Diana Wallis launches a survey about access to justice

3.02.11pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 19th May 2006

What happens when you die in one country and you have property in one or more of the other EU countries? This is not an isolated question as it affects many people in Yorkshire & The Humber each year.

In the UK you are able to freely make a will naming your choice of beneficiaries, not necessarily your close family. Whereas in France and Germany however a proportion of one's estate has to be passed automatically to certain family members.

Which law should apply when you die and your estate is spread over Europe? In particular, which law should apply to your immovable properties? If you buy a house in South of Spain, should your heirs expect to pay taxes to the Spanish authorities, to the UK authorities or maybe to both?

Legal experts are in agreement that EU legislation on succession and wills will be necessary to decide which legal system should apply. One way to do it could be to apply the law of the country in which the person was last habitually resident when deciding how to divide up their estate when they die.

Now the local Lib Dem Euro MP is to survey local law firms on this and other aspects of cross border civil justice such as road traffic accidents, purchasing land abroad and maintenance in things like divorce settlements.

Diana Wallis MEP for Yorkshire & The Humber, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee and a former solicitor herself, is seeking the views of local lawyers on a range of key legal topics.

She said:

"People are increasingly mobile, living, working and travelling across the EU in ever greater numbers. When problems happen it is often a problem about which country's law should be applied.

"When problems happen access to justice abroad is often a problem as well as deciding which country's law should be applied. I am seeking the views of local lawyers on what their experience and whether they think some form of harmonisation might help."

The results of the survey, which is available on her website, should be published within the next three months.

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Previous news story: Diana speaks to Romania judges as EU enlargement remains on track (Thu 18th May 2006).
Next news story: EP Equitable Life committee questions proper implementation of community law (Mon 29th May 2006).

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