If you are a foreign national with assets in Romania, or a Romanian living abroad, one European instrument now decides which law governs your entire estate, wherever the assets are. The EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 lets you choose that law — but it leaves tax and matrimonial property outside, and that is where the surprises begin.
Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 — the EU Succession Regulation — applies to successions opened on or after 17 August 2015, that is, where the deceased died on or after that date. Romania is bound by it and applies it.
Three states do not take part in the Regulation: the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, which keep their national private-international-law rules on succession. For the rest of the Union, including Romania, the Regulation is the common law of cross-border successions.
The central idea is deceptively simple: a single law governs the entire succession — movable and immovable property alike, wherever located. This breaks with the tradition where movables followed one law (of the deceased's domicile) and immovables another (of their location), with fragmented successions as a result. Under the Regulation, an estate — say an apartment in Romania, a house in Spain, accounts in Austria — is governed by a single law, which greatly simplifies administration and reduces the risk of contradictory decisions.
The general rule (art. 21) ties the applicable law to the deceased's last habitual residence at the date of death. Not nationality, not the domicile on an identity document, but the place where the person had, in fact, the stable centre of their life.
A Romanian citizen who had spent their last years genuinely settled in Spain will, absent a choice, have a succession governed by Spanish law — with all its consequences, including for the children's rights. Here the first surprise appears: habitual residence in another state "exports" the succession under a foreign law, even if the person was a Romanian citizen with their main assets in Romania. That is why determining habitual residence is not a detail but the element deciding everything — and, as we will see, a field of disputes. It is, moreover, the same factual notion that matters for tax residence, without the two automatically overlapping.
The Regulation offers a lever of immense value, underused in practice. Under art. 22, any person may choose, through a disposition of property upon death (usually a will), that their succession be governed by the law of the state of their nationality — at the time of the choice or at the time of death.
For a Romanian settled abroad, the effect is decisive. A Romanian citizen whose residence might drift toward Spain can expressly choose, through a will, Romanian law — thereby ensuring that the whole succession, including the house in Spain, is settled under rules they know. Conversely, someone who wants different rules can structure their succession by choosing, if they hold that nationality, a more permissive law.
The choice must be made correctly as to form: it results from a disposition of property upon death — a will in which it is expressed or clearly appears from its terms. It is not a mere verbal declaration or an administrative note; it is a legal act that must be drafted with care, preferably with specialist assistance.
The most sensitive stake concerns forced heirship — the rezerva succesorală, the reserved portion guaranteed to children and the spouse. State laws differ radically: some have strong forced heirship (France, Romania), others a reduced or non-existent reserve (many common-law systems). The choice of law can, in theory, change the fate of the reserve — but for assets located in Romania and before Romanian courts things are not as simple as they seem, which is why we treat this separately.
The Regulation does not define the notion rigidly. Its recitals call for an overall assessment of the deceased's life in the years before death: the duration and regularity of presence in a state, its conditions and reasons, where the family, social and economic interests lay, and integration into society.
The hard cases are those of people whose lives are split between two states: the Romanian retiree who winters in Spain and summers at home; the entrepreneur working in one state whose family stayed in another. For such situations, habitual residence may be interpreted differently by authorities in different states, each tempted to "claim" the succession. The result can be uncertainty, jurisdiction disputes and divergent decisions. The practical antidote is, again, professio juris: an express choice of law, made in good time, removes most of this uncertainty.
Two major limits must be known from the outset, because they are the source of the most unpleasant surprises: taxation and the matrimonial property regime.
The Regulation sets which civil law governs the succession, but does not harmonise taxes. Each state applies its own tax rules, and cross-border inheritance double taxation is possible.
What the surviving spouse receives depends first on liquidating the matrimonial property regime and only then on the succession — two matters determined by different rules.
Taxation. Romania does not levy an inheritance tax as such: for real estate in the estate, art. 111 of the Fiscal Code provides that the transfer is not taxed if the succession is settled within 2 years of death, and beyond that term a tax of 1% of value applies. By contrast, the state where an asset is located abroad may levy a substantial inheritance tax, and coordination between states depends on treaties and internal crediting rules, not on the Regulation. For real estate held in another state, local taxation applies regardless of the civil law chosen.
The matrimonial property regime — the trap for Romanians. In participating states this matter is governed by a different instrument, Regulation (EU) 2016/1103. Romania, however, did not join the enhanced cooperation under which that regulation operates: it is not a participating state. For Romanian authorities and courts, the law applicable to a cross-border matrimonial property regime is determined under Book VII of the Civil Code (Romanian private international law), not under Regulation 2016/1103. This produces an asymmetry: a couple may see their matrimonial regime analysed under one law in France or Spain and under another in Romania. Coordinating the two matters thus becomes a real planning problem.
Beware — the correct order. The most frequent planning error is to treat the succession in isolation from the matrimonial property regime. The correct order is the reverse: first the matrimonial regime is liquidated (establishing what was common and what was separate), then the succession is settled over what remains of the deceased.
If you choose the law of the succession (professio juris) without coordinating with the law of the matrimonial regime — especially in Romania's specific situation, which does not apply Regulation 2016/1103 — you risk the two leading to incompatible results: the surviving spouse may receive more or less than you intended, and the children may challenge it. A will with a choice of law must be built together with an analysis of the matrimonial regime, not separately.
For assets or links with states outside the Regulation, matters become more complex. A serious succession plan cannot rely on the Regulation alone — it requires coordination with a professional in the jurisdiction concerned and, often, local instruments.
The United Kingdom, after Brexit, is not under the Regulation; a succession with real estate in England follows British private-international-law rules, which may again separate movables from immovables. Likewise, the United States and Switzerland have their own systems. A technicality also arises, renvoi: where the law applicable under the Regulation is that of a third state, that state's own private-international-law rules are taken into account (art. 34) — but renvoi is excluded where the law was chosen by professio juris, a further argument for choosing the law expressly.
The United States adds two features that surprise European families. The first is probate — a judicial procedure to validate the transfer, sometimes slow and costly, which local planning (including trust-type structures) precisely seeks to avoid. The second is the federal estate tax, which can hit US-situs assets held even by a non-resident — for example US shares.
The exemption threshold for a non-resident is very low: the tax applies to US-situs assets exceeding just USD 60,000 — far below the multi-million-dollar exemption enjoyed by US citizens and residents — at a rate rising to 40%. Moreover, the tax treaty between Romania and the US covers income taxes, not succession: there is no bilateral estate-tax treaty raising this threshold for Romanian residents. A portfolio of shares with a US broker, held by a Romanian resident, can thus generate US estate obligations no one expected — which is why it requires advance planning with a US adviser.
The Regulation also created a tool to prove the capacity of heir in all participating states, without parallel local procedures: the European Certificate of Succession. With it, an heir can directly access the account in Austria or the property in Spain. We devote a separate analysis to it.
Through professio juris, in a will, if you have assets or links in several states — do not let habitual residence decide by default.
Account for Romania's specific asymmetry, which does not apply Regulation 2016/1103.
UK, US, Switzerland — with local instruments and advice, often a separate will.
From every state where you hold assets — the Regulation does not shield you from foreign inheritance tax.
Through the European Certificate of Succession, for assets in other member states.
Absent a choice, the law of your last habitual residence — so, probably, Spanish law. If you want Romanian law, you must choose it expressly through a will (professio juris, art. 22). Choosing the law of your nationality is permitted and recommended precisely to avoid residence deciding implicitly, sometimes in an unintended direction.
No. The Regulation decides the civil law of the succession, not the taxes. Spain will apply its own tax rules to the property on its territory, regardless of the civil law chosen. Inheritance taxation remains national, and double taxation is possible; it is mitigated, where it exists, through treaties and internal crediting rules.
No. The United Kingdom does not participate in the Regulation. For UK assets, British private-international-law rules apply, which may treat real estate separately. A complete plan then requires coordination with a UK adviser and, as a rule, a separate will for the assets there.
Not directly. First the matrimonial property regime is liquidated: what was common and what was separate is established, and the surviving spouse takes their share of the community. Only then do the succession rules apply to what remains of the deceased. For cross-border couples, the law of the matrimonial regime is determined differently in Romania (the Civil Code) from states applying Regulation 2016/1103 — which is why the two matters must be planned together.
Informational material, updated 18 July 2026. It does not constitute legal or tax advice; individual situations must be analysed case by case.
An initial discussion clarifies which law governs your estate, whether a choice of law helps, and how the forced-heirship reserve and foreign taxes interact across the states where you hold assets.