오스트리아 상속법의 소개 ― 법정상속을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

Traditionally, inheritance law has not been considered suitable for comparative legal research. However, with the global trend of increased cross-border movement and interaction, the need for unified regulations regarding inheritance matters has emerged. Before moving forward with such international legislative efforts, it is essential to conduct foundational research to accurately and comprehensively understand our inheritance law by comparing and examining the inheritance law systems of modern civil codes referenced in the drafting process of Korea Civil Code. Austrian inheritance law, having developed from ius commune influenced by Roman and canon law, shares general commonalities with European inheritance law systems. Meanwhile, the unique regulations and institutions specific to Austria mostly retain legal principles originated from Roman law. In this respect, the study of Austrian inheritance law serves as a foundational comparative study that examines the basic institutions and original forms shared by European civil codes. In addition to the necessity of such historical comparative legal research, Austrian inheritance law requires detailed legislative review, as it is considered one of the most modern inheritance laws. The inheritance- related provisions in Austria’s General Civil Code (ABGB) have undergone a comprehensive reform to reflect social changes over the 200 years since its enactment in 1811. The 2015 inheritance law reform modernized the language and incorporated accumulated case law, updating the law to reflect societal and legal developments since its inception. Above all, this reform involved redesigning regulations and institutions to account for changes in family structures in modern society, incorporating these into wills, statutory inheritance, and especially compulsory portions (Pflichtteil). In this way, Austrian inheritance law shows both traditional aspects of civil law inheritance principles rooted in Roman inheritance law and modern aspects reflecting family structure changes due to social evolution, underscoring the importance of comparative legal research. This paper aims to introduce the contents of Austrian inheritance law, focusing on statutory inheritance. To this end, the history and primary legal sources of Austrian inheritance law were first examined. Then, the paper provided a detailed introduction to the system of inheritance assets and inheritance asset procedures in Austrian inheritance law, while comparing and analyzing similarities and differences in regulations within other civil law inheritance systems, including those in Korea. The section on statutory inheritance examines the order and scope of statutory heirs, division of inheritance shares and inheritance assets, inheritance recovery claims, and matters regarding separation of assets, in that order. The contents regarding Austrian inheritance law’s provisions on bequests and compulsory portions (Pflichtteil) will be covered in subsequent studies, where they will be introduced in sequence.