ACT No. XVI of 2015 AN ACT to amend various laws relating to succession.

I assent.

M ARIE L OUISE

(L.S.)

C OLEIRO P RECA

President

2nd June, 2015

ACT No. XVI of 2015

AN ACT to amend various laws relating to succession.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

(1) The short title of this Act is the Various Laws Short title,

scope and

(Succession) (Amendment) Act, 2015.

commencement.

(2) This Act implements the provisions of Regulation (EU)

No. 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the

4th July, 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and

enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of

authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a

European Certificate of Succession.

(3) The provisions of this Act shall come into force on such

date as the Minister for Justice may by notice in the Gazette establish,

and different dates may be so established for different provisions of

this Act.

PART I

Amendments to the Civil Code

This Part amends the Civil Code and it shall be read and Amendments of

construed as one with the Civil Code, hereinafter in this Part referred the

to as "the Code".

The table entitled "Arrangement of Code" appearing

immediately before article 1 of the Code shall be amended as follows

(a)

in the heading of Sub-Title III of Title III of Part II

of Book Second thereof, entitled "Provisions common to Testate

Successions and to Intestate Successions", the figure "958" shall

be substituted by the figure "958K";

(b) in Sub-Title III of Title III of Part II of Book Second

thereof, immediately after the heading "Of Partitions made by

the Father, the Mother, or other Ascendants among their

Descendants" there shall be added the following new heading

"§VIII Of Cross-Border Successions 958A - 958K"; and

(c)

in the heading of Title IIIA of Part II of Book

Second thereof, entitled "Of Trusts and their effects" the figures

"958A - 958K" shall be substituted by the figures "958L -

958U".

Article 682 of the Code shall be deleted.

Articles 958A to 958J of the Code shall be renumbered as

article 958L to article 958U respectively.

Immediately after article 958 of the Code, there shall be

added the following new heading and articles

"§VIII OF CROSS-BORDER SUCCESSIONS

958A. For the purposes of this Sub-title

Interpretation.

"cross-border succession" includes a

succession wherein one or more of the following

may occur

(a)

the deceased held property or

assets in more than one country; or

(b) the deceased was at the time of

his death habitually resident in a country

other than the country of which he was a

national; or

(c)

the deceased made a disposition

of property upon death in a country other

than the country of which he was a national;

or

(d) the

beneficiaries

of

the

succession are habitually resident or are

nationals in more than one country;

"European Certificate of Succession" means

the certificate referred to in Chapter VI of the

Succession Regulation;

"Succession Regulation" means Regulation

(EU) No. 650/2012 of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction,

applicable law, recognition and enforcement of

decisions and acceptance and enforcement of

authentic instruments in matters of succession and

on the creation of a European Certificate of

Succession, including any future amendment to

the said Regulation.

958B. The provisions of the Succession

Applicability.

Regulation shall apply to cross-border

successions from 17 August 2015 onwards.

958C(1) The Civil Court (First Hall) shall be

Competent

court.

the competent court to deal with applications for a

declaration of enforceability pursuant to Articles

45, 60 and 61 of the Succession Regulation.

(2) In its decision on an application for a

declaration of enforceability, the court shall order

the Registrar of Courts to cause a copy of its

decision to be served on the applicant pursuant to

Article 49(1) of the Succession Regulation. The

court shall indicate the manner in which such

service is to take place.

(3) The applicant shall serve the decision

on an application for a declaration of

enforceability on the party or parties against

whom enforcement is sought pursuant to Article

49(2) of the Succession Regulation.

(4) The competent court in Malta to deal

with appeals against decisions on such

applications in accordance with Article 50 of the

Succession Regulation shall be the Court of

Appeal as constituted in accordance with article

41(1) of the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

(5) An appeal against a decision of the

Civil Court (First Hall) on an application for a

declaration of enforceability in accordance with

Article 50 of the Succession Regulation shall be

made by means of an application and shall be

lodged within twenty days which shall commence

to run as follows

(a)

in the case of an appeal by the

applicant, from the date when the decision is

brought to his notice in accordance with

sub-article (2); and

(b) in the case of an appeal by the

other party, from the date when the decision

is served upon such party in accordance with

sub-article (3).

(6) The provisions of Title IV of Book

Third of the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure shall apply to decisions given by the

Court of Appeal on an appeal from a decision on a

declaration for enforceability.

958D. Without prejudice to the provisions of

Competent

authorities for

article 958E(3) and (4), the competent authorities

the issue of a

European

in Malta to issue a European Certificate of

Certificate of

Succession pursuant to Article 64 of the

Succession.

Succession Regulation shall be the Civil Court

(Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) and notaries

having a warrant to exercise their profession in

accordance with the Notarial Profession and

Notarial Archives Act.

958E. (1) The Civil Court (Voluntary

Competence.

Jurisdiction Section) shall be competent to issue a

European Certificate of Succession in all cases.

(2) A notary may only issue a European

Certificate of Succession where all the

beneficiaries of the succession are in agreement

on the contents of the certificate and have

expressed their consent in writing to the notary to

proceed with the issue of the certificate.

(3) A notary shall not issue a European

Certificate of Succession

(a)

where an application for the

issue of such a certificate concerning the

succession of the same person has been

made to the Civil Court (Voluntary

Jurisdiction Section) prior to the issue of a

certificate;

(b) where the agreement of all the

beneficiaries of the succession in

accordance with sub-article (2) has not been

attained; or

(c)

where the notary is aware that

there is a dispute concerning the inheritance

or estate or parts of the estate of the

deceased.

(4) In the cases referred to in sub-article

(3), the notary or an advocate may, on the request

of any person referred to in Article 63(1) of the

Succession Regulation, make an application to the

Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) on

behalf of such person for the issue of a European

Certificate of Succession.

(5) For the purposes of this article,

"beneficiaries of the succession" means the

known heirs and legatees of the succession, and if

any, the testamentary executors.

958F. Upon receipt of an application for a

Registration of

application.

European Certificate of Succession in the form

prescribed in Article 65 of the Succession

Regulation, the issuing authority shall register the

application with the Director of the Public

Registry by means of a note of enrolment within

seven days from date of receipt of the application.

958G. If it shall appear from the contents of

Interested

parties.

the application, or from the examination, or from

the information obtained, that any third party is

interested in the matter, the issuing authority shall

order the application to be served on such

interested party.

958H.(1) In examining the application, the

Examination of

application.

Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section) shall

have all the powers mentioned in Part II of Book

Second of the Code of Organization and Civil

Procedure.

(2) If the application involves a foreign

law, it shall be lawful for the court to appoint one

or more persons who is suitably qualified on

account of his knowledge or experience to

produce a reasoned opinion in writing, to give

expert evidence as to the law of any other foreign

state.

958I.(1) Every application for a European

Preservation

and registration

Certificate of Succession and every European

of application

and Certificate.

Certificate of Succession issued shall be

preserved and registered by the issuing authority.

The notary shall also be bound to preserve with

the Certificate the consent in writing mentioned in

article 958E(2).

(2) If the application has been filed before

the Civil Court (Voluntary Jurisdiction Section),

the application and the certificate shall be kept at

the Registry of the Court.

(3) The registration shall be made in the

name of the deceased person whose succession is

being determined by means of the European

Certificate of Succession.

(4) Regular indexes shall also be kept for

all applications and issued certificates.

958J.(1) The issuing authority shall issue

Certified copies

of the

one or more certified copies of the European

European

Certificate of

Certificate of Succession to the applicant and to

Succession.

any person showing a legitimate interest in the

succession of the deceased. In all cases, the

issuing authority shall keep a list of the persons to

whom the certified copies have been issued. Such

list shall be made accessible to any person

showing a legitimate interest.

(2) The issuing authority shall, within

fifteen days from date of issue of the Certificate,

file a note of enrolment with the Director of the

Public Registry who shall register the European

Certificate of Succession accordingly.

(3) The note of enrolment shall only

contain the date and nature of the act, the name of

the deceased, the designation of the issuing

authority and the date of issue of the Certificate.

(4) Any rectification, modification or

withdrawal of the Certificate carried out by the

issuing authority shall also be registered with the

Director of the Public Registry by means of note

of enrolment within fifteen days from the date of

rectification, modification or withdrawal of the

Certificate.

958K.(1) For the purposes of Article 72 of

Challenging of

decision of

the Succession Regulation, decisions of the

issuing

authority.

issuing authority pursuant to Article 67, Article

71 and point (a) of Article 73(1) of the Succession

Regulation may be challenged by means of a

sworn application in the manner contemplated in

the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure.

The sworn application must be brought before the

Civil Court (First Hall) which shall be the

competent judicial authority for this purpose.

(2) The applicant shall cause a copy of the

sworn application to be served on any person

having an interest therein, who shall have twenty

days within which to file a reply.

(3) An appeal against a judgment of Civil

Court (First Hall) pursuant to sub-article (1) shall

be made by means of an application to the Court

of Appeal and shall be lodged within twenty days

from the date of judgment.

(4) The mode of procedure for appeal as

contemplated in the Code of Organization and

Civil Procedure shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.".

PART II

Amendments to the Notarial Profession and

Notarial Archives Act

This Part amends the Notarial Profession and Notarial Amendments to

Archives Act, and it shall be read and construed as one with the Notarial

Profession and

Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act, hereinafter in this Part Notarial

Archives Act.

referred to as "the principal Act".

Sub-article (2) of article 2 of the principal Act shall be Amendment of

article 2 of the

amended as follows

principal Act.

(a)

paragraph (k) thereof shall be renumbered as

paragraph (l); and

(b) immediately after paragraph (j) thereof there shall

be added the following new paragraph

"(k) to issue a European Certificate of Succession

in terms of Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 in accordance

with the provisions of Sub-title IV of Title III of Part II of

Book Second of the Civil Code;".

In paragraph (o) of sub-article (1) of article 50 of the

principal Act, for the words "an inheritance." there shall be

substituted the words "an inheritance;", and immediately thereafter

there shall be added the following new paragraph

"(p) any application for a European Certificate of

Succession and every issued European Certificate of

Succession.".

PART III

Amendments to the Public Registry Act

This Part amends the Public Registry Act, and it shall be

read and construed as one with the Public Registry Act, hereinafter in

this Part referred to as "the principal Act".

Immediately after article 34 of the principal Act, there

shall be added the following new article

" Two register

(1) In the Public Registry Office in

books for the

Malta and in Gozo, there shall be kept two

European

register books: one for the registration of

Certificate of

Succession.

applications of the European Certificate of

Succession, and another for the registration of

European Certificate of Succession which have

been issued by the competent issuing authorities.

(2) In both cases the registration shall be

made in the name of the deceased person whose

succession is being determined by means of the

European Certificate of Succession.

(3) The Director of the Public Registry

shall cause an index of the register books for the

registration of the applications of the European

Certificate of Succession and for the registration

of European Certificate of Succession, to be made

and kept in the Public Registry Office in Malta

and in Gozo; and every person shall be entitled to

search that index, and to have a copy of any entry

which is found in the said register books.

(4) The copy of any entry obtained from

the register books mentioned in this article serves

only for information purposes and shall not in any

way whatsoever substitute the certified copy of

the European Certificate of Succession issued by

the competent issuing authorities.

(5) For the purposes of this article the

European Certificate of Succession refers to the

meaning as is assigned to it in the European

Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) No. 650

of 2012.".

12. Immediately after item 11 of the First Schedule to the Amendment of

principal Act, there shall be added the following new item

"12. For every registration of an application

of a European Certificate of Succession or for the

registration of a European Certificate of Succession

or for the registration of a rectification,

modification or withdrawal of a European

Certificate of Succession .........................................

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 269 of the

27th May 2015.

A NĠLU F ARRUGIA

Speaker

R AYMOND S CICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€1.08