Includes bibliographical references and index.

Protection against being passed over or disinherited in Roman law / Reinhard Zimmermann -- Passing over and disinheritance in the days of t he Ius Commune / Sebastian Lohsse -- Customary mechanisms of family pro tection : late medieval and early-modern law, Thomas Rèufner -- Compu lsory portion in France / Câecile Pâeráes -- Forced heirship in I taly / Alexandra Braun -- Forced heirship in Spain / Sergio Câamara L apuente -- Forced heirship and family provision in Latin America / Jan Peter Schmidt -- Compulsory portion and other aspects of family protect ion in Austria / Christiane Wendehorst -- Compulsory portion in Germany / Reinhard Zimmermann -- Compulsory portion and family provision in th e Netherlands / Wilbert D. Kolkman -- Compulsory portion in Hungary / L ajos Vâekâas -- Compulsory portion in Poland / Fryderyk Zoll -- Fam ily provision in England and Wales / Roger Kerridge -- Legal rights in Scotland / Kenneth G. C. Reid -- Family provision in New Zealand and Au stralia / Nicola Peart and Prue Vines -- Family provision in South Afri ca / Marius J. de Waal -- Freedom of testation and family claims in Can ada / Alexandra Popovici and Lionel Smith -- Family protection in the U nited States of America / Ronald J. Scalise Jr. -- Compulsory portion a nd minimum inheritance in Norway / Jens M. Scherpe and Thomas Eeg -- Ne cessary portion in China / Knut Benjamin Pissler and Timo Kleinwegener -- Compulsory heirship and freedom of testation in Islamic law / Nadjma Yassari -- Mandatory family protection in the civilian tradition / Rei nhard Zimmermann -- Mandatory family protection in the common law tradi tion / Kenneth G. C. Reid -- Mandatory Family Protection in Historical and Comparative perspectives / Kenneth G. C. Reid, Marius J. de Waal, a nd Reinhard Zimmermann.

This third volume in a series on Comparative Succession Law concerns the entitlement of family members to override the provisions of a dece ased person's will to obtain money or assets (or more money or assets) from the person's estate. Some countries, notably those in the civil la w tradition (such as France or Germany), confer a pre-ordained share of the deceased's estate or of its value on certain members of the deceas ed's family, and especially on the deceased's children and spouse. Othe r countries, notably those in the common law tradition (such as England , Canada, or Australia), leave the matter to the discretion of the cour t, the amount awarded depending primarily on financial need. Whichever form it takes, mandatory family provision is both a protection against disinheritance and also, therefore, a restriction on testamentary freed om.0The volume focuses on Europe and on countries influenced by the Eur opean experience. In addition to detailed treatment of the law in Austr ia, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands , Norway, Poland, Scotland, and Spain, the book also has chapters on Au stralia and New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Canada, the c ountries of Latin America, and the People's Republic of China. Some oth er countries are covered more briefly, and there is a separate chapter on0Islamic law. The book opens with accounts of Roman law and of the la w in medieval and early-modern Europe, and it concludes with a comparat ive assessment of the law as it is today in the countries and legal tra ditions surveyed in this volume.