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Confirmation of a will or testament

It follows from the Act on Inheritance and more of 3rd March 1972 No. 5, (The Inheritance Act) that in some cases a will or testament is only valid if confirmed by the King. The King’s authority was, pursuant to the Resolution dated 23rd June 1972, transferred to The Ministry of Justice. From 1st January 2007 the authority was delegated to The Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority. We do not assist in preparing the will or testament.

On receipt of an application for the confirmation of a will or testament, the Civil Affairs Authority carry out an assessment of the terms and conditions for confirming the will or testament are met with. If the terms and conditions are met with, the document is stamped as valid and confirmed by the King. There is no standard application form for applications for confirmation of a will or testament. Applications must however have the will or testament enclosed, together with an explanation of why the application has been submitted (grounds for the application). If the Justice Secretariats find that the application must be denied, the ruling can be appealed to the Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority.

In the case of the following, a will or testament is only valid when confirmed by the Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority:

The Inheritance Act § 33
Pursuant to the Inheritance Act § 33, whomsoever operates a business enterprise or is co-owner of a major part of an enterprise that operates such activities, can stipulate in a will or testament that his business or ownership part of a business shall go to one or several of his/her heirs. Any such will or testament is only valid if it is confirmed by the Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority, unless all heirs are of legal age and have agreed to the arrangement.

The Inheritance Act § 34
Pursuant to the Inheritance Act § 34 first part, a testator may provide by testament that an heir who has attained the age of 18 years shall not receive the obligatory inheritance from that testator if the said heir has committed a criminal offence against the testator or against any of the testator’s relatives in direct line of ascent or descent, or any sister or brother or their descendents, or if the said heir has failed to assist the testator to the best of his ability when the testator was in need of assistance. Any such testament is invalid unless confirmed by the Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority.

The Inheritance Act § 48
Pursuant to the Inheritance Act § 48 second part, any will or testament issued by a person under the age of 18 must be confirmed by the Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority in order to be valid.

The Inheritance Act § 73
The Inheritance Act § 73 regulates the loss of inheritance rights due to a criminal offence against the testator or heirs of the testator that the perpetrator himself is or may be entitled to inherit, and that results in the death of the testator or the testator’s heirs. The regulations in this article are not a hindrance to that the inheritance rights can be restored by will or testament, but it follows from the article’s fifth part that any such will or testament is invalid unless confirmed by the King (The Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority).