ANALYSIS OF THE PLACE AND DATE OF THE OPENING OF SUCCESSION UNDER THE CIVIL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA. COMPARATIVE LAW ASPECTS

Abstract

The opening of succession triggers the transmission of the estate. Its date determines the circle of heirs and the law applicable ratione temporis, while its place, a notion of substantive law, must be distinguished from international jurisdiction, territorial competence and the law applicable to the succession, even where habitual residence serves as the connecting factor for several of them. Three successive and insufficiently coordinated reforms in the Republic of Moldova (Laws No. 133/2018, No. 134/2024 and No. 251/2025) have affected these coordinates. Using the comparative, historical and systematic methods, the study examines the Civil Code of the Republic of Moldova against Romanian, German, French, Russian and Ukrainian law, Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 and the 1996 Treaty between the Republic of Moldova and Romania on Legal Assistance, testing each alleged gap against a concrete legal situation and the rules in force. The date of opening has acquired new functions, whereas the place of opening no longer determines the competent notary and survives mainly as the criterion of the international jurisdiction of the courts. Several apparent gaps are filled by existing rules, notably as regards the representation of the descendants of a commoniens and the successions of persons habitually resident abroad. Narrower deficiencies remain: a possible artificial order of deaths for persons declared dead after disappearing together; the lack of a specific procedure for rectifying the date of death; the misalignment of Art. 80(2) of Law No. 246/2018 with the Civil Procedure Code; conflicting transitional rules for successions opened in the first quarter of 2026; and the silence of the 1996 Treaty on dual nationality. Targeted de lege ferenda proposals are formulated.