inheritance fraud
Deception to obtain inheritance from an estate, prosecuted under Penal Code § 279
Inheritance fraud — in Danish arvebedrageri or arvesvig — denotes conduct in which a person seeks, through deception, misrepresentation or improper manipulation, to obtain inheritance or assets from a deceased estate to which that person is not entitled. Under Danish law there is no separate penal provision covering this phenomenon; such cases are instead dealt with primarily under the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven) § 279 on fraud.
The fraud provision in § 279 criminalises a person who, in order to obtain an unlawful gain for himself or others, unlawfully creates, reinforces or exploits a mistaken belief in another person and thereby induces that person to act or refrain from acting in a way that causes a financial loss. This construction is well suited to inheritance fraud cases, where the perpetrator may, for example, produce forged wills, conceal heirs or manipulate estate accounts.
Depending on the specific circumstances of the case, further provisions may come into play. Forgery of documents under § 171 may be relevant where false documents have been produced or used, and § 280 on breach of trust (mandatsvig) may apply where an estate administrator or other person in a position of trust abuses that position.
The penalty range for fraud is imprisonment for up to 1 year and 6 months (§ 285(1)). Where the offence is of a particularly aggravated nature, for instance because of the manner of execution or the extent of the gain obtained or intended, the penalty may rise to imprisonment for up to 8 years (§ 286(2)).
