GIFT IN CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH AS A SUBISTITUTE FOR INHERITANCE CONTRACT

Abstract

Gift in case of death is a permitted, but unnamed legal business in Serbian law, which legal nature is di cult to determine: whether it is more similar to legacy or to the inter vivos gift, stressing their diverse legal purposes and key features. On one hand, we have personally, unilaterally revocable disposition in the case of death, and on the other, two-sided inter vivos legal business unilaterally irrevocable. Hence, through the analysis of the diverse concepts of gift in case of death, we can identify the key points of approximation as well as di erentiation between contractual and testamentray disposition, and different legal effects that they provide therefore. The question of determining the legal nature of the gift in case of death is of particular importance having in mind actual contractualisation of inheretance law, esepecially in those legal systems that does not recognise contractual disposoition in case of death, as it is the case inour law. Through speci cation of legal nature of this treaty it would be more clear whether or not it would be possible to consider the gift in case of death as a supstitute for inheritance contract (in a functional sense),since this agreement incorporates both, obligatory and hereditary features. The signi cance of this issue is more relevant since the speci c concept of thisinsitute is proscribed in the draft of the Civil Code of the RS, that additionally blurs the legal nature of this institute, making more di cult to determine its legal nature and legal purpose to be provided for.