Rechtliche Fallstricke des Todes des Personengesellschafters de lege lata und de lege ferenda

Abstract

German law on civil law partnerships, still based on the original rules of sec. 705 et seq. BGB enacted in the year 1900, is currently subject to a long due legislative overhaul. The rules propsed by the government in the Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Personengesellschaftsrechts (MoPeG) aim at aligning written law with modern jurisprudence and doctrine and at strengthening the role of the civil law partnership as suitable business form for complex economic activities. The partnership, although still to be refused the status of a body corporate, shall officially be vested with legal capacity and it shall be immunized against potentially fatal influcences stemming from the sphere of its members. The article undertakes to analyse the shortcomings of the current legal regime with regard to the effects of the death of a partner and to establish whether and to which extent the MoPeG will bring remedy ‑ or cause new frictions.