Моментът на откриване на наследството: правно значение, установяване и удостоверяване
The Moment of Opening of the Inheritance: its Legal Significance, Establishment and Certification

Summary/Abstract: The present article explores the legal significance, establishment and certification of the time of death of the deceased person which is the moment of opening of its inheritance, according to Art. 1 of the Inheritance Act (1949). The article contains detailed explanation of the probative force and legal effect of the Certificate of death as well as of the provisions on making changes in its content. Special attention is being paid to the legal importance and functions of Art. 10a of The Inheritance Act which provides that where several (two or more) persons have died under circumstances which do not allow ascertainment of who died last and may therefore have inherited from someone who died before, the court is compelled to presume that the younger survived the elder (the seniority principle). The article gives arguments that the provision of Art. 10a of The Inheritance Act is not intended to make changes to the moment of opening of the inheritance or to introduce a modification of the legal order of succession. On the contrary, it establishes a rebuttable presumption (praesumptio iuris tantum) which is aimed at facilitating the establishment of the order of death in cases where the order of its occurrence cannot be established for lack of evidence concerning the precise time of death.

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