Libanon

Inheritance Law for Non-Mohammedans The Chamber of Deputies has adopted, The President of the Republic has promulgated the law worded as follows: Sale Article
The attached inheritance law for non-Mohammedans is approved, and its provisions shall go into force starting form the tenth day following the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
Beirut, 23 June 1959 Signed: Fouad Chehab By the President of the Republic The President of the Council of Ministers Signed: Rachid Karame The Minister of Justice Signed: Hussein El-Oueini SUBJECT : Inheritance Law ISSUING DEPARTMENT : ISSUE DATE : 23 June 1959 IMPLEMENT DATE : LENGTH : 130 Articles TEXT : INHERITANCE LAW FOR NON-MOHAMMEDANS Article 1 The deceased's estate, as well as his rights, shall be assigned to his heirs designated by law, or to persons designated by will (testament), in conformity with the following provisions. PART ONE - LEGAL INHERITANCE BOOK I - OPENING OF INHERITANCE AND CONDITIONS REOUIRED TO INHERIT Article 2 Inheritance shall be opened and the estate shall devolve by the natural death of de cujus, or by his death as declared by law-court judgment. Article 3 The opening place of inheritance shall be that of deceased's last domicile, whatever the place wherein his estate lies. The deceased wife, not separated legally, shall be reputed domiciled in the place of her husband's domicile. Deceased minors shall have for domicile that of their legal or testamentary guardian. In case they should have no legal or testamentary guardian, they shall be considered as domiciled in the place wherein the whole or major portion of the assets of the inheritance lies. As for the missing person, he shall be deemed as deceased in the last domicile he had before he disappeared. Article 4 To qualify for inheritance, it is required: 1 - To be in existence at the date of the death of de cujus or that of the judgment declaring his death. 2 - To have capacity to inheritance. 3 - Not to be legally barred from inheritance. Article 5 Shall be disqualified for inheritance: A - The embryo child who is not born within the hundred days following de cujus' death. B - The still-born child Article 6 If several persons, eligible to inherit each other, should perish in the same event, it shall lie with the Court to establish the order of their death, according to the circumstances of the event, their age, their health condition, and other considerations, if any. In case it should prove impossible to determine the time of each death, all those who have perished in the same event shall be deemed as dead at the same time, and the inheritance of each one of them shall then devolve to his living heirs. Article 7 In case several persons qualifying to inherit each other should be executed the same day, the rule enunciated in the last subsection of the preceding article shall then apply. Article 8 Difference of nationality shall be no bar to inheritance devolution between Lebanese nationals and aliens, except if the alien's law forbids Lebanese nationals to inherit him. In case the foreign law prescribes limitations to inheritance right, the alien shall inherit the Lebanese national in so far as this law authorises Lebanese nationals to inherit. Article 9 Difference of creed shall be no bar to inheritance devolution, unless the heir is governed by provisions prohibiting devolution on grounds of difference in creed. Article 10 Shall be prohibited to inherit: 1 - The person who, intentionally and without right or excuse, has inflicted death on de cujus, on one of his descendants or ascendants, on his spouse, or who should be accessory in this homicide. 2 - The person who should level libellous slander or commit perjury against de cujus on the occasion of a crime subject to capital punishment, unless de cujus should forgive his guilt by written deed. Article 11 The share of the disqualified heir shall revert to his co-heirs. In the absence of co-heirs, it shall devolve to such descendants as would have represented him if he had died before de cujus. The estate thus reverting to descendants of a disqualified heir shall lie beyond reach of his legal authority, whether he is legal or testamentary guardian, and he shall have no title to receive such estate through inheritance following their death. Article 12 The disqualified heir shall have to return to the estate such assets as he may have collected since de cujus' death. He shall equally be required to return incomes and usufiucts derived from these assets since the date of death. BOOK II - DEGREE OF HEIRS AND INHERITANCE SHARES Article 13 Shall be set against the estate in the following order: 1 - The deceased's funeral and burial charges. 2 - The deceased's debts. 3 - Legacies, within the limits set for the execution of the will. The balance shall be distributed among heirs in accordance with the following rules. Article 14 Heirs shall be divided into three orders: First order: children and their descendants. Second order: father and mother, and their ascendants. Third order: brothers and sisters, and their descendants. Article 15 The deceased's children and their descendants shall succeed, without distinction of sex, their parents and their ascendants. In case all descendants are of the first degree, they shall share the estate in equal parts. In case one of de cujus' children is predeceased, his descendants shall represent him in the latter's inheritance and collect such share as may have devolved to their parent had be been still alive. That share shall be distributed among them in equal parts. The representation right indicated in the preceding subsection shall be exercised ad infinitum, in the direct descending line. Article 16 In case the deceased should leave no descendants, the estate shall devolve to his parents, in equal parts. If one of them is predeceased, his descendants shall recover such part as might have devolved to him, had be been still alive. That portion shall be distributed among them in equal parts. In the absence of descendants, that portion shall devolve to the other ascendant or to his descendants. In case both ascendants are predeceased, descendants from each one of them shall recover that portion that would have devolved to their author, had he been still alive, and shall share it in conformity with the provisions of the preceding article. However, representation right shall become operative in collateral line in favour of descendants from predeceased brothers or sisters of de cujus solely in case they stand to the latter's inheritance concurrently with an uncle or an aunt still alive. Article 17 In case the deceased leaves behind neither descendants, father, mother, nor descendants from the last two, the estate shall then devolve to grandparents. In case one of them is predeceased, his portion shall revert to his descendants who shall share it in equal parts. In the absence of these descendants, the portion that would have devolved to him shall then be attributed to the grandfather, in the same line. In case the latter is deceased, the said portion shall then revert to his descendants. If the paternal grandparents or the maternal grandparents are deceased without leaving descendants, the estate shall be recovered by the deceased's grandparents from the other branch. In case they too are deceased, the estate shall then be attributed to their descendants. Article 18 Any descendant of the first, the second or the third degree, who has several entitlements to inheritance, shall receive all such portions as may stem from all these titles. Article 19 In case de cujus leaves descendants, one sixth of the estate shall devolve to his father and mother, or to the surviving parent. Article 20 The spouse of de cujus shall recover one fourth of the estate in case he should concur with the father, mother, brother, or sister, and five sixths if he should concur with the grandfather or grandmother of de cujus. In the absence of those heirs designated above, the deceased's spouse shall receive all the estate. Article 21 In the absence of all the heirs designated in the preceding articles, the estate shall revert to the State. Article 22 The natural child shall inherit the person who has voluntarily or judicially acknowledged him. His portion in the estate shall be determined as follows: One quarter of the portion he would have had if he had been legitimate, in case the father or the mother should leave legitimate descendants. One half of the portion he would have had if he had been legitimate, in case the father or the mother leaves no legitimate descendants but legitimate ascendants or brothers or sisters, or legitimate descendants from these brothers or sisters. Three fourths of the estate in case the father or the mother leaves other legitimate heirs. The whole of the estate in case there should be no legitimate heir. Article 23 The adopted child shall be assimilated to the legitimate child in all that pertains to his rights to inheritance or to the will of the person who adopted him. Article 24 Consanguinity In direct line of the natural child shall be established by voluntary acknowledgement. Such acknowledgement shall be made by declaration recorded in the birth certificate in conformity with such rules as have been prescribed for the registration of civil status deeds, or in a deed executed and authenticated by a Notary. Acknowledgement may not take place after the child comes of age. Article 25 Voluntary acknowledgement shall take effect only In relation to the person from whom it emanates. Article 26 Acknowledgement by one of the spouses, at the time of marriage, of a natural child that he has had from another person prior to marriage, of a natural child that he has had from another person prior to marriage, shall not prejudice rights of the other spouse or of those children issued from wedlock, to the estate. However, such acknowledgement shall take effect in case marriage is dissolved without giving birth to children. Article 27 Paternity of the natural child may be sought before competent courts: 1 - In the case of abduction or rape, if conception occurs in the same period. 2 - In the case of seduction achieved through fraudulent scheming such as abuse of authority or promise of marriage, and if there should be early written evidence in conformity with the provisions of articles 242 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 3 - In cases where there should be letters or any other writing emanating from the presumed father and from which there should stem unequivocal recognition of paternity. Proceedings in search of paternity shall not be admissible: 1 - If it is established that, throughout the legal period of conception, the mother was reputed for misconduct or entertained relations with another individual. 2 - If the presumed father happened to be, during the same period, either by reason of (geographical) distance, or owing to some accident, in no condition to be the child's father. Article 28 Action shall lie solely with the child. During the child's minority, the mother, even though a minor, shall solely qualify to take proceedings. She shall then, subject to forfeiture, be required to bring action within the two years following delivery. If no action has been brought during the child's minority, the child may bring it in the course of the year following his coming of age. In case the child has not been acknowledged by his mother during minority, or ifhis mother should be deceased, incapable or absent during the same period, the child may bring action within the two years following his coming of age. Article 29 Maternity of natural child may be established before competent courts. The child who proceeds in search of maternity shall have to prove that the presumed mother has delivered a child, and that he himself is the child so delivered. Action shall be admissible solely within the two years following the child's majority. Testimony shall be taken as evidence only if there should be a beginning of written proof or of serious and sure presumptions. Article 30 Any interested party may counter acknowledgement emanating from the father or the mother. He may equally, within a time-limit of five years dating from the utterance of the definitive judgment, counter the natural child's petition in quest of acknowledgement of paternity or of maternity. Article 31 The natural child referred to in the preceding provisions shall be he who is born of two persons un joined to each other by wedlock, nor having between them any consanguinity relationship precluding marriage, and neither of whom is married to a third person. However, in case either the father or the mother is not joined in wedlock to a third person, the child may inherit him or her. Article 32 Legitimate children or their descendants may discard natural children from inheritance by settling their share in cash or in real property from the estate, following a fair assessment. BOOK III - PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE MISSING PERSON Article 33 The missing person is the absentee whom no one knows if he is dead or alive, or the place where he happens to be. Article 34 (as modified by Law No. 434 of IS May 1995) The death of the missing person shall be declared by judgment if his disappearance or the lack of information about him have lasted four years at least dating from his absence, at the request of any interested party. The Civil Court of First Instance of the place of his domicile or the last residence of the missing person for whom a decision of death by judgment is requested, shall have jurisdiction on the request. In case the disappearance took place outside Lebanon, the Civil Court of First Instance of Beirut shall have jurisdiction on the request. Article 35 (as modified by Law No. 434 of 15 May 1995) The Court mentioned in the preceding article shall examine in Council Chamber the request for a decision by judgment on the death of the missing person. In order to be persuaded, the Court shall have recourse to all legal means of proof, including the publication in local newspapers and in foreign newspapers, if need be, as well as such means of publicity as it may deem useful, and it shall take into account presumptions, especially in cases and situations where the possibility of death prevails and the body has not been found. Article 36 (as modified by Law No. 434 of IS May 1995) Heirs of the missing person declared deceased by judgment may enjoy his estate, but may not transfer ownership thereof or encumber it with real rights except after the expiry of a six-year time-limit dating from the publication of the verdict declaring death in local newspapers and in newspapers of foreign countries where the missing person may happen to be, and at the expiry of a six-month time-limit dating from this publication. Article 37 If an inheritance should open in favour of the missing person, or that a legacy is vested on him, the share reverting to him shall be held over for a period of five years dating from the verdict declaring death. At the expiry of that time-limit, the inheritance portion shall devolve on those who can inherit de cujus, and his legacy shall revert to the testator's heirs. Article 38 In case the missing person should reappear with a time-limit of five years dating from the verdict declaring death, he shall recover all his estate from the hands of his heirs, as well as such inheritance portions and legacies as may have been kept outstanding. In case he should reappear after the expiration of that time-limit, he shall recover such estate as may still remain in the hands of his hands of his heirs. That would not preclude recovery of that portion of his estate as may have been acquired male fides by third parties. PART TWO - THE WILL BOOK I - GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 39 Testator is required to be of sound mind, capable of donating, and be fully eighteen years of age. Article 40 Will may be validly made for the benefit of any person, whether an heir or not, even merely conceived, if born alive, on condition that he is not disqualified or prohibited to inherit. Article 41 The will made out in a single and same deed by two or several persons, whether made for the benefit ofthe testators themselves or of any other person, shall not be valid. Article 42 Nullity of the will may not be invoked by the heir who has authorised it or executed it of his own free will and in full knowledge of the grounds of nullity. Article 43 The will made by the patient in the course of his last illness in favour of the medical doctor who attended him throughout this illness shall not be valid, unless that medical doctor should be one of the testator's heirs. However, the will made out in these conditions shall be valid if the estate so bequeathed represents remuneration for services rendered and that its amount has been determined with due regard to the testator's fortune and the services rendered. Article 44 Disposal by will in favour of an alien shall be valid only if his national law authorises disposal by will on behalf of a Lebanese national, and in so far as this is authorised. Article 45 The will shall be null if it is made in favour of a person that the law deems disqualified to inherit or unworthy to, even if it should be made through a third party. Article 46 The will made in favour of places of worship, of charitable associatrons or benevolent establishments, as well as in favour of scientific and public institutions, enjoying legal capacity, shall be valid. The will shall be valid even if such establishments were not yet in existence, from the point of law, on the day of death, provided that they acquire legal capacity within a one-year time-limit dating from the day when the legacy is due for execution. In case the one-year time-limit should elapse and the establishment has not been set up or that it has not acquired legal capacity, the legacy shall be returned to the testator's heirs. Article 47 In the case referred to in the preceding article, so long as the creation of the establishment has not been achieved in conformity with the law, the estate so bequeathed may be the object, solely, of conservation measures. Article 48 The legatee shall be designated by the testator himself. Any will so made out as it is impossible to determine the legatee at the time of the testator's death shall be null. Article 49 The will providing for the sharing of the assets in kind in the estate among the testator's heirs, and determining the share of each one of them in these assets shall be valid. In case one of these shares should be higher than what is provided by law, surplus shall be subject to reduction only if it is in excess of the disposable portion. Article 50 Bare ownership may be validly bequeathed to one person and usufruct to another. All rights oj total or partial reproduction are reserved . Article 51 A will that bequeaths usufruct likely to freeze the estate shall not be valid, unless the legacy can be treated like a "WakfZurri", in which case it shall not apply to "Ameeriyeh" estate. As regards "Mulk" estates, the will shall be held valid throughout the period of the "Wakf' validity, and be subject to "Wakf Zurri" rules. Article 52 Any will incorporating conditions, impossible, illegal or contrary to public order and morality, shall be null. Nevertheless, if the condition is not the basic and determining element of the will, such condition shall be deemed unwritten, and the will shall remain valid. Article 53 The will may be pegged on obligations. BOOK II - FORM OF WILL Article 54 The will made in Lebanon may be authentic or holographic. The will made by a Lebanese national abroad shall be drawn up and probated in conformity with the rules prescribed by the present law, or with the rules of the country where it is drawn up regarding probation of authentic deeds. Article 55 The authentic will shall be drawn up before a Notary. Article 56 The will may be holographic and hand-written entirely by the testator, signed and dated by him. In such a case, the will shall be remitted by the testator himself or by his special Agent, under sealed envelope, to the Notary who shall grant probate to the seal. Mention of the existence of that will shall be made in a special register. In case the will is drawn up in a foreign country, it shall be remitted to the Notary or to the Lebanese consul. Article 57 Regarding the will of military personnel on the battlefield, the Notary's duties shall be discharged by an officer of at least second-lieutenant rank. This will shall be deemed null and void three months after the testator's return to a place enabling him to make a fresh one in the usual forms. BOOK III - DISPOSABLE PORTION Article 58 The will shall be reduced by as much as it is in excess of the portion set aside for descendants, father, mother, and spouse. Article 59 The portion set aside for descendants shall be fixed at fifty per cent of total movables and immovables. In case all the children are alive, they shall share in the portion in equal parts, irrespective of their number and without distinction of sex. In case one of them is deceased, his descendants shall represent him for that share that would have devolved on him had he been alive, and shall partake of that share in equal parts. Article 60 Portion of the surviving spouse shall be fixed at thirty per cent. Article 61 Portion set aside for parents shall be fixed at thirty per cent. They shall share it in equal parts. In case one of them is deceased, it shall devolve in full to the survivor Article 62 In case descendants should concur with the spouse and parents or either of them, the portion set aside for descendants shall be fixed at thirty per cent, that of the spouse at ten per cent, and that of the parents or of either of them at ten per cent. Article 63 In case descendants should concur with the spouse or with the parents or either of them, the portion set aside for descendants shall be fixed at forty per cent and that of the spouse or of the parents or of either of them at ten per cent. Article 64 In case the testator should decease without issue, but leaves behind a wife and his parents or either of them, the portion set aside for the wife shall be fixed at twenty per cent, that of the father at fifteen per cent, and that of the mother at fifteen per cent. Article 65 The will that IS m excess of the disposable portion shall be reduced to that portion when the inheritance is opened. Application for reduction may be filed only by heirs with reserved portions, their universal heirs, those representing them, or their trustees. Article 66 In the assessment of the disposable portion, it shall be added to the deceased's estate, following deduction of his debts, the value of the assets he gave away when alive, established on the basis of market price at the time of donation. Article 67 In case the object oflegacy is usufruct, an annuity or bare ownership, its value shall be assessed by taking into consideration the legatee's age, his health condition, and all other circumstances. Article 68 In case testamentary disposals should be in excess of the disposable portion, or the remaining part of that portion, following deduction of the value of donations between living persons, reduction shall be effected without distinction between universal legacies and specific legacies. However, in case the testator should express his desire that a legacy be settled before the others, that legacy shall be thus settled and may not be reduced except in case the other assets should fall short of the reserved portion. BOOK IV - REVOCATION AND NULLITY OF WILL CHAPTER 1 : Revocation of will Article 69 The testator may revoke his will, wholly or partially. Article 70 The will may be revoked by subsequent will, by authentic deed, or by the testator's hand-written material deposited with the Notary in the form indicated in article 55, and in which the testator declares to have revoked the previous will. Article 71 The subsequent will, that does not expressly revoke the preceding will, shall tacitly nullify all the latter's disposals that may be contrary to, or inconsistent with, the new disposals. Such tacit revocation shall be taken into consideration, even if the new will remains unexecuted for reasons beyond the testator's will. Article 72 In case the testator should sell the asset bequeathed by virtue of a previous will, such sale shall be deemed revocation of the will in what pertains to the asset sold, even though sale has been cancelled, unless nullity is the outcome of vitiated consent or that the asset bequeathed has been returned to the testator's estate. Article 73 The will may be revoked judicially, at the request of an heir or a legatee, in the following cases: 1- If the legatee should fail to perform the obligations imposed on him by the testator. 2 - If the legatee should commit one of the offences that would have rendered him unworthy to inherit the testator in case he was his heir. Article 74 In all cases provided for in the preceding article, action should be brought within a time-limit of one year dating from death or acquaintance with the facts entitling to revocation. CHAPTER 2: Nullity of will Article 75 The legacy shall be null and void through: 1 - the death of the legatee before the testator, 2 - the death of the legatee before achievement of the condition to which execution of the legacy was pegged, if it was the testator's intent that the legacy should be executed only in case the condition has been met in the lifetime of the legatee, 3 - repudiation of the legacy or incapacity of the legatee to recover it, 4 - total loss of the asset bequeathed before the testator's death. Article 76 In case the will has not been executed in what pertains to one of the assets bequeathed, due to revocation, invalidity or nullity of the testamentary disposals relating thereto, that asset shall revert to the person out of whose share it was withdrawn or who to settle it if the will had been executed. The universal legatee, whether universal or specific, instituted by the testator, shall equally benefit from that asset. BOOK V - ACCEPTANCE OF WILL Article 77 The will shall bind the legatee who accepts it, expressly or tacitly, after the testator's decease. In case the legatee should be a foetus, a minor or an interdict, acceptance shall be made by his legal or testamentary guardian. Article 78 The will may be accepted wholly or partially, as it may be accepted by certain legatees and repudiated by others. In that event, it shall be null for he who has repudiated it. Article 79 Effects of acceptance shall go back to the time of the testator's death. Article 80 Renunciation of will before the testator's death shall have no effect. BOOK VI - EXECUTION OF WILL Article 81 The testator may name one or several executors. The executor must have unqualified enjoyment of all his civil rights as well as legal capacity. The testator may furthermore stipulate that, should the executor refuse, the latter may name a substitute or appoint a specified person to discharge the duties of executor. In all cases, the executor's powers shall not be transferred to his heirs. Article 82 It shall lie with the testator to define the executor's powers. In case he should fail to do so, the latter's powers shall then consist in the management of the inheritance, the winding up of its liabilities and the distribution oflegacies in the form specified by the testator or by law. Article 83 In case the testator should nominate several executors who accept to exercise their powers, none of them shall be authorised to act singly without special authority from the testator, and they shall be jointly and severally answerable for the assets of the estate. In case the testator should assign special duties to each one of them, they may then discharge separately their respective duties. Article 84 Charges paid by the executor to take stock of the estate, to affix seals and to close the accounts, as well as other expenses, shall be deducted from the assets of the estate. Article 85 Heirs shall be forbidden to dispose of the assets of the estate or to manage them, in case there is an executor. Article 86 Third parties may take legal proceedings against executors and heirs. Article 87 The executor shall be required to notify the heirs, without delay, that he accepts his duties, to remit them a statement covering the assets and liabilities of the estate and to advise them of the date of its liquidation so that they may attend such liquidation if it is requested. Article 88 Executors may seek the assistance of qualified civil servants for the liquidation of the estate, such expenses to be charged on the estate. Article 89 Heirs may demand an annual statement of account from their executors in case their assignment is long drawn out. Article 90 The executor shall be held for negligence as well as for such damage as may be sustained by the estate due to his fact. Rules regarding the ordinary Agent's liability shall apply to him. The executor may not be relieved of the liability likely to be incumbent on him. Article 91 In case the testator should fail to fix the remuneration of the executor, the latter may claim current remuneration. Article 92 The executor may be revoked at the heirs' request in case he should fail his obligations, or if he should become unable to discharge his duties. However, he shall be given an oral hearing before revocation. PART THREE - LIOUIDATION OF ESTATES BOOK I - GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 93 Liquidation of the estate consists in determining the assets left by de cujus and, if need be, distributing and apportioning them among heirs and other rightful claimants. Article 94 Liquidation of the estate may take place in the following cases: 1 - If it is requested by one of the heirs, or by one of the rightful claimants, or by the executor. 2 - If among heirs and rightful claimants there should be a fatherless minor, an incapable, an absentee without Agent, or if the heirs are unknown. Article 95 Application for the liquidation of the estate shall be field with the First Instance Court of the place wherein the inheritance is opened, and is examined in Council Chamber. Any person sustaining prejudice from the fact of the decision ordaining liquidation of the estate may counter that decision by petition addressed to the Court that returned it. However, such counteraction shall not stop the liquidation operations of the estate if the applicant should persist in his resolve to bring them to completion and provide surety as a hedge against any prejudice the objector may sustain. In any case, the Court shall be at liberty to ordain stoppage of operations on serious grounds. In this event, it may require the objector to provide surety against such prejudice as may sustain the applicant for liquidation. Article 96 Liquidation of the estate shall be effected with the assistance of an expert designated by the judge. BOOK II - LIQUIDATION OF THE ESTATE AT THE REQUEST OF AN INTERESTED PARTY Article 97 In case one of the heirs or of the rightful claimants or the executor should require the liquidation of the estate, there shall at first be stock-taking of the assets of the estate, and assessment of the value of each item. The judge may ordain the affixing of seals, if the case so requires. Article 98 Following the formality of stock-taking and the assessment of the value of the assets of the estate, the judge shall convene all the heirs as well as all the known rightful claimants at a determined date so that they may produce evidence of their entitlement to the inheritance and declare whether or not they accept inheritance. If need be, he shall accord a time-limit to the heirs and legatees to make that declaration. Article 99 Following production by the rightful claimants to the inheritance of the entitlement deeds mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and in case they should declare accepting the inheritance, the judge shall ask them if they wish to remain in joint ownership or prefer liquidation and sharing out of the estate. In case all the heirs and rightful claimants manifest their desire to remain in joint ownership, the judge shall remit the Court a report in which he shall state that desire, after which the Court shall ordain remittance of the assets of the estate to those who are to benefit therefrom against receipt duly signed by them. Assets bequeathed to individuals shall be handed over to the legatees, and the deceased's creditors may apply for seizure of those assets in joint ownership, while retaining their right to claim from each heir and legatee payment of the debt of the estate, proportionately to his share in the estate. Article 100 In case one of the heirs should call for liquidation or sharing out, the judge shall decide the publication or that request in the Official Gazette as well as in one or several other papers he shall designate, and ordain that copy of the request be posted on the Court and on a place near the deceased's domicile. By that publication, all those who claim a right or a debt on the estate shall be required to declare their claimed right and provide supporting evidence within a time-limit of six months dating from publication in the Official Gazette. Article 101 At the expiry of the time-limit set for the declaration of rights and claims, the judge shall draw up a report wherein he shall state the claims presented, and convene heirs and claimants to a deliberation session on the possibility ofreaching a friendly arrangement. Article 102 In case an arrangement should intervene between heirs and claimants, such arrangement shall be endorsed by the judge by virtue of a decision taken in Council Chamber. Otherwise, the judge shall invite each claimant to institute his action within such time-limit as he may set. Article 103 In case the applicant should introduce his action within the time-limit set, the judge shall fix a hearing within a short time-limit to adjudicate on whether liquidation is to be stopped or continued, or on distribution. In all cases, heirs may guarantee the right object of the claim, and in this event liquidation of the estate shall be continued. Article 104 In case liquidation of the estate is continued, heirs may agree on sharing out the assets of the estate in the manner that they may deem appropriate. Article 105 In case the heirs should fail to agree on how sharing out is to be effected, the judge shall lay down a draft distribution with the assistance, if need be, of an expert appointed to this end. Should the heirs agree to that draft, the judge shall confirm it by judgment pronounced in Council Chamber. Article 106 In case one of the heirs should object to the draft distribution, the judge shall grant the objector a time-limit to present his objections, and shall adjudicate distribution by a final judgment which is open to no ordinary channels of appeal. Article 107 In case assets of the estate should prove indivisible, they shall be sold by auction by the delegated judge. In case certain assets are divisible while others are not, the former shall be shared out and the others sold by auction unless such splitting should entail extravagant prejudice. Article 108 The provrsions of the law govermng the sale of buildings shall apply to sale by auction of indivisible landed property. As to other assets, they shall be sold in accordance with the clauses prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure governing the sale of distrained assets. Nevertheless, in case there should be among the assets of the estate a commercial, industrial of agricultural enterprise, the judge may decide its sale together with all its elements, without distinction between realties and movable properties, and in accordance with the manner followed in the sale of realties, unless there should be serious grounds making separation more profitable. Article 109 Decisions of the judge regarding the manner of sale shall be open to no recourse. BOOK III - LIOUIDATION OF ESTATE BECAUSE THE HEIRS ARE UNKNOWN Article 110 In case the heirs should be unknown, the "Mukhtar" of the deceased's place of domicile shall have to bring such death to knowledge of the judge who shall decide, in Council Chamber, the liquidation of the estate and the appointment of an administrator. Article 111 After the formality of stock-taking, the judge shall deposit it an approved bank the ready cash and precious objects that he may find among the deceased's assets, and remit the rest of the assets to the administrator who may be required to provide surety. In case there should be, among the assets of the estate, assets likely to perish, the judge may order their sale and deposit of the proceeds in a bank duly approved. Article 112 If within a time-limit of five years dating from death no heir comes forward, the judge shall decide, in Council Chamber, that the assets of the estate be remitted to the State. Article 113 The administrator shall be required to account for the management of the assets of the estate to the judge who shall then decide on fixing his remuneration, pay such remuneration and remit the rest of the estate to the State. Article 114 If following delivery of the assets to the State, an heir should come forward and establish his right to inheritance, he shall have to revert to the State for the recovery of his assets. BOOK IV - LIOUIDATION OF THE ESTATE DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF ONE OF THE HEIRS Article 115 In case the heir or one of the co-heirs should be absent without leaving an Agent, the judge may, on testimony of the "Mukhtar" of the place of domicile of the deceased, or a relative of the absentee, decide, in Council Chamber, liquidation of the estate if he should deem it useful. Article 116 If there should be several heirs some of whom are absent, assets of the estate shall be handed over, following stock-taking, to the heirs present who shall be required to provide, beforehand, surety to guarantee the absentee's share. In case the heirs present should refuse to provide the surety, the ready cash and the remaining assets shall be handed over to a judicial custodian who shall manage them for the account for all heirs and shall retain the share and the proceeds accruing to the absentee. This above-mentioned measure is equally taken in case the sole heir is absent or all the co-heirs are absent. A surety may be required from the judicial custodian. Article 117 In case the heirs present or one of them should require the liquidation of the estate, and in case it should be possible to know the domicile of the absentee heir, the judge may notify the latter of the request for liquidation and grant him a time-limit to come forward or have himself represented. In case he should fail to come forward or have himself represented, the liquidation may take place in the presence of the judicial custodian. In case it should not prove possible to know the domicile of the absentee heir, he shall be cited in accordance with the forms proscribed by the Code of Civil Procedure for the notification of persons of unknown domicile. In case he should fail to come forward or have himself represented, the judicial custodian shall represent him in liquidation operations. Article 118 In case no one of the heirs should demand liquidation of the estate, and in case the absentee heir has not himself represented, the judge shall decide, in Council Chamber, the sale of such assets as are likely to perish or deteriorate, the sharing out of the price and of the ready cash, if any, among the heirs, as well as conservation in a bank of the share of the absentee heir. He shall equally authorise the custodian to participate with the heirs present in the management of the remaining jointly-owned assets and to recover proceeds from the share of the absentee heir for deposit in the same bank. BOOK V - LIOUIDATION OF THE ESTATE DUE TO THE EXISTENCE OF A illIINOR OR OF ANOTHER !NCAP ABLE Article 119 In case there should be among the heirs a minor, a parentless orphan or an incapable, the judge may decide that liquidation of the estate be either as a matter of course or according to information. Article 120 In case the minor or the incapable has no legal representative, the judge shall designate a guardian as a matter of course. Article 121 Following stock-taking, the judge shall decide such measures as he may deem necessary for the safeguard of the minor's assets. He shall then decide, depending on the requirements of the case, whether to proceed or not with liquidation, unless another heir should request it. In all cases, the judge shall be at liberty to decide the sale of what he may deem necessary to sell from among the assets of the estate, and the conservation of the amount of the share reverting to the minor or the incapable in a bank officially approved or to authorise the latter's representative to receive either the whole or part of that share. Article 122 In case it should appear to the judge that it is in the minor's or incapable's interest that the estate be liquidated and shared out, the rules provided in Chapter 2 shall then apply. The minor's or the incapable's representative shall stand in lieu thereof in measures concerning him, but contracts signed by him shall not be carried out before they have been endorsed by the judge. BOOK VI - LEGAL PROCEEDINGS INSTITUTED AFTER LIOUIDATION OF THE ESTATE Article 123 In case liquidation of the estate is achieved by agreement among the heirs, or between the latter and the rightful claimants to the estate, that the assets be shared, and that sharing out is effected by mutual agreement, such sharing out, even when endorsed by the judge, shall not preclude application of the provisions of articles 943 and 949 of the Code of Obligations and Contracts. Article 124 Legal proceedings introduced by creditors following sharing out by mutual agreement or judicial process may be instituted solely against the heirs and rightful claimants in their individual capacity, each one in proportion to what he has taken. If the case pertains to a landed property within the portion of one of the co-heirs then drawn out of that portion, the guarantee rules provided under article 948 of the Code of Obligations and Contracts shall then apply to the co-heirs. . PART FOUR - FINAL PROVISIONS Article 125 The present law shall not apply to inheritances opened before its enforcement in what concerns determination of the heirs and assessment of their shares. Article 126 Authentic wills endorsed by an official authority and established before publication of the present law shall remain valid even if testator should die after publication of the present law. Article 127 Rules regarding liquidation of estates shall not apply to inheritances opened before enforcement of the present law. Article 128 The present law shall not apply to estates of members of Mohammedan religious communities.

Article 129 In what pertains to estates subject to the present law, the following shall be abrogated: 1 - The Law of 21 February 1328-1912 regarding transmission of "Ameeriyeh" and "Wakf" lands. 2 - All previous provisions pertaining to inheritance, wills and liquidation of estates. 3 - All texts contrary to the provisions of the present law or inconsistent with its purport. Article 130 The present law shall go into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette.