constraint of (non-) denominational or family choices by testamentary beneficiaries; and in this context it is contended that both the doctrine of public policy (&ldquo;ordre public&rdquo;) and the horizontal application of the ECHR extensively restrict testamentary freedom. Nevertheless, the analogous application of estate planning techniques increasingly allows benevolent testators to plan their ethical legacy.</p> <hr /><p>Los testamentos &eacute;ticos son testamentos, similares a instrumentos de planificaci&oacute;n mortis causa, que contienen disposiciones relativas a los valores (no econ&oacute;micos) del difunto, en lugar de sus objetos de valor (econ&oacute;mico). Los autores definen y analizan el contenido y la forma de los testamentos &eacute;ticos desde una perspectiva comparativa de derecho continental, basada en la legislaci&oacute;n belga, holandesa, francesa y alemana. Se centra principalmente en los cargos o las condiciones de restricci&oacute;n o limitaci&oacute;n de las opciones (a)confesionales o familiares de los herederos; y en este contexto se afirma que tanto la doctrina de pol&iacute;tica p&uacute;blica ("ordre public") como la aplicaci&oacute;n horizontal del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos, restringen ampliamente la libertad testamentaria. Sin embargo, la aplicaci&oacute;n an&aacute;loga de t&eacute;cnicas de planificaci&oacute;n y gesti&oacute;n patrimonial y sucesoria, permite cada vez m&aacute;s a los testadores de &uacute;ltimas voluntades planificar su legado &eacute;tico.