# Principle and notions

## The principle

In order to guarantee proximity between the law applicable to the succession and the deceased, the Regulation provides that, unless specified to the contrary, the law applicable to the whole of the succession is the law of the habitual residence of the person at the time of his death.

## The notion of habitual residence

The Regulation establishes the “habitual residence” at the time of death as the main criterion for determining the law applicable to the succession. It is also the predominant criterion for determining jurisdiction.

The notion of “habitual residence” is not defined by the articles of the Regulation but recitals 23 and 24 do provide some indications: it is generally a matter of determining the State with which the deceased had the closest and most stable connections.

In light of the criteria set out in the Regulation, this is a highly concrete and factual process.

## Advice

- First remark: the notion of habitual residence within the meaning of the Regulation does not necessarily match the notion of tax residence (or tax domicile) and/or matrimonial residence (or domicile, although these notions can provide relevant indications.

- Second remark: the legal professional must determine the State in which the deceased had “the centre of interests of his family and his social life”, and take into consideration, among other things, the length of time he has been in that State, the circumstances of and reasons for his presence there and the location of his movable and immovable assets, etc.

- Third remark: the legal professional should indicate the grounds on which he considers that the deceased has his habitual residence in a given State.

## Examples

- Francesco, an Italian national who has lived his whole life in Milan where he owns a building and returns regularly, has lived in Geneva for three years for professional reasons, within the framework of a fixed-term expatriation contract. He dies in a traffic accident in Spain. He will be considered as having his habitual residence in Italy if it appears that he has only been living abroad for professional reasons and for a limited period of time, as the deceased otherwise continued to be most closely connected with Italy.

- Jacques is accommodated for two years in a retirement home in Belgium purely for financial and healthcare quality reasons. All his property and family have remained in France where he continued to exercise his voting rights. His habitual residence will be considered as being in France.