On 22 October 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in its judgment in Marwanak (C-873/24), resolved a dispute that had remained unsettled for almost ten years. European Certificates of Succession (ECS), introduced in 2015 by the European Succession Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012), must include details of immovable property located in the Member State of destination in point 9 of Form V, Annex IV, where such details are required for registration in the land register of that Member State and the applicant has requested their inclusion.
The Marwanak judgment builds on the CJEU’s judgment in Registrų centras (8 March 2023, C-354/21), which addressed the question of whether the authorities in the Member State of destination may insist that an ECS containing details of immovable property be submitted where those details are missing from the certificate. Three and a half years ago, the CJEU answered this question in the affirmative. However, the question of whether the authorities issuing the ECS are themselves obliged to include such details remained open.
The CJEU has now also answered this question in the affirmative in Marwanak. The case, in which the author represented a party before the Fürth Local Court (Bavaria), concerned immovable property in the Egerland region near Sokolov. In doing so, the Court rejected the argument that, in German succession cases, such an entry was unnecessary because universal succession takes place automatically by operation of law. Ultimately, the CJEU was not persuaded by this position, which had previously been adopted in particular by higher regional courts in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Finally, the CJEU also rejected the argument that including details of immovable property in an ECS is unnecessary if registration in the Member State of destination can also be achieved by means of additional documents. In the Czech Republic, one example is the so-called declaration of honour by heirs under the Cadastral Decree, introduced in 2020 to make it possible to register heirs in the land register in the numerous problematic cases, most of which originated in Bavaria. The CJEU clarified that the ECS itself should enable registration.
For German probate courts and notaries, implementing the judgment in practice is likely to prove more demanding, as they will need to familiarise themselves with the requirements for registering foreign immovable property in the relevant registers of the Member State of destination. However, Article 66(5) of the European Succession Regulation provides them with a means of doing so: administrative cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States.
Source: InfoCuria – Cour de justice de l’Union européenne
Author: Dr. iur. Stephan Heidenhain, Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution, LYNX Czech Republic