At the conference “The right to inheritance – a path to gender equality and stopping violence”, which was jointly organized by the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Serbia and the Center for Research and Development of Society IDEAS, a guide called “The right to inheritance – equal for all” was presented.
Despite the existing legal framework that treats men and women equally, there are still deep-rooted prejudices, stereotypes, and beliefs in our society that put women in a more unequal position when inheriting property. Women often give up their right to inheritance in favor of male relatives, which can affect their economic independence, but also the risk of various forms of family and gender-based violence, said Brankica Janković, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality.
The presented guide provides a concise overview of the most frequent questions and answers related to the right to inheritance, as well as explanations of basic concepts in inheritance law, and outlines the consequences of disclaiming inheritance, along with information on whom a person can turn to for legal help and advice.
In about 36% of probate proceedings, women renounced their right to inheritance mainly in favor of their male relatives. Statistics, on the other hand, say that only 19% of men renounced their inheritance.
By presenting the factual situation, we point out that the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of tradition is an injustice that is not difficult to correct if the law is respected. A joint continuous effort is needed to ensure that all citizens are aware of their rights and that following the information they have, they make decisions, which, whatever they are, must be made based on knowledge of the rights, obligations, and consequences of each declaration of inheritance, the Commissioner concluded.
In the introductory part, Plamena Halacheva, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Serbia, Kristin Melsom, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia, and Milana Rikanović, Director of the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Serbia, spoke, and two panels were held on the topics of “Inheritance – right or privilege?” and “Discrimination in the family: economic rights and violence”. The conference was organized as part of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
