Laglottsskyddet i moderna familjekonstellationer - Förskott på arv och det förstärkta laglottsskyddet

Sammanfattning: This thesis is aimed at examining and discussing whether the purpose of inheritance law rules on advance inheritance and the reinforced legal portion is met for heirs in modern family constellations. Existing law governing inheritance in advance and the reinforced legal portion has been scrutinised. These two institutions regulate how gifts that parents have given to their children during their lifetime are to be dealt with at their demise. Moreover, the issues of how to value the gifts, how it affects the heirs and how the institutions relate to each other have been examined. The provisions on advances and the reinforced legal portion protect the heirs by safeguarding their statutory right to a reserved portion of the inheritance. The provisions’ original purpose was to keep children from being disinherited, as their future livelihood was dependent upon the possibility to keep the family estate. This purpose has changed over the years and today the purpose of the rules is mainly to uphold some semblance of fairness among the heirs. Over the past decades, family constellations have gone through a change as more and more marriages end in divorce and new families are formed. New social security schemes have been introduced in society and inheritance has detracted as a means of livelihood. There are opportunities for spouses to perform legal acts during their lifetime in order to favour or disfavour any heir through gifts. The changes in family situation have caused the protective purpose of advance inheritance and reinforced legal portion provisions to become outdated, even though they to some extent still protect the heirs’ statutory right to the legal portion.