Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Legal Studies, 14, 1 (2025) 177–183
DOI: 10.47745/AUSLEG.2025.14.1.09
Abstract. This conference report presents the main scholarly contributions and discussions of the international conference ‘Instruments for preserving the unity of family businesses and agricultural assets – Perspectives of legal history’, held on 7 June 2024 in Budapest by the Central European Academy of the University of Miskolc in cooperation with leading comparative law institutions. The event examined historical and contemporary legal mechanisms designed to maintain the integrity of family-owned enterprises and agricultural property across diverse legal traditions. The report outlines how speakers approached the subject through a comparative and interdisciplinary lens, analysing institutions such as trusts, fideicommissum, mayorazgo, private and family foundations, and special inheritance regimes, as well as contractual and asset management structures. Contributions ranged from the historical development of English trading trusts and ancestral property systems in Qing China to the evolution of Austrian private foundations, Italian and Spanish inheritance models, and the regulation of family property in Romanian and Hungarian law. Particular attention was paid to the tension between asset preservation, creditor protection, and the demands of economic modernization. By situating these legal instruments within their broader socio-economic and political contexts, the conference highlighted both the continuity and transformation of family asset preservation strategies from pre-modern societies to contemporary legal systems. The report concludes by emphasizing the value of legal history and comparative analysis in informing current legislative debates and policy choices and underscores the importance of international scholarly dialogue in developing legal frameworks that balance intergenerational continuity with market flexibility and social change.
Keywords: family business asset preservation, fideicommissum and inheritance law, comparative legal history, agricultural property and succession, trusts and asset management structures
SAPIENTIA HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSYLVANIA
The Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania is the independent university of the Hungarian community in Romania, which aims at providing education to the members of our community and performing scientific research on a high professional level.
Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania,
Scientia Publishing House
Acta Universitatis Sapientiae
RO 400112 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Str. Matei Corvin nr. 4.
Email: acta @ acta.sapientia.ro
