Within 30 days of the death, the administrative unit must carry out "preparatory work" and send the information collected on the "death certificate" to the competent succession court, which then conducts a succession hearing on the basis of this information.
Given the level of connectivity and computerisation that has been achieved, it would be worth considering whether it is still necessary for the administrative unit to carry out the "preparatory work" for the court, since the court today has all the technical means at its disposal to obtain both information on the death and information on the deceased's assets independently and within 30 days.
At present, death certificates are regulated by the Law on Succession, which states that the succession hearing is to be carried out by the court having subject-matter jurisdiction under the law (Articles 168, 176, 177), while the preparatory work is the duty of the administrative unit - the registrar (Articles 179 to 183).
The registrar draws up the death certificate on the basis of information from the civil registry and the central population register, the central database on public entitlements and information provided by members of the deceased's family or persons with whom the deceased lived. If, in the process of drawing up the death certificate, the registrar has been handed a will or a certificate of safekeeping of a will or has been informed of the existence of a will, he shall also attach the will, the certificate of safekeeping of a will or indicate in the death certificate the existence of a will.
Certain information appearing on the death certificate is based solely on the individual's statement, which must be verified and evaluated in subsequent court proceedings. The court itself, like the registrar, can obtain the information from the registers, so it would be sensible to shorten the procedure by computerising the preparatory work, which would then be taken over entirely by the courts.
The registrar must send the death certificate to the probate court within thirty days of the registration of the death.
It would be sensible to examine whether:
- instead of the death certificate being drawn up and sent to the court by the Administrative Units, the court itself could be informed of the death of the individual immediately (rather than within 30 days) of the death being entered in the civil registry (via the Central Population Register). Death information could be forwarded to the competent courts on a daily basis, based on the criterion of the registered place of residence. At the same time, the courts could obtain "online" information on the deceased, his/her spouse, children, adopted children, parents (even if they are already deceased) or if they are under guardianship;
- whether, for a deceased individual, the court can only obtain information about the estate (and the valuation of the estate);
- whether, in respect of a deceased individual, the court can only obtain information on the deceased's movable property from various records, such as the register of registered vehicles (with valuation) and the register of weapons certificates issued;
- whether, in respect of a deceased individual, the court may only obtain information as to whether he or she had received assistance under the social welfare rules, which assistance and for what period and amount.