Information for authorities issuing an ECS

1 The kinds of registers that exist in the Member State, containing information relevant to successions

- Trade Register (Obchodní rejstřík)

- Central Securities Depositary (Centrální depozitář cenných papírů)

- Insolvency Register (Insolvenční rejstřík)

- Register of Matrimonial Property Regime Documents (Seznam listin o manželském majetkovém režimu)

- Register of Road Vehicles (Registr silničních vozidel)

- Aircraft Register (Letecký rejstřík)

- Central Weapons Register (Centrální registr zbraní)

- Shipping Register and Small Vessels Register (Plavební rejstřík, rejstřík malých plavidel)

- Land Register (Katastr nemovitostí)

2 Information contained in each of the registers of the Member State, as listed under point 1

Trade Register

The Trade Register is centralised. It is governed by the Act on Public Registers, (available in English here). The Trade Register is kept in electronic format. Its website provides remote access and the possibility to obtain an officially certified electronic copy. The online database also allows searches on the basis of natural persons involved. To search for an entity, it is necessary to know their name, their identification number or the file reference they are registered under at the competent registry court, and, in the case of natural persons, at least their surname. All the information in the register is only in Czech. Remote access and officially certified electronic copies are free of charge.

Upon request, the registry court issues an officially certified paper copy of the entry or of the documents deposited in the document registry. The amount charged for issuing the certified copy may not exceed the administrative costs actually involved in issuing it.

The person to whom an entry relates does not have the right to object that the entry does not correspond to reality against a person acting legally and in good faith on the basis of the entry (material publicity).

The Trade Registry registers the persons/entities referred to in Section 42 of the Act on Public Registers. The particulars entered in the public registry are set out in Section 25 of the Act. The additional details registered in the case of corporations are set out in Section 48 of the Act.

Central Securities Depositary

Records of financial instruments in the Czech Republic are not centralised.

One of the bodies that provides this information is the Central Securities Depositary (Centrální depozitář cenných papírů, a.s.)Central Securities Depositary.

The Central Securities Depositary does not share account statements with anyone other than the account holder. Exceptions to the rules on the protection of personal data are set out in Section 115 of the Act 256/2004 Capital Market Trading Act, which allows information from the records to be shared with, for example, notaries in their capacity as judicial commissioners in inheritance matters.

The Central Securities Depositary also shares information with foreign notaries or courts through the intermediary of the competent Czech court that received a request from the foreign court for information regarding the testator’s estate.

For this purpose, proof has to be provided of the right to verify the estate of the specific testator in question. In accordance with Section 116(6) of the Capital Market Trading Act, the Central Securities Depositary is permitted to request payment to cover the administrative costs incurred.

Insolvency Register

Insolvency Register contains a list of insolvent operators, a list of debtors and insolvency files. The Insolvency Register is publicly accessible. Anyone has the right to consult it and obtain copies and extracts from it. Access to the Insolvency Register is free of charge. All the information in it is in Czech. Upon request, the insolvency court issues a certified output.

Data are entered on the list of debtors by the insolvency court as soon as any event relating to the insolvency proceedings occurs and within 7 days from the event at the latest. As soon as an insolvency administrator is appointed, the insolvency court records this in the list of debtors. In the insolvency register the insolvency court publishes all submissions to the court records kept by the insolvency court in relation to the debtor, in chronological order, stating the entry date of the insolvency court decision handed down in the insolvency proceedings or incidental disputes.

Register of Matrimonial Property Regime Documents

Czech law does not contain any specific rules relating to the property of registered partners.

The Register of Matrimonial Property Regime Documents is maintained in electronic form by the Czech Chamber of Notaries (Notářská komora ČR) (http://www.nkcr.cz/). The Register is centralised and allows public consultation of whether a married couple has changed their property regime and agreed to make this information public, or whether a court decision has been issued concerning the matrimonial property regime.

The Register can be consulted electronically here: https://rejstrik.nkcr.cz/, and the search criterion is the date of birth of one of the spouses. If the Register includes data regarding a registered document, the application allows a request for a copy to be generated in PDF format. Using this request document, the customer can then ask any notary (https://www.nkcr.cz/seznam-notaru) to issue a copy of the document (or its content) from the Register. The request may also be made electronically (for example by e-mail). The copy of the document from the Register made by the notary is a copy of a publicly accessible document. The information is provided in Czech.

Consultation of the Register and the delivery of a copy of a document are subject to the fees laid down in the Notaries Code (Act No 358/1992) and the Schedule of Notaries’ Fees (Act No 196/2001).

Register of Road Vehicles

The Register of Road Vehicles is a non-publicly accessible information system managed by the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic. Access to the Register is granted to municipalities with extended competence. On request, they may share information from the Register with natural or legal persons who can demonstrate a legal interest. The owner or operator of the vehicle is not required to demonstrate a legal interest. The competent authorities also provide public authorities with the data from the Register they need to perform their duties. Requests for information from the Register of Road Vehicles are made using the prescribed form. The form is available on the website of the Ministry of Transport HERE. The local council of a municipality with extended competence may also provide information from the Register in electronic form.

The Ministry of Transport does not handle requests from foreign authorities responsible for inheritance proceedings for information regarding vehicles connected to the deceased. The foreign authority must submit this request through a Czech court, which verifies whether the foreign requester is entitled to be given the information. The court then submits a request for information from the Register to the competent municipality with extended competence for the place of residence of the person concerned.

Aircraft Register

The Aircraft Register is a publicly accessible register managed centrally by the Civil Aviation Authority (https://www.caa.cz/letadlova-technika/letecky-rejstrik/). Any person may consult the Aircraft Register and request a copy or extract of the information it contains from the Authority. The Aircraft Register may be consulted here: https://lr.caa.cz/letecky-rejstrik. In addition, it is possible to request information from the Aircraft Register from the Civil Aviation Authority by post or electronically here podatelna@caa.cz.

Central Weapons Register

The Central Weapons Register is a non-publicly accessible information system managed by the police (https://www.policie.cz/). Only persons residing on the territory of the Czech Republic may own weapons in the Czech Republic. When a weapon owner dies, notification is sent from the basic population register to the Central Weapons Register. The competent police body provides information on the deceased owner and their weapons to the competent authority conducting the inheritance proceedings. Foreign authorities must provide proof that they are conducting inheritance proceedings for the individual in question. The request for information may be sent by post or electronically with an electronic signature.

Shipping Register and Small Vessels Register

The Shipping Register is a public register, while the Small Vessels Register is a non-public record of information. They are managed by the State Navigation Administration (http://www.plavebniurad.cz/).

It is possible to search the Shipping Register using the registration number (6 digits) or the European Vessel Identification Number ENI (8 digits) here: https://plavebniurad.cz/dok-pl/plavebni-rejstrik.

Upon request, the Navigation Administration provides public authorities with the data from the Small Vessels Register they need to carry out their duties. It also shares data with natural or legal persons who can demonstrate a legal interest; the owner or operator of the vessel is not required to demonstrate a legal interest.

Upon request, it is possible to search either register based on the details of the owner recorded in the register, including at least their first name and surname, date of birth, or place of residence. Information on technical parameters is also useful. The Navigation Administration accepts requests by post or electronically with an electronic signature.

Land Register

The Land Register contains information on immovable property and who it is owned by. The contact details of the Register can be found here Addresses. Individual land registers are in place for different geographical areas, and to find specific contact details it is first necessary to select the relevant region of the Czech Republic. The Land Register is connected countrywide across the Czech Republic and each local branch has access to the Central Land Register.

The information in the Land Register is publicly available. Free access is nevertheless limited, with full access being subject to a fee. Specific information about what data are provided and under what conditions can be found here. The User Service Department of the Czech Land Surveying and Land Register Administration (Český úřad zeměměřictví a katastru) provides access to consult ownership and other rights relating to immovable property recorded for natural or legal persons on the whole territory of the Czech Republic for applicants who have a legal right to make use of that information free of charge (contact details here).

Online searches are possible for parcels of land, buildings and units. Procedures may also be searched for.

The Land Register may be contacted by authorities of other Member States, but this is not standard practice and we therefore advise against it. It is more effective to contact the local competent court.

The information is provided in Czech. The Land Register provides certified copies.

The documents required to register rights in the Land Register are set out in Section 6 ff. of the Land Register Act No 256/2013.

The specific cases of registration of rights on the basis of a European Certificate of Succession are governed by Section 69(6) of the Decree on the land register 357/2013.

Rights are established, amended or extended on the basis of an entry in the Land Register.

3 The availability of information on bank accounts

To search for information concerning a bank account, it is necessary to identify the banks with which the testator held accounts (there is no central register), and subsequently to send a request pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 to the district court or Prague district court competent for the place where the bank in question has its main office. Any supporting documents indicating the details of the ongoing inheritance proceedings are helpful, but not required.

The request must include at least the first name, surname and date of birth of the account holder. Any additional information may facilitate the search. The information provided is not subject to any fees.

4 The availability of a register of intellectual property rights

In the Czech Republic, a register of intellectual property rights is managed by the Industrial Confidentiality Office - all relevant information can be found here.

Contact details:

Industrial Property Office (Úřad průmyslového vlastnictví)
Antonína Čermáka 2a
160 68 Prague 6 - Bubeneč

Tel/Fax: 220 383 111 / 224 324 718
Email: posta@upv.gov.cz

5 Other registers with information relevant to successions

Central Register of Enforcements (Centrální evidence exekucí)

The Central Register of Enforcements is a public register managed by the Czech Chamber of Bailiffs (Exekutorská komora ČR) (https://www.ekcr.cz/). The Central Register of Enforcements is centralised and provides information on specific enforcement proceedings, such as whether enforcement proceedings pursuant to the Enforcement Code have been opened with regard to a specific person.

Information in the Central Register of Enforcements is publicly accessible and can be consulted by registered and non-registered users at https://www.ceecr.cz/. The search criterion is the person's first name, surname and date of birth or ID number. Requests are also accepted in electronic form, provided they have been signed by a qualified electronic signature. Extracts from the Central Register of Enforcements may also be obtained in person at the Chamber of Bailiffs in Prague or Brno, or at a Česká pošta post office with CzechPOINT. Questions regarding specific enforcement proceedings must be addressed to individual bailiffs in the register of bailiffs.

In the case of deceased persons, it is important to note that, at the time of the request, the enforcement proceedings may have been transferred to another person (such as an heir) or closed. In this case, under current legislation, it would not be possible to find the case in question in the Central Register of Enforcements using the personal data of the deceased.

Accessing information in the Register is subject to a fee laid down by Decree No 329/2008 on the central register of enforcements.

6 The availability of information on closed wills and wills not subject to registration

A will may be kept in the following ways:

- If a will or other disposition of property upon death is not in the form of a notarial act, but has been drawn up by the testator as a private instrument, it may be deposited with a notary for safekeeping. The original document remains with the notary, who issues a record of the deposit, and subsequently records it in the Register of Legal Acts upon Death (Evidence právních jednání pro případ smrti) managed by the Czech Chamber of Notaries.

- There are no specific rules covering cases where the document is not deposited with a notary. The most common scenarios are completely informal deposit with relatives, heirs, at home, with a lawyer or at a bank.

In inheritance proceedings, any person in possession of a disposition of property upon death by the deceased or any other document relevant for the inheritance proceedings must surrender it to the court on request. Failure to comply with this request may be punished with a procedural fine.

The content and status of documents that were not registered and were made public only in the course of the proceedings is verified by a court commissioner. A notary verifies the content of wills ex officio.

Public verification of the content and status of the document concerns only documents that were deposited with a notary for safekeeping and were not drawn up as notarial acts. In this case, the content and status of the documents are verified publicly, meaning that the notary, acting as a court commissioner, communicates the date of the reading to the persons who the initial investigation indicates to be the heirs.

This procedure does not apply to documents drawn up as notarial acts, or to documents that were not registered, such as documents that the testator kept at home or deposited with a lawyer or other person, such as the heirs or executors.