Not just anybody can apply for the issue of an ECS[1]. Only certain persons are entitled to apply for issue. They are the following:
Heirs or legatees having direct rights in the succession (Article 63(1)[2] and Article 65(1)[3]),
Executors of wills or administrators of the estate who need to invoke their status in another Member State.
Creditors of the succession or the creditors of an heir may not apply for the issue of an ECS[1].
The status of the applicant must be examined in light of the law applicable to the succession.
The applicant must provide evidence (originals or certified copies) of their status and of the rights they claim to have in the assets of the estate as beneficiary, administrator or executor (Article 66[4]).
ECS: European Certificate of Succession
Purpose of the Certificate
The Certificate is for use by heirs, legatees having direct rights in the succession and executors of wills or administrators of the estate who, in another Member State, need to invoke their status or to exercise respectively their rights as heirs or legatees and/or their powers as executors of wills or administrators of the estate.
The Certificate may be used, in particular, to demonstrate one or more of the following:
a) the status and/or the rights of each heir or, as the case may be, each legatee mentioned in the Certificate and their respective shares of the estate;
b) the attribution of a specific asset or specific assets forming part of the estate to the heir(s) or, as the case may be, the legatee(s) mentioned in the Certificate;
c) the powers of the person mentioned in the Certificate to execute the will or administer the estate.
Application for a Certificate
The Certificate shall be issued upon application by any person referred to in Article 63(1) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the applicant').
For the purposes of submitting an application, the applicant may use the form established in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 81(2).
The application shall contain the information listed below, to the extent that such information is within the applicant's knowledge and is necessary in order to enable the issuing authority to certify the elements which the applicant wants certified, and shall be accompanied by all relevant documents either in the original or by way of copies which satisfy the conditions necessary to establish their authenticity, without prejudice to Article 66(2):
a) details concerning the deceased: surname (if applicable, surname at birth), given name(s), sex, date and place of birth, civil status, nationality, identification number (if applicable), address at the time of death, date and place of death;
b) details concerning the applicant: surname (if applicable, surname at birth), given name(s), sex, date and place of birth, civil status, nationality, identification number (if applicable), address and relationship to the deceased, if any;
c) details concerning the representative of the applicant, if any: surname (if applicable, surname at birth), given name(s), address and representative capacity;
d) details of the spouse or partner of the deceased and, if applicable, ex-spouse(s) or ex-partner(s): surname (if applicable, surname at birth), given name(s), sex, date and place of birth, civil status, nationality, identification number (if applicable) and address;
e) details of other possible beneficiaries under a disposition of property upon death and/or by operation of law: surname and given name(s) or organisation name, identification number (if applicable) and address;
f) the intended purpose of the Certificate in accordance with Article 63;
g) the contact details of the court or other competent authority which is dealing with or has dealt with the succession as such, if applicable;
h) the elements on which the applicant founds, as appropriate, his claimed right to succession property as a beneficiary and/or his right to execute the will of the deceased and/or to administer the estate of the deceased;
i) an indication of whether the deceased had made a disposition of property upon death; if neither the original nor a copy is appended, an indication regarding the location of the original;
j) an indication of whether the deceased had entered into a marriage contract or into a contract regarding a relationship which may have comparable effects to marriage; if neither the original nor a copy of the contract is appended, an indication regarding the location of the original;
k) an indication of whether any of the beneficiaries has made a declaration concerning acceptance or waiver of the succession;
l) a declaration stating that, to the applicant's best knowledge, no dispute is pending relating to the elements to be certified;
m) any other information which the applicant deems useful for the purposes of the issue of the Certificate.
Examination of the application
Upon receipt of the application the issuing authority shall verify the information and declarations and the documents and other evidence provided by the applicant. It shall carry out the enquiries necessary for that verification of its own motion where this is provided for or authorised by its own law, or shall invite the applicant to provide any further evidence which it deems necessary.
Where the applicant has been unable to produce copies of the relevant documents which satisfy the conditions necessary to establish their authenticity, the issuing authority may decide to accept other forms of evidence.
Where this is provided for by its own law and subject to the conditions laid down therein, the issuing authority may require that declarations be made on oath or by a statutory declaration in lieu of an oath.
The issuing authority shall take all necessary steps to inform the beneficiaries of the application for a Certificate. It shall, if necessary for the establishment of the elements to be certified, hear any person involved and any executor or administrator and make public announcements aimed at giving other possible beneficiaries the opportunity to invoke their rights.
For the purposes of this Article, the competent authority of a Member State shall, upon request, provide the issuing authority of another Member State with information held, in particular, in the land registers, the civil status registers and registers recording documents and facts of relevance for the succession or for the matrimonial property regime or an equivalent property regime of the deceased, where that competent authority would be authorised, under national law, to provide another national authority with such information.