Estate Planning by Agreement in the Sources of Roman Law

This study presents Roman legal sources from the perspective of the broad concept of estate planning. The focus is on the presentation of those instruments for the voluntary transfer of assets in the event of death that are not wills or codicils. Contrary to popular belief, Roman law was not fundamentally opposed to the transfer of property mortis causa using contractual remedies. A look from the perspective of contemporary legal problems makes it possible to see the scope within which the Romans carried out such intergenerational transfers of wealth. The extent of this already ancient phenomenon and the diversity of dogmatic questions offers a notable starting point for discussions about the strength of todays inheritance law dogmas.

Aleksander Grebieniov, Dr. iur., is Assistant Professor at the Chair of European Legal Tradition at the Faculty of Law of the University of Warsaw. He teaches and researches on Roman Law, Private Law and Comparative Law. He is also a member of the research office of the Polish Supreme Court.