The (accidental?) Imposition of Forced Inheritance.
Posted: 06 Mar 2019 12:44
In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement in place it seems to me that UK nationals cease to be EU citizens with immediate effect.
This would surely take them outside the scope of EU Regulation 650/2012 which allows for EU citizens to specify in their Will that the law of their domicile of origin shall apply. If such clauses become ineffective for UK-domiciled testators then the Cyprus forced-inheritance rules would presumably apply as the older provision for UK & Commonwealth citizens ceased to be valid in July 2015 so isn't available as a fall-back.
Perhaps this topic might be covered in some way under the provisions of a Withdrawal Agreement and clear guidance could eventually emerge from that process but it could well be that it is determined that UK citizens are not to be considered as EU citizens for any purpose, the matter isn't one requiring amendment of the Regulation to make specific provision for UK nationals and that individual countries can/can't add their own provisions for UK nationals if they wish. The fact that the UK opted-out of the Regulation (presumably because of the common law rather than civil law basis of its inheritance rules) may colour the attitude of some states.
However, a no-deal Brexit looks to me as if it imposes forced-inheritance with immediate effect. I've little confidence that the Cyprus government can satisfactorily address this matter with sufficient speed to ensure that any retrospective legislation they may eventually implement will avoid complications and problems that could arise very swiftly from deaths immediately after a no-deal Brexit.
Have any clues been observed anywhere as to whether this is on anyone's radar? Has it, perhaps, seen a mention within specialist legal journals?
This would surely take them outside the scope of EU Regulation 650/2012 which allows for EU citizens to specify in their Will that the law of their domicile of origin shall apply. If such clauses become ineffective for UK-domiciled testators then the Cyprus forced-inheritance rules would presumably apply as the older provision for UK & Commonwealth citizens ceased to be valid in July 2015 so isn't available as a fall-back.
Perhaps this topic might be covered in some way under the provisions of a Withdrawal Agreement and clear guidance could eventually emerge from that process but it could well be that it is determined that UK citizens are not to be considered as EU citizens for any purpose, the matter isn't one requiring amendment of the Regulation to make specific provision for UK nationals and that individual countries can/can't add their own provisions for UK nationals if they wish. The fact that the UK opted-out of the Regulation (presumably because of the common law rather than civil law basis of its inheritance rules) may colour the attitude of some states.
However, a no-deal Brexit looks to me as if it imposes forced-inheritance with immediate effect. I've little confidence that the Cyprus government can satisfactorily address this matter with sufficient speed to ensure that any retrospective legislation they may eventually implement will avoid complications and problems that could arise very swiftly from deaths immediately after a no-deal Brexit.
Have any clues been observed anywhere as to whether this is on anyone's radar? Has it, perhaps, seen a mention within specialist legal journals?