NASLEDNOPRAVNI POLOŽAJ REPUBLIKE SRBIJE

Abstract

The subject of this paper is to review the legal position of the state in Serbian inheritance law as: testate and intestate heir, as well as the inheritance usufructuary. The goal of this paper is to assess the adequacy and harmonization of domestic norms regulating this matter and revealing its potential deficiencies that should be de lege ferenda corrected. The author states that the ability of the state to inherit the assets from the testator is derived from the freedom of testation and its legal position in this case is no different from the position of a natural person acting as a testate heir. When the state of Serbia inherits assets ab intestato it has a full status of a universal successor with one significant difference – as the last heir in the legal order it cannot renounce the inheritance. All other legal consequences of the position of the state as the forced heir are inevitable, logical and in compliance with the legislator's stand on the inheriting legal nature of the right of the state to a vacant inheritance. The author states that by awarding the state the legal status of the inheritance usufructuary in cases which are foreseen by law, is a deviation from the accepted nature of the right of the state to a vacant inheritance and represents a gross violation of the principle of mandatory universal succession and ex lege inheritance, which form the basis of Serbian inheritance law. Thus it can be concluded that this legal solution creates unnecessary confusion and leaves many unaswered questions and, therefore, it should be removed from the Inheritance Law.