Annotation

The author focuses on one of the most important institutions of inheritance law, which was the achievement of the latest codification of the civil legislation of our country. It is proved that Article 1129 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, embodying the conceptual idea of the possibility of sacrificing formal restrictions for the sake of the triumph of the last will of a person in the face of an emergency situation threatening death, actually turned out to be a non-working construct. A comparative legal analysis of the legislation of the world has allowed us to assert that the establishment of an oral form for “last gasp” wills with effective mechanisms for recording and registering documents drawn up by witnesses will actually ensure the triumph of the testator's free will in the face of mortal danger in full compliance with the civil law principle of will autonomy.