European e-Justice Portal

1 Under the law of this Member State, do special rules impose, for economic, family or social considerations, restrictions concerning or affecting the succession in respect of immoveable property, certain enterprises or other special categories of assets located in this Member State?

The real estate transaction laws (Grundverkehrsgesetze) of the provinces can provide for restrictions in application of the agreement between the Federal Government and the provinces under Article 15a of the Federal Constitutional Law (Bundesverfassungsgesetz) on civil law provisions relating to building plot transactions (Federal Gazette No 260/1993 as amended by Federal Gazette I No 1/2017, available here).

In accordance with Section 14 of the 2002 Residential Property Act (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz), if one of the partners in an ‘owner partnership’ (Eigentümerpartnerschaft) dies, a special rule applies: ownership of the deceased’s part of the minimum share and joint residential property is transferred by law directly to the surviving partner. However, the latter can waive his/her right to this transfer of ownership (Federal Gazette I No 70/2002 as amended by Federal Gazette I No 87/2015, available here).

2 Under the law of this Member State, do these special rules apply to the succession in respect of the above-mentioned assets irrespective of the law applicable to the succession?

The aforementioned provision in Section 14 of the 2002 Residential Property Act on joint ownership with a right of survivorship is covered by the exceptions set out in Article 1(2)(g) of the EU Succession Regulation.

3 Under the law of this Member State, do special procedures exist to ensure compliance with the above-mentioned special rules?

In order to ensure compliance with the provisions set out in Section 14 of the 2002 Residential Property Act, paragraph (7) thereof states that if an estate is settled abroad, the duties and powers generally assigned to the (Austrian) Probate Court (Verlassenschaftsgericht) will be assigned to the competent Austrian Land Register Court (Grundbuchsgericht).

Last update: 28/08/2019

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective EJN contact point. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. Neither the EJN nor the European Commission accept responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.
Member States in charge of the management of national content pages are in the process of updating some of the content on this website in the light of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. If the site contains content that does not yet reflect the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, it is unintentional and will be addressed.

Restrictions on successions – special rules

1 Under the law of this Member State, do special rules impose, for economic, family or social considerations, restrictions concerning or affecting the succession in respect of immoveable property, certain enterprises or other special categories of assets located in this Member State?

2 Under the law of this Member State, do these special rules apply to the succession in respect of the above-mentioned assets irrespective of the law applicable to the succession?

3 Under the law of this Member State, do special procedures exist to ensure compliance with the above-mentioned special rules?