Where the single certificate came from
Until 2015, an estate with assets in different EU countries was administered under the private-international-law rules of each state separately. An heir with an account in Austria, a flat in Spain and a stake in a German company went through three parallel procedures, each time proving their status afresh and translating documents. Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, known as Brussels IV, reduced this fragmentation to a single principle: one estate — one law and one competent authority.
The Regulation applies to the estates of those who died on or after 17 August 2015. It leaves substantive succession law to the member states — shares, order of succession and the reserved portion remain national — and answers a different question: which country's court handles the case and which country's law applies. The European Certificate of Succession (ECS) is a practical instrument the Regulation built on top of this system.
Concept
Proving in a foreign country that you are an heir can be harder than it sounds: each country wants its own document. To remove this friction within the EU, Regulation 650/2012 introduced a single European Certificate of Succession (ECS).
🍓 The European Certificate of Succession is a single document confirming the status of heir, executor or administrator across all EU countries at once, without separate legalisation.
What it gives you
The ECS confirms who is the heir, executor of the will or administrator of the estate, and in what shares, and is effective in all EU countries bound by the Regulation. It does not need to be legalised or apostilled — it is recognised automatically, which sharply speeds up access to foreign assets.
How and where you obtain it
The certificate is issued by the competent authority of the country whose bodies administer the succession (as a rule, by the deceased's habitual residence) — usually a notary or a court. Certified copies are valid for a limited period.
⚙️ The ECS does not fully replace national documents and does not apply in Denmark and Ireland, which are not bound by the Regulation, nor outside the EU.
The certificate's legal force
The chief value of the ECS lies in the presumption it creates. A person named in the certificate as heir, executor or administrator is presumed to hold that status and the powers listed in it across all countries bound by the Regulation. A bank, registrar or counterparty may act in reliance on the certificate, and anyone who in good faith made a payment or transaction in favour of the person named in it is protected by law.
The certificate is recognised in other EU countries without an apostille, legalisation or intermediate procedures. This removes the main pain of a cross-border estate — re-proving the same facts before every foreign authority.
💡 The presumption works both ways: it opens the heir's access to assets and at the same time protects a bank or registrar that complied with a request on the basis of the certificate.
Real estate and registers
The ECS serves as a lawful basis for entering inherited property into another EU country's register — the land cadastre or companies register. The registration procedure itself remains under national law. In Kubicka (C-218/16, 2017) the Court of Justice of the EU held that a state may not refuse to recognise a right in rem merely because it is unfamiliar to the local legal order; however, the country where the property is located determines the details of making the entry. Registers sometimes request additional documents, and this is worth checking in advance for each jurisdiction where foreign real estate is held.
Jurisdiction and applicable law
As a general rule, the succession is handled by the court of the country where the deceased had their habitual residence at the time of death; the same authority issues the certificate. In Oberle (C-20/17, 2018) the Court of Justice of the EU extended this criterion to national certificates of succession too: a state may not retain jurisdiction merely because assets are located there or the deceased was its national.
The applicable law follows the same reference point — the country of habitual residence. The deceased may, however, choose in advance the law of their country of nationality; that choice changes the content of the future certificate and is bound up with how wills are drafted across several jurisdictions and where domicile and residence are fixed. The certificate is therefore built into the plan in advance, together with the choice of applicable law.
⚙️ The original certificate is kept by the issuing authority; what is handed out are certified copies with a validity of six months (Art. 70(3) of the Regulation; in exceptional cases the period is extended). In Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypotheken-Bank (C-301/20, 2021) the Court of Justice of the EU clarified that a copy valid on the day it is submitted to an authority retains its force for the entire proceedings, even if its term later expires.
Where the certificate will not help
The ECS settles the question of heir status but does not abolish taxes. The Regulation expressly excludes succession taxation — rates, reliefs and deadlines remain national and are calculated separately in each country. Matrimonial-property regimes and lifetime gifts also fall outside the certificate.
The certificate is effective only in the countries bound by the Regulation — 25 EU states. Denmark and Ireland do not take part; the United Kingdom, after leaving the EU, is outside the system; and for assets beyond the Union local procedures are still required. For such property, separate succession-planning instruments help.
Why it belongs in the plan
For a family with assets in several EU countries, the ECS is the "key" that opens access to the estate without running around local procedures. Its availability is built into the plan in advance, in step with the choice of applicable law.
Bottom line
For the certificate to work, it is ordered in advance and aligned with the rest of the plan: the choice of applicable law, the wording of the wills and the regime of the reserved portion (forced heirship), which in many EU countries cannot be circumvented. Certified copies are kept fresh given the six-month term and combined with national documents where these are still required.
🍓 The European Certificate of Succession confirms the rights of an heir, executor or administrator in 25 EU countries at once — without an apostille or repeated procedures. Taxes, however, remain national, Denmark and Ireland do not take part, and assets outside the EU need local instruments.
This material is for reference purposes and does not constitute individual legal advice.
Key factual claims
- The European Certificate of Succession (ECS) was created by Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 ("Brussels IV") and applies to estates of persons who died on or after 17 August 2015.
- The ECS proves heir, executor or administrator status and is recognised across the 25 participating EU states without apostille or legalisation.
- It creates a presumption that protects both the named person and any bank or registrar acting on it in good faith.
- Jurisdiction and applicable law follow the deceased's habitual residence, though a person may elect the law of their nationality (CJEU: Oberle C-20/17; Kubicka C-218/16; Vorarlberger C-301/20).
- Certified copies are valid for six months (Art. 70(3)); succession taxes, matrimonial-property regimes and lifetime gifts are excluded.
- Denmark and Ireland do not participate; the UK is outside the system post-Brexit; non-EU assets still require local procedures.