This third edition is aimed to serve as a reference work not only for law students (from the start of law school up to final exams) but also legal trainees as well as legal practitioners. It presents the fundamentals as well as specialized topics of the law of succession. Legislation enacted since the previous edition was taken into consideration according to its educational relevance. Based on its connection to the ongoing and heated debate on euthanasia, the topic of "patient testaments" was thoroughly revised. The planned legal amendments, which will especially affect the law pertaining to compulsory portion, were also taken into consideration. A new chapter presents the issues surrounding a person's ability to inherit, whose birth is a result of artificial insemination.

Dirk Olzen, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.