Višje sodišče v Ljubljani; 2019-03-20; I Cp 154/2019
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:SI:VSLJ:2019:I.CP.154.2019
Date: 2019-03-20
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Slovenia

82019SI0320(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case, examined by the Višje sodišče v Ljubljani (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), concerned the international jurisdiction of the Slovenian courts in succession proceedings.
The Okrajno sodišče v Ljubljani (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) declared that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the succession proceedings concerning the estate of the deceased, relying on the Succession Regulation (1).
The daughter of the deceased (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) appealed, contesting the finding that her mother’s last habitual residence had been in Croatia. She argued that the deceased had lived with her in Slovenia before her death and that part of the succession property was located in Slovenia. Although succession proceedings in Croatia had already been concluded by a final notarial decision, the plaintiff maintained that she had intended the Croatian authorities to deal only with the property located there, not with the estate as a whole.
The Court of Appeal held that the case is governed by the Succession Regulation, which provides that, for persons who died on or after 17 August 2015, jurisdiction lies with the courts of the Member State in which the deceased had her habitual residence at the time of death (Article 4). Importantly, the Court noted that the plaintiff herself had requested that succession proceedings be conducted in Croatia and that those proceedings had already been completed with a final decision. In light of this, the question of whether the Court of First Instance correctly assessed the deceased’s habitual residence was no longer material.
Under the principle of the unity of the estate, the Regulation seeks to ensure that a single authority handles the succession as a whole. Pursuant to Article 17, once the jurisdiction of the authority first seised is established, all other courts must decline jurisdiction. Since the Croatian authority validly conducted and concluded the succession proceedings, the Slovenian courts were required to declare a lack of jurisdiction.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal as unfounded and upheld the decision of the Court of First Instance.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession.