Cultivating Clarity: A Macedonian Law Perspective on Agreements as to Succession and Their Distinction From the Lifetime Support Agreement and the Agreement on Assignment and Distribution of Property During Lifetime

Abstract

At the intersection of legal foresight and intricate tapestry of familial legacies, agreements as to succession emerge as pivotal instruments, charting a course for the seamless transfer of assets and responsibilities upon an individual’s passing. The subject of this study is the approach of Macedonian law to the agreements as to succession, the reasons why they are not regulated in the governing legal system, as well as the efforts aimed at establishing their legal regulation through the legal reform expected with the drafting of the new Civil Code of the Republic of North Macedonia. To define agreements as to succession, as specific mortis causa agreements, the author distinguishes them from the lifetime support agreement and agreement on assignment and distribution of property during lifetime, as inter vivos agreements of great importance for inheritance law, through detailed legislative, theoretical, and practical analysis. Through this analysis, an in-depth delineation of the differences between these agreements is made, alongside an emphasis on their similarities, due to which Macedonian jurisprudence replaces agreements as to succession with the lifetime support agreement and the agreement on assignment and distribution of property during lifetime. Finally, this research concludes by presenting proposed solutions for the future reform of Macedonian inheritance law, concerning agreements as to succession, thereby encapsulating the overall aim of this study.