“Pious Causes” Will: Reflections Concerning Testamentary Bequests to Religious Organizations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19837414Keywords:
Law of succession, Testamentary succession, Will, InheritanceAbstract
In this paper, I dwell on testamentary clauses in favor of religious organizations. My main goal was to show the need of a better regulation of the topic in Brazilian law, especially on account of the litigiousness potential regarding the matter. I used the Civil-Constitutional Law as theoretical framework, utilizing the deductive method based on a literature review. I noticed that historically there has been strong connections between wills and religion, which has led to state reactions. I identified the main reasons why currently a regulation of such testamentary clauses is needed. Furthermore, I identified the potential existence of an undue influence of a religious authority over a testator. Lastly, I analyzed the minimum time gap between the making of an ad pias causas clause and the testator’s death. I concluded that there should be a regulation of the matter, mainly with a series of criteria in order to verify whether, in each case, there was an undue influence over the testator.
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