"Will-substitutes" from a comparative perspective

在德国以及其他司法管辖区，财富越来越多地不是通过遗嘱的方式转移，而是通过所谓的“遗嘱替代品”转移，例如人寿保险单、信托、财产的共同租赁、联合银行账户或养老金计划。这些事态发展对继承法在财富转移中的作用和范围提出了质疑。然而，这些功能上等同于遗嘱的东西很少被研究或分析。我们缺乏实质性的比较研究以及理论概念。因此，本研究项目的目标是更清楚地了解这一现象的规模以及英美法系和大陆法系司法管辖区使用的工具，以及人们决定通过替代“传统”遗嘱的手段转移财富的动机。第二个问题是，与其他转移财富的方式相比，哪些管辖权被视为继承法具体性质的真正组成部分，这一问题在理论上更为重要。这尤其涉及手续的作用以及在多大程度上考虑到家庭成员、税务当局和债权人的利益。

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.