Closest equivalent rights and adaptation
When someone dies in Sweden all the assets and debts of the deceased person are taken over by a new subject or entity with rights and liabilities. This entity is called dödsbo, translated to estate in English, and is a separate legal person. This entity is handled either by the parties of the estate together or by a court-appointed administrator. The parties in the estate are the spouse or cohabiting partner of the deceased, heirs of the deceased by law, and universal legatee’s if they are conferred estate as a whole or some portion thereof. They are considered owners of the estate.
The estate is responsible for settling all matters relating to the deceased person, including debts. Debts cannot be transferred to the parties after the death of a debtor. Instead, the balance of the estate consists of the assets reduced by the debts that the deceased had at the time of death and, if the balance is positive, the assets which remain are divided between the parties of the estate. If the deceased was living outside Sweden and owned real property in Sweden an administrator must be appointed.
In Sweden, the surviving spouse´s protection consists of the rules of division of property which ensures the surviving spouse at least half of all marital property. Spouses also have a right to inheritance, giving them the right to take over all the deceased’s estate before their common children and other legal heirs. If the deceased had children from a previous relationship the surviving spouse will not have any right to inheritance.
- Imagine you receive a request for the registration of a foreign European Certificate of Succession. It follows from this Certificate that one of the heirs is entitled to a right that is not part of your national numerus clausus. How do you approach this problem?
To my knowledge this has so far only happened a few times. On these occasions we have used the closest Swedish equivalent to that right and registered it as one of those.
