Preface Contents Abbreviations i Authors i part i Harmonization of Succession Law in Europe: The Current Debate chapter 1 Need and Opportunity of Convergence in European Succession Laws Walter Pintens chapter 2 Testamentary Freedom or Forced Heirship? Balancing Party Autonomy and the Protection of Family Members Andrea Bonomi part ii New Trends in Catalan Succession Law chapter 3 Between Tradition and Modernisation: A General Overview of the Catalan Succession Law Reform Esther Arroyo Amayuelas - Miriam Anderson chapter 4 Testamentary Freedom and Its Limits Esteve Bosch Capdevila chapter 5 Freedom of Testation, Compulsory Share and Disinheritance Based on Lack of Family Relationship Antoni Vaquer Aloy chapter 6 Freedom of Testation Versus Freedom to Enter Into Succession Agreements and Transaction Costs Susana Navas Navarro part iii National Perspectives on the Law of Succession in the 21st Century chapter 7 Freedom of Testation in England and Wales Roger Kerridge chapter 8 Law of Succession and Testamentary Freedom in Germany A. Röthel chapter 9 The Law of Succession in Hungary Zoltán Csehi chapter 10 Freedom of Testation in Italy Andrea Fusaro chapter 11 Acquisition of Property by Succession in Dutch Law. Tradition between Autonomy and Solidarity in a Changing Society J. Michael Milo chapter 12 The Norwegian Approach to Forced Share, the Surviving Spouse's Position and Irrevocable Wills Peter Hambro chapter 13 Restraints on Freedom of Testation in Scottish Succession Law Eric Clive chapter 14 Freedom of Testation in Slovenia Suzana Kraljić chapter 15 Freedom of Testation, Legal Inheritance Rights and Public Order under Spanish Law Sergio Cámara Lapuente.

The delta swamplands of South Louisiana are home to both abject poverty and fantastic wealth. Trust is a story of murder, greed, betrayal and the search for the elusive angel of justice. Attorney Jeb Stuart Johnston is hired by the beautiful Justine Galatas who is the sole heir to a vast fortune which has been under the thumb of a trust controlled and manipulated by unscrupulous businessmen and their lawyers. As Jeb dives deeper into the facts of the case, he uncovers corruption and double dealing which would put Machiavelli to shame. The shadowy entities that control the vast wealth contained in the trust will stop at nothing to maintain their control of the huge fortune, including bribery, intimidation and murder. He soon finds that this case will not be won or lost in a courtroom and he has to use all of his contacts and street smarts to battle what are now his blood enemies. Jeb crosses the line between lawyer and lover with the beautiful Justine and has to face not only the formidable array of opponents set against him but also his own demons and the ghosts of his past.

This is the sixth report from the European Union Committee of the 2009-10 session and looks at the EU's Regulation on Succession (HLP 75, ISBN 9780108459757). In October 2009 the EU Commission proposed legislation which aims to simplify the law affecting those who die having exercised their right to free movement, either by moving to another Member State to live or by buying property in a Member State other than their own. The law of succession regulates how a person's property is dealt with on their death - including the mechanism for paying taxes and other creditors, establishing who is entitled to inherit the deceased's property and how that property is to be transferred to those entitled to it. Where this involves the law of more than one Member State complications arise which can have a significant impact since the people affected are likely to be emotionally vulnerable because of bereavement. The Committee states it welcomes the fact that the Commission has not proposed harmonisation of the substantive law of succession and support the Commission's underlying, and more limited, objective of prescribing which state's law ofsuccession is to apply to the whole of a deceased person's estate; but only to the extent of determining who is entitled to inherit what property. The Committee believes to go further puts at risk important interests, not least property rights, the collection of taxes and the protection of creditors. The Committee also identifies a serious defect in the EU's proposal that it could result in gifts made in the UK by deceased persons during their lifetime, including gifts to charity, being claimed back by their heirs, under a process known as clawback.