Abstract

Habitual residence is the basic connecting factor used by the EU legislator to determine national jurisdiction and law applicable to succession. Although it is widely used in the conflict-of-law rules, habitual residence still raises fundamental doubts in practice.The Court of Justice of the European Union tries to answer such questions in its judgment of 16 July 2020. Despite its laconism, the ruling provides explanation for at least some of the practical problems outlined in literature.As part of the study, the author analyses the theses arising from the judgment of 16 July 2020 as regards the use of habitual residence of the deceased as a connecting factor under the Succession Regulation. The author also considers the scope of their application in conflict-of-laws situations as regards not only the the Succession Regulation but also other sources of private international law.