Transfer by inheritance of immovable property which did not belong to the ancestors of the defendants in dispute. Cancellation of certificate of inheritance

JURISPRUDENȚĂ COMENTATĂ ȘI ADNOTATĂ

Abstract

According to art. 555 para. 1 C. civ., private property is the right of the owner to possess, use and dispose of an asset exclusively, absolutely and perpetually, within the limits established by law.

According to art. 953 C. civ., inheritance is the transfer of the estate of a deceased natural person to one or more persons in being. It follows from these legal provisions that a person can transmit only what he has in his estate.

In the commented case, it was requested that some inheritance certificates were absolutely null and void because they referred to immovable property that did not belong to the forerunners, as a result of the annulment of the contracts for the sale and purchase of the real estates by final court decisions.

In the attached comment, it was considered correct the solution of rejecting the appeal and keeping the contested sentence by which the application for a declaration of absolute nullity of the certificates of succession was granted.

The courts have applied the principle of annulment of the subsequent act following the annulment of the initial act (resoluto iure dantis, resolvitur ius accipientis) which enshrines the rule of law according to which the annulment (abolition) of the initial (primary) legal act also entails the annulment of the subsequent legal act (next) due to their legal connection.