The inheritance rights of the surviving spouse provided by the romanian law

In the old Romanian law succession, the transmission was governed by legislation that was under the influence of Roman law. The surviving spouse was quite at a disadvantage compared to the blood relatives of the defunct. The unfair succession situation of the surviving spouse was the object of vehement criticism in the Romanian doctrine. Nowadays, the inheritance rights of the surviving spouse are regulated by Law Nr. 319 of 10th June 1944 for the inheritance right of the surviving spouse that implicitly abrogated the dispositions of article 679, 681-684 of the Romanian Civil Code. Thus, according to Law Nr. 319 of 10th June 1944, the surviving spouse has three distinctive succession rights: i) a general inheritance right, in competition with any of the classes of heirs I-IV; ii) a special inheritance right over the movable goods and objects belonging to the household and over the wedding gifts; iii) a temporary right of occupancy of the house