Own motion proceedings and choice of law: Article 8
When the law of the last habitual residence of the deceased provides for a court to open proceedings of its own motion, then that court must close the proceedings of its own motion if the parties have agreed to settle the succession amicably out of court in the Member State whose law had been chosen by the decease
Example :
Antoine, a French national, resides in Krakow in Poland. He has worked there for 20 years and married Mirella, a Polish national, with whom he has had two children.
Antoine has written a will indicating a choice of French law to settle his succession, and has named Mirella as the universal legatee of his assets.
He died suddenly on 15 September 2015 in a traffic accident in Germany.
Krakow Regional Court opens succession proceedings. However, Mirella and her children have contacted a French notary to settle the succession amicably and have signed the instrument of partition. Mirella may seise the Court of Krakow with an application to close the proceedings of its own motion, stating that Antoine had made his succession subject to French law and that the heirs have shared out the assets amicably.