2015

Abstract: Under the 1864 Civil Code, fideicommissary substitutions were prohibited by law primarily because they seriously undermined the principle of the free circulation of property and the essentially personal nature of a will, and had a significant impact on credit.

The drafters of the new Civil Code considered that the most important thing was to protect the settlor’s family and sought an appropriate solution to overcome the drawbacks that had led to the prohibition of fideicommissary substitutions in the past. The solution reached by the Romanian legislature represents a compromise between traditional regulations governing fideicommissary substitutions and the need to avoid undermining other values of contemporary society, such as protecting the reserved share of heirs entitled to a reserved portion, ensuring the free circulation of property, and respecting the strictly personal nature of a will.

Keywords:fiduciary substitution; settlor; beneficiary; substitute; successive gifts; trust; the beneficiary’s statutory share of the estate.