"Will-substitutes" from a comparative perspective

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In Germany as well as in other jurisdictions, wealth increasingly passes not by the way of wills but through so-called "will-substitutes", such as, for instance, life insurance policies, trusts, joint tenancy of property, joint bank accounts or pension schemes. These developments question the role and the scope succession law has in the transfer of wealth. However, these functional equivalents of wills have rarely been studied or analysed. We lack substantial comparative research as well as theoretical concepts. Therefore, the objective of this research project is to gain a clearer picture of the phenomenon's scale and of the instruments used across common law and civil law jurisdictions, but also of the motives why people decide to transfer their wealth through devices alternative to the "classical" will. A second, more theoretical concern is to decipher what jurisdictions consider as genuine part of the specific nature of succession law in contrast to other ways to transfer wealth. This concerns especially the role of formalities and to what extent the interests of family members, of tax authorities and of creditors are being taken into account.