Acts: Austria does not have stricto sensu a national certificate of succession, but there are other acts with similar funtions:
- Decree of Distribution (Einantwortungsbeschluss);
- Official Confirmation of Representation (Amtsbestätigung)
Legal Framework: artt. § 178 (1) AußStrG 2005 (Austrian Non-Contentious Proceedings Act (Außerstreitgesetz, AußStrG 2005); §§ 172, 173 AußStrG 2005).
Competent Authority:
- Decree of Distribution: Probate court (Bezirksgericht), the district court of residence of the deceased;
- Official Confirmation of Representation: Court commisions
Procedure:
Decree of Distribution:
- It is issued by the Probate Court as the final step of inheritance proceedings, transfering the estate to the heirs.
- All heirs and their shares must have been previously determined, the inheritance must necessarily have been accepted and a legal title must have been provided.
- Furthermore, all non-heirs entitled to a part of the inheritance (e.g., legatees and forced heirs) must have been informed of their potential claims in the estate.
- If minors or other vulnerable parties are involved, the transfer can only be initiated after their claims have been satisfied or after securities have been provided for these purposes
Official Confirmation of Representation:
- this certificate is issued by notaries after a quasi-judicial assesment, where heirs need to prove their legal title.
- If reservations surface during the assessment, court commissioners have to refer the parties to the competent probate court.
Nature of the act:
- Decree of Distribution: It has a constitutive nature.
- Official Confirmation of Representation: It has a declatory nature.
Content:
-The Decree of Distribution contains:
1) the designation of the estate, indicating the firstand last name of the deceased, their date of birth and death and their last place of residence;
2) the designation of heirs, giving their first and last name, their date of birth and address;
3) the heirs title to the estate, their shares in the inheritance and, potentially, reference to agreements on the division of the estate;
4) the type (conditionally, unconditionally of acceptance.
-The Official Confirmation of Representation contains:
- the indication of estate;
- the name, address, date of birth of all parties that expressed their intent to accept the inheritance
- the date and type of the declaration, legal titles and, potentially, the shares claimed.
- The certificate further establishes which heirs will be entitled to administrate and represent the estate.
Function:
- Decree of Distribution: It confirms the final legal transfer of the estate to the heirs and functions as definitive proof of inheritance rights;
- Official Confirmation of Representation: It confirms who has the right to represent the estate, but does not prove ownership, so it is used commonly for administrative purposes.