UNIVERSAL SUCCESSION
In modern Scots law, on a person’s death his entire estate, consisting of his assets and liabilities, is transferred to the person appointed as executor. The executor has the task of paying off the debts and distributing any surplus assets.
If there is a will, this distribution will be made in accordance with the intentions of the deceased. However, the executor acts only as a trustee. His role is only that of an administrator of the estate, and he bears no personal liability for the debts of the deceased.The Roman law followed a very different principle, known as universal succession. In a system of universal succession, the estate of the deceased passes directly to the heir, who is then personally liable for the debts of the deceased, even if they exceed the assets of the estate (the so-called damnosa hereditas, or ruinous inheritance). As we shall see, heirs were given various protections, but throughout the development of the Roman law of sucÂcession the principle of universal succession remained.
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