How Should We Organize the Liquidation of the Estate of A Deceased Person?

Jan Peter Schmidt

When a person dies leaving property behind, the law of succession determines what happens to it. In this video, JAN SCHMIDT explores how the desired distribution of assets is actually implemented when an estate is liquidated. Analyzing how the law of succession has developed through history and internationally, Schmidt shows that though questions of succession are extremely complex, there are shared fundamental issues which mean that approaches adopted in other times or jurisdictions can be both learned from and fruitfully drawn upon. The research breaks new ground in bringing a comparative approach to bear on the law of succession, an approach heretofore applied more readily to areas like the law of contract.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10864

Researcher

Jan Schmidt is Head of the Centre for the Application of Foreign Law at the Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. Formerly a research assistant at the Institute of European and Comparative Private Law and a Max-Planck-Fellow at the University of Oxford, Schmidt underwent his legal training in Berlin, including work at the German Parliament and the German Embassy in Costa Rica. Schmidt’s main research interests include the law of succession, private law in Latin America and comparative European private law. Schmidt was the 2009 recipient of the Max-Planck-Society’s Otto Hahn medal.

Max Planck Society

"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." ( Source )

Original Publication

Transfer of Property on Death and Creditor Protection: The Meaning and Role of "Universal Succession"

Jan Peter Schmidt

Published in 2017