Notarial testament in Europe

Maciej Rzewuski

Notarial testament in Europe

2012

Maciej Rzewuski

K ated ra Postępow ania Cywilnego Wydział P raw a i A dm inistracji UWM

Notarial testament in Europe

The subject m a tte r of th e considerations p resen ted in th is article is the n o tarial testa m e n t, specifically forms of such a disposition allowed by the law. Due to the a u th o r’s origin, a lot of a tte n tio n h as been devoted to the Polish n o tarial testam en t. More or less innovative solutions which operate in selected legal system s of th e E uropean countries have also been considered.

The Napoleonic Code alread y referred to ordinary testam ents, which could be draw n up u n d e r norm al circum stances, as well as special testa­

m ents, which were allowed u n d e r ex trao rd in ary circum stances of a w ar or an

epidem ic only to specific persons. Napoleon’s Civil Code provided th re e forms of ordinary testam en ts: h an d w ritten , secret (mystic) and official, th a t is n o tarial testa m e n ts. O rdinary te sta m e n ts could be prep ared in w riting sub­ ject to specific form alities provided for by th e Code1.

In Poland also trad itio n ally two types of testa m e n ts can be d istingu ­ ished, nam ely ordinary an d special. An ordinary te sta m e n t m ay be d rafted by th e te s ta to r a t any tim e, however a special te sta m e n t m ay be prepared only u n d e r th e circum stances specified by th e law and its validity is lim ited in tim e (art. 955 of th e Civil Code)2. Polish ordinary te sta m e n ts include: a holographic testa m e n t, referred to as a h an d w ritten testa m e n t, a n allogra- phic te sta m e n t and a te sta m e n t draw n up as a n o tarial deed. Following E. Skowrońska-Bocian, it is w orth stressin g th a t form alising th e testam en t does not en ta il th e necessity to provide a relevant nam e, e.g. “T estam ent”. W hat is necessary is the will to p rep are it, th e aw areness of th e legal b u rd en of such a n act and keeping th e form provided for by the law3. This issue looks a b it different in th e legal system s of common law countries, w here in general the principle of providing by th e te s ta to r of an appropriate heading,

1 E. J . B a rw iń s k i, P ra w o s p a d k o w e o b o w ią zu ją ce w b y ły m K ró le stw ie K o n g re so w y m

w za rysie , W a rsz a w a 1938, pp. 1 9 -2 0 .

2 E. S k o w ro ń sk a -B o cian , T e sta m e n t w p ra w ie p o ls k im , W a rsz a w a 2004, pp. 6 3 -6 4 . 3 E. S k o w ro ń sk a-B o cian , F o rm a te s ta m e n tu w p ra w ie p o ls k im , W arsz a w a 1991, p. 28.

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like e.g. “L ast Will an d T estam ent” applies for th e purpose of elim inating any doubt as to th e actu al will of te sta tio n 4.

A n o tarial te sta m e n t m akes it r a th e r highly probable th a t th e disposi­ tions reflected in its contents comply w ith th e actu al will of th e testator. In addition, th e presence of a law yer is a g u a ra n tee for the te sta m e n t to be p rep ared in line w ith th e law, and prevents any defects in th e te s ta to r’s declaration of the last will. Moreover, depositing th e disposition a t the n o ta ­ ry ’s office excludes the possibility of its concealing, counterfeiting or destroy­ ing by th ird p a rtie s5. The Polish Civil Code, as is th e case w ith th e G erm an legislator, does not specify any form alities which a te sta m e n t subject to analysis should comply w ith. The provision of § 2232, para. 1 of th e G erm an Civil Code only im plies th a t a te sta m e n t m ay be prep ared as a n o tarial deed a fte r th e te s ta to r has han d ed to th e n otary th e ir declaration of the la s t will an d subm itted a sta te m e n t th a t such a declaration reflects th e ir actual intentions. A docum ent w hich does not have to be drafted by th e h an d of the testator, m ay be subm itted to th e n o tary open or closed (para. 2).

Form al requ irem ents for a n o tarial te sta m e n t in Poland m ay be form ula­ ted b ased on th e provisions of th e N otary Public Act6. Before collecting the te s ta to r’s statem en t, th e n o tary has to verify th e ir id en tity (art. 85 of the N otary Public Act). It is assum ed th a t th e docum ents used for th is purpose are cu rren tly an ID card and a p a ssp o rt7. These exclude: service papers and th e h e a lth insurance card8. As far as possible, the n o tary should also verify th e te s ta to r’s legal capacity, and if any u n c e rtain ty occurs they should re fra ­ in from perform ing a n o tarial act (art. 86). The n o tary ’s refusal to prepare a te sta m e n t in question m ay co nstitute th e basis for filing a com plaint by the te s ta to r w ith a regional court com petent for the n o tary ’s reg istered office (art. 83)9. P u rs u a n t to art. 94 § 1 of th e N otary Public Act, w hen read ing out th e n o tarial deed th e n otary is obliged to m ake sure w h ether th e te sta to r u n d e rsta n d s th e contents an d significance of th e deed10, and w h ether it

4 G. B o re m a n B ird , S le ig h t o f H a n d w r itin g : T h e H olo g ra p h ic W ill in C a lifo rn ia , “T he H a s tin g s L aw J o u r n a l” 1 9 8 0 -1 9 8 1 , vol. 32, p. 605.

5 J . Ig n a c z e w sk i, P ra w o sp a d k o w e . A r t. 9 2 2 -1 0 8 8 KC. K o m e n ta r z , W a rs z a w a 2004, p p. 1 3 1 -1 3 2 ; E. S k o w ro ń sk a-B o cian , F o rm a te s ta m e n tu ..., p. 102.

6 A ct of 14 F e b r u a ry 1991 (co n so lid ated te x t: J o u r n a l o f L aw s o f 2002, no. 42, ite m 369 a s a m en d ed ).

7 J . T u rłu k o w sk i, S p o r z ą d z e n ie te s ta m e n tu w p r a k ty c e , W a rs z a w a 2 009, pp. 6 6 -6 7 . C.f. M. K o lasiń sk i, O d p o w ie d zia ln o ść c yw iln a n o ta riu sza , T o ru ń 2005, p. 81 e t seq., a n d th e r u lin g o f th e S u p re m e C o u rt of 22.03.1995, III K R N 221/94, „ P ro k u r a tu r a i P ra w o ” 1995, no. 10, ite m 5.

8 A ccording to th e ru lin g of th e S u p re m e C o u rt of 30.09.1985, V K R N 656/85, O S N P G 1986, no. 6, ite m 86.

9 M ore in J . T u rłu k o w sk i, op. cit., p. 63 e t seq.

10 See: R e so lu tio n of th e S u p re m e C o u rt o f 19.07.2001, III C ZP 36/01, O S N C 2002, no. 1, ite m 7.

corresponds to th e te s ta to r’s actu al w ill11. P u rs u a n t to § 2 of th e article, all em pty spaces in th e n o tarial deed should be crossed out and all am endm ents described a t th e end of th e docum ent before affixing the signatures, or otherw ise they are deem ed null and void12.

To become valid, a n o tarial te sta m e n t also has to be signed by the persons p resen t du rin g th e act in question (art. 92 item 8 of th e N otary Public Act). In addition, a n o tarial deed h as to be signed by th e n o tary (item 9 of th e article). Lack of th e n o tary ’s sig n atu re justifies th e thesis on non­ existence of an official docum ent13. The relevant lite ra tu re is very dem an­ ding as to th e n o tary ’s sign atu re. It is assum ed th a t it has to comprise of at least the n o tary ’s su rn a m e 14. However, some au th o rs legitim ately point out th a t if a given h an d w ritten sign is know n to be th e sig n atu re of a specific person and m akes it possible to confirm th e person’s iden tity w ithout any doubt, no obstacles exist to consider it as a fully effective sig n a tu re 15. On th is account, in itiallin g the te sta m e n t by the notary should also be deemed acceptable. J. Turlukow ski m akes an accurate rem a rk th a t th e possibility of signing a n o tarial deed by th e notary in th e m an n e r referred to above is justified by the fact th a t th e ir first nam e and surnam e as well as th e place w here th e ir office is located, are m entioned in th e prep ared document. M ore­ over, if such a need arises, th ere are a num ber of o ther docum ents prepared by th e n o tary which m ay perfectly serve for com parison purposes16.

The subjective lim itations reg ard in g th e possibility to p rep are a no tarial te sta m e n t are applicable to th e n o tary them selves. They are not allowed to issue a deed whose dispositions refer directly to them selves, th e ir spouse, relatives or relatives by affinity in th e direct line w ithout any degree lim ita ­ tions, and up to the th ird degree in th e collateral line, persons rela te d to the n otary by adoption, custody or guard ianship , as well as persons in a close relationship. This exclusion also applies to th e deputy n o tary (art. 84 of the N otary Public Act)17. The violation of th e discipline referred to above m akes th e act perform ed invalid mortis causa18. A lthough some rep resen tativ es of th e theory tak e th e view th a t th e invalidity of a given disposition depends on

11 C.f. J . D ziw ań sk i, O bow iązek w y ja śn ia ją co -d o ra d czy n o ta r iu s z a p r z y s p o r zą d za n iu te­

sta m e n tu n o ta ria ln e g o w p r z y p a d k u z art. 961 kc (część p ierw sza ), N P N 2003, no. 2, p. 8 e t seq.

a n d S. W ójcik, R o la n o ta riu sza w sp ra w a c h sp a d k o w y ch (n a p r z y k ła d z ie te s ta m e n tu n o ta ria ln e ­

go), „R ejen t” 1996, no. 4 -5 , p. 144 e t seq.

12 E. S k o w ro ń sk a -B o cian , K o m e n ta rz do k o d e k su cyw ilnego. K sięg a IV. S p a d k i, W arsz a w a 2005, pp. 1 0 3 -1 0 4 .

13 A ccording to J . T u rłu k o w sk i, op. cit., p. 94.

14 C.f. A. O leszko, P o d p is w ła sn o ręczn y ja k o e lem en t fo r m a ln y a k tu n o ta ria ln eg o o b e jm u ją ­

cego czyn n o ść p r a w n ą (część d ru g a ), „ R ejen t” 2001, no. 9, p. 80.

15 Ib id em , p. 81.

16 J . T u rłu k o w sk i, op. cit., pp. 9 4 -9 5 .

17 E. S k o w ro ń sk a-B o cian , K o m e n ta rz..., p. 104. 18 C.f. J . T u rłu k o w sk i, op. cit., pp. 8 5 -8 8 .

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th e type of a provision of th e N otary Public Act which has been violated19, however in my opinion such a view is too liberal and m ight lead to law evasion. If th e legislator has introduced special regulations regarding formal req u irem en ts for n o tarial deeds, they h ad a p a rticu la r goal focused m ainly on en su ring th e m axim um protection an d reliability of a new legal situation. In addition, we cannot forget about th e provision of art. 958 of th e Civil Code, whose disposition in the scope described is exceptionally explicit and unam biguous. In the opinion of the Suprem e Court, an invalid testa m e n t will also be “a te sta m e n t prep ared as a n o tarial deed, if th e te s ta to r has failed to subm it a declaration of will and only signed a docum ent previously p rep ared by th e n o tary an d th e devisee, after its reading20. The legitim acy of the position presented by the Supreme Court results from the wording of art. 45 § 1 item 5 of th e N otary Public Act, according to w hich a te s ta to r should ’’declare” th e ir la s t will to th e notary.

It should be indicated by th e way th a t p u rsu a n t to art. 5 of th e Vienna C onvention on C onsular Relations ratified by Poland on 17 Septem ber 1981, in certain circum stances a consul m ay also act as a notary. However, in order to draw up n o tarial deeds they have to obtain a w ritte n au th o risatio n from th e M inister of Ju stice, issued a t th e req u est of th e M inister of Foreign A ffairs21.

A n o tarial te sta m e n t is a disposition commonly used in civil-law re la ­ tions in num erous countries. However, its form is not alw ays as uniform as in th e case of th e Polish law.

P u rs u a n t to th e Ita lia n succession system , th e disposition being an aly ­ sed occurs in two a ltern ativ e forms: a public and confidential one (art. 601 of th e Ita lia n Civil Code). P u rs u a n t to art. 603 of the norm ative act referred to, a public te sta m e n t is prep ared by way of a verbal sta te m e n t of th e te sta to r m ade to th e n otary in th e presence of two w itnesses (four w itnesses, if the te s ta to r is unable to read). The disposition is w ritte n down by th e notary, rea d out to th e te s ta to r an d the w itnesses, and th e n signed by the persons p articip atin g in the n o tarial act (art. 603 of the Ita lia n Civil Code). A public te sta m e n t has to indicate th e place and date of its acceptance, and th e tim e of signing th e document. In th e event of im possibility to sign th e disposition by th e te s ta to r or due to serious difficulties perform ing such a n act, before read in g out th e deed th e n o tary should describe th e reaso n for the afore­ m entioned nonfeasance22. A confidential testa m e n t, on th e other hand, m ay

19 A ccording to F. B la h u ta , [in:] K o d eks cyw ilny. K o m e n ta rz, W a rsz a w a 1972, p. 1873. 20 T he ru lin g of th e S u p rem e C o u rt of 30.06.1972, I C R 403/72, O SN C 1973, no. 3, ite m 49. 21 See: a r t. 19 § 4 of th e A ct o f 13.02.1984 on F u n c tio n s o f C o n su le s of th e R epublic of P o la n d (c o n so lid ated te x t: J o u r n a l o f L aw s o f 2002, no. 215, ite m 1823 a s am en d ed ).

22 C.f. G. C ian , A. T rab u c ch i, C o m m en ta rio breve a l codice civile, C o m p lem en to g iu risp ru -

be draw n up both by the te s ta to r or by a th ird party. The capacity to prepare such a disposition excludes persons who cannot or are unable to rea d (art. 604 of th e Code)23. A deed including confidential dispositions should be sealed in th e m an n er preventing its opening or rem oval w ithout breakin g or forging th e seal. A docum ent secured in th is way is handed by th e te s ta to r to th e n o tary in person, in th e presence of two w itnesses, to g eth e r w ith a declaration of including th e te s ta to r’s final will po st mortem (art. 605 of the Ita lia n Civil Code)24. On th e envelope including th e confidential testam en t th e n otary confirms its receipt and delivery by the testator, as well as th e seal im press and presence of the w itnesses in perform ing all th e acts refer­ red to above. Such proof has to be signed by th e testator, th e n o tary and the w itnesses. If a confidential te sta m e n t fails to m eet th e afore-m entioned for­ m al requirem ents, it m ay be converted into a valid holographic disposition (art. 607 of th e Code). A confidential te sta m e n t subm itted to th e n o tary is tre a te d as a h an d w ritten testam en t. T h at being so, it m ay be retrieved by th e te sta to r from the n o tary a t any tim e. The la tte r p rep ares a relevant protocol w hich should be signed by th e testator, two w itnesses and the n otary (art. 608)25.

On th e oth er hand, th e D utch law provides for as m any as th re e forms of testa m e n ts, w ith each of th em req uirin g th e presence of a notary and two w itnesses. These include:

1) open te sta m e n t (public) - draw n up by a n o tary based on th e te s ta ­ to r’s declaration of th e ir last will, signed by th e te s ta to r and two witnesses;

2) holographic te sta m e n t - w ritte n in th e h a n d of th e testato r, and th en deposited w ith th e n otary in th e presence of two w itnesses;

3) closed te sta m e n t (secret) - does not have to be w ritte n by h a n d or signed by th e te s ta to r, h a n d e d to a n o ta ry in th e m a n n e r sim ila r to a holographic te sta m e n t26.

Based on th e aforesaid, it tu rn s out th a t each case of testa tio n p u rsu a n t to th e D utch law requires m andatory presence of a notary, and w ithout th eir presence a te s ta to r m ay only p rep are a codicil appointing th e executor to h andle th e fu n eral-related issues and execute endow m ents reg ard ing the m ovables27.

23 See: G. P. C irillo, V. C u faro , F. R oselli, Codice civile a c u ra d i P ietro R escigno. L e fo n ti

d el d ir itto ita lia n o . I testi fo n d a m e n ta li c o m m e n ta ti con la d o ttr in a e a n n o ta ti con la g iu risp ru - d e n za , t. I, lib ri I-IV , M ilano 2006, pp. 7 8 8 -7 9 0 a n d L. F e rro n i, Codice civile. A n n o ta to con la g iu r is p r u d e n z a , vol. I, lib ri I-IV , a r t. 1 -2 0 5 9 , 2006, p. 744.

24 M ore in G. C ian , A. T rab u cch i, op. cit., p. 573.

25 C.f. G. P. C irillo, V. C u faro , F. R oselli, op. cit., p. 792 a n d L. F e rro n i, op. cit., p. 746. 26 A s [in:] T h e In fo rm a tio n of th e E m b a ss y o f th e R ep u b lic of P o la n d in H a g u e , re g a rd in g in h e rita n c e d is trib u tio n in th e N e th e rla n d s a n d D u tc h re g u la tio n s on s ta tu to r y a n d te s ta m e n ­ ta r y succession, p u b lis h e d a t: <h ttp ://w w w .h ag a .p o le m b .n e t/ files/ w k /in fo _ sp ad k i_ p l.p d f>.

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W ithout denying the legitimacy of introducing a uniform notarial testam ent in all the EU mem ber states, the author would like to draw the readers’ attention to a certain m aterial flaw of a confidential testam ent. U ntil its ope­ ning, the document’s contents rem ain in principle confidential. Taking account of the fact th a t the testam ent is opened after the testa to r’s death28 (when they cannot elim inate any potential omissions), alm ost each case of failure to m eet th e requirem ents regarding the holographic form of a disposition, except for th e D utch closed testa m e n t, will resu lt in obligatory testa m e n t invalidity.

W hat is also negatively assessed is th e solutions adopted in th e Spanish law, which m ake th e disposition validity dependent on th e n o ta ry ’s acquain­ tance of th e te s ta to r or confirm ing th e ir id en tity by two w itnesses know n to th e notary, or w ith th e docum ents issued by public auth o rities whose ta sk com prises of person identification (art. 685 of the Spanish Civil Code). S tri­ king w ith excessive form alism , the indicated requirem en ts lim it th e possibi­ lity of testatio n , and th u s deserve disapproval. The situ atio n is sim ilar in the case of th e F ren ch official te sta m e n t w hich in order to be valid requires presence of as m any as two n otaries, or one n o tary and two w itnesses (art. 969 of th e F ren ch Civil Code)2 9.

To sum up th e above considerations, in th e a u th o r’s opinion th e sm aller th e n u m b er of types of n o tarial testa m e n ts allowed in a given country, the m ore dispositions d rafted by a n o tary continue in full force an d effect. W itho­ u t denying th e need for a more extensive discussion on the analysed subject m atter, th e au th or would like to express his disapproval for confidential forms of n o tarial testam ents. The presence of a law yer in preparing a testam ent should by definition g uaran tee th e validity of each disposition mortis causa. In th e case of confidential (closed) forms of the testam en t, m eeting of this req u ­ irem ent is practically impossible, due to the n o tary’s m inor knowledge or m ostly lack of knowledge of th e contents of a deposited sealed envelope.

S tr e s z c z e n ie

T estam en t n o ta ria ln y w E u ropie

Słow a kluczow e: te s ta m e n t n o tarialn y , te s ta m e n t zwykły, te s ta m e n t specjalny, sp ad k o d aw ca.

Przedm iotem rozw ażań przedstaw ionych w tym arty k u le je s t testa m e n t notarialny. Szczególną uwagę poświęcono polskiem u testam entow i n o ta ria l­ nem u. Zwrócono także uw agę n a rozw iązania praw ne funkcjonujące w wy­ b ranych k rajach europejskich.

28 C.f. a r t. 621 in c o n n ec tio n w ith a r t. 622 o f th e I t a l i a n C ivil C ode a n d G. C ian , A. T rab u cch i, op. cit., p. 576.

29 M ore: G. W ied eg k e h r, X. H enry, A. T is s e ra n d , G. V en a n d e t, F. Ja c o b , Code Civil,