Leader: Arianna Fusaro (UNIPD); Other collaborator(s): Stefano Corso (UNIPD).
This task will focus on selected legal tools in relation to estate planning in an ageing population with the aim of tailoring the general legal tools to the specific needs and attitudes of ageing individuals. This task will focus on trusts, welfare annuities, modal gifts, and insurance contracts, including so-called Long-Term Care insurance policies (LTC). Proposals for regulatory reform on the assets for the use of persons under a “Court appointed supporter”, replacing the “fedecommissary substitution” and on the “protection mandate” will be analysed comparing our legislation with the main European legal systems.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
On 3 and 4 November 2023, the conference "Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana" was organised at the University of Padua. Arianna Fusaro, together with Mariassunta Piccinni, gave the introductory presentation and Giovanni Calabrese held a presentation entitled "L'amministrazione di sostegno: una riflessione da un'esperienza concreta". As part of the same conference, the "Liber Amicorum per Paolo Zatti" was presented. Arianna Fusaro published here an essay entitled "Il contratto della persona vulnerabile nella prospettiva dei rimedi". The collection of the conference proceedings was then launched. In January 2024, the selection procedure for the award of a project-related research grant took place. Stefano Corso was the successful candidate and took up the position in February. Arianna Fusaro wrote a contribution for the scientific journal "Banca, borsa, titoli di credito", entitled "L'anziano vulnerabile e le donazioni indirette: il caso delle assicurazioni sulla vita con designazione del beneficiario". Arianna Fusaro and Giovanni Calabrese, together with Matilde Girolami, wrote in the volume "Avanzare insieme nella società anziana. Considerazioni multidisciplinari sulla domanda di assistenza agli anziani in Italia" edited by Cecilia Tomassini, Marco Albertini and Carlo Lallo, a contribution entitled "Gli istituti giuridici di sostegno agli anziani fragili: osservazioni e proposte". On 7 March 2024, Giovanni Calabrese and Stefano Corso, as part of the seminar organised by the Association "Anziani a casa propria", in Padua, gave two presentations with the respectives titles: "Cenni sulla normativa europea per la tutela delle persone anziane e adulte fragili" and "La telemedicina come strumento di cura della persona anziana a casa". Stefano Corso is preparing a presentation entitled "Sanità digitale e soggetto vulnerabile: profili di tutela per la persona anziana" for April 2024.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The study conducted so far, especially but not only within the framework of the conference in Padua "Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana", has highlighted several aspects inherent to the legal profiles of protection of the elderly person. First of all, the preliminary methodological element of the need for a multidisciplinary approach to the subject. In order to identify the most suitable legal solutions to guarantee the vulnerable person, the expert knowledge, both theoretical and practical, not only of jurists but also, for example, of doctors, philosophers, sociologists, must be gathered. In fact, the conference also hosted a parallel session dealing with medical shared care planing. Secondly, the need to give the phenomenon a unitary reading emerged, but one that at the same time takes into account the inherent complexity of the various legal profiles, from the instruments for the protection of the frail person, such as the support administration, to the regulation of the negotiation of a contract by an incapable person, with all the limits of the traditional category of capacity to understand and to make decisions in the face of the various ways in which ageing can result in cognitive impairment, to the aspects of estate planning and the related as yet unexpressed potential of the legal system. Following this line of research, which is multidimensional and multi-sectoral, we have also noted the significant contribution that the study of European legislation, meaning both the sources of European Union law ad the legal ssystems of other European countries, on the one hand, and the rules of public and private health law, on the other hand, offers to this reflection.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Task 1.6. continues the study of research topics. From the institutions and instruments for protecting the frail person, such as the elderly person, to estate planning for the elderly person. The analysis of the subject matter requires and suggests in-depth studies on related topics, such as inheritance law or the law of new technologies. On 23 April 2024, at the Department of Law of the University of RomaTre, Stefano Corso gave a lecture entitled Digital Health and the Vulnerable Subject: Protection Profiles for the Elderly Person, in the open lesson “Digital Health: Theory and Practice”, as part of the Health Law course. The results of the research conducted by Arianna Fusaro, Matilde Girolami and Giovanni Calabrese on the legal institutions supporting the frail elderly are published as a chapter in the book "Avanzare Insieme nella società Anziana", published by Il Mulino in June 2024.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Research in the various defined areas of task 1.6. takes shape and the interconnection between the many different legal institutions linked to the legal situations of the elderly person is highlighted. The foundations are laid for critical and topical reflections on the administration of support, the role of capacity, the prohibition of inheritance pacts, the rules on technological innovation and sustainability in connection with the ageing of the population.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
Task 1.6. collected the proceedings of the conference on 3 and 4 November 2023. It includes an introduction by Arianna Fusaro and Mariassunta Piccinni, on law and the elderly person, and a contribution by Giovanni Calabrese, on support administration and its critical issues. The study of the link between estate planning and inheritance contracts for the elderly person is embodied in an essay by Stefano Corso, submitted and sent for peer-review for a scientific journal. Similarly, the results of the study of the rules on technological innovation and the protection of the elderly person are embodied in an essay by Stefano Corso, currently being published in Nuova giurisprudenza civile commentata. A selection is held for the award of a research grant inherent to the project, in the field of labour law. Michela Lucchiari is the successful candidate and takes up the assignment. From 12 to 14 September, Arianna Fusaro, Giovanni Calabrese and Stefano Corso took part in the Spoke 5 conference, at the University of Molise, in Termoli, entitled “Sustainability of elderly care system in an ageing society”, with two papers: “Donations, contracts, wills: the acts of the vulnerable elderly person and undue influence” and “Estate planning tools for the elderly person”.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The results of the studies conducted so far by task 1.6. are consolidated and presented at the Termoli conference "Sustainability of elderly care system in an ageing society". The research brings to light the positive aspects of the current legislative framework and those, on the other hand, that could be reconsidered, with a view to possible regulatory changes that take into account the specificities and needs of the vulnerable elderly in the face of the progressive ageing of the population.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
The study of the legal aspects inherent to the protection of the elderly continued, through various profiles of private law, in relation to patrimonial and non-patrimonial issues. On 22nd October a Cross-Spoke event was held at the Biomedical Campus of the Department of Neurosciences of the University of Padua. The Task 1.6. group gave a presentation entitled “The elderly in the Italian legal system. Vulnerability and private law. On 24 October, during the Digital Week in Padua, Arianna Fusaro presented the Age-It project and the research carried out by Task 1.6. at another Cross-Spoke event, 'Invecchiamento attivo: robot e tecnologia al servizio della popolazione'. On 29 November, Stefano Corso presented a paper on technological innovation, vulnerability and ageing at the international conference 'Cybersecurity e prodotti: sfide e responsabilità nelle società interconnesse' organised by the University of San Raffele in Rome. The article Alla frontiera del diritto privato. Nuove tecnologie e persona anziana by Stefano Corso has been published in Nuova giurisprudenza civile commentata, issue 5/2024. The volume edited by Arianna Fusaro and Mariassunta Piccinni, ”Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana", with contributions by Arianna Fusaro (Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana) and Giovanni Calabrese (Le limitazioni della capacità del beneficiario di amministrazione di sostegno: dalla teoria alla prassi applicativa), has been published in December 2024.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
The results of the studies have been presented at various conferences and it has been suggested that, in the light of the progressive ageing of the population, the traditional institutions for the protection of the frail should be reconsidered, firstly for the effective protection of the person and secondly for the greater efficiency of the justice system. Considerable benefits for society, and in particular for the elderly, could also be achieved by rethinking the rules of inheritance law and taking due account of the latest technological legislation.
Scientific Outputs
Books and book chapters
1) Fusaro, A. (2023), Il contratto della persona vulnerabile nella prospettiva dei rimedi, in Aa.Vv., Liber Amicorum per Paolo Zatti, Napoli, Jovene, p. 1169 ff., and in Annuario del contratto 2022, Torino, Giappichelli, 2023, p. 16 ff.; https://www.research.unipd.it/retrieve/93ec6b19-ae13-44cf-bd1b-312e5c602c6e/LiberAmicorumZatti.pdf
2) Fusaro, A., Girolami, M., & Calabrese, G. (2024), Gli istituti giuridici di sostegno agli anziani fragili: osservazioni e proposte, in C. Tomassini - M. Albertini - C. Lallo (eds.), Avanzare insieme nella società anziana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2024;
3) Fusaro, A., Piccinni, M. (eds.) (2024), Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana, Pisa, Pacini. https://www.rivistaresponsabilitamedica.it/un-diritto-gentile-per-la-persona-anziana-3-4-novembre-2023/
Journal articles
1) Fusaro, A. (2024), L’anziano vulnerabile e le donazioni indirette: il caso delle assicurazioni sulla vita con designazione del beneficiario, in Banca, borsa, titoli di credito, p. 411 ff.; https://www.research.unipd.it/handle/11577/3531969
2) Corso, S. (2024). Alla frontiera del diritto privato. Nuove tecnologie e persona anziana, in Nuova giur. civ. comm., II, pp. 1253 ss; https://www.research.unipd.it/handle/11577/3539664
3) Corso, S. (2025). Patti sulle successioni future e futuro della persona. La pianificazione patrimoniale per l’anziano, in Dir. succ. e fam., (in press).
Dissemination events and other (conference papers and proceedings, seminars, schools)
1) Fusaro, A. (2023), Introduzione. Report at the conference: “Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana”, University of Padua, Padua, November 3-4, 2023; https://www.spgi.unipd.it/convegno-un-diritto-gentile-la-persona-anziana
2) Calabrese, C. (2023), L’amministrazione di sostegno: una riflessione da un’esperienza concreta. Report at the meeting: “Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana”, University of Padua, Padua, November 3-4, 2023; https://www.spgi.unipd.it/convegno-un-diritto-gentile-la-persona-anziana
3) Fusaro, A., & Piccinni, M. (2024), Introduzione, atti del convegno in A. Fusaro, M. Piccinni (eds.), Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana, Pisa, Pacini, 2024; https://www.rivistaresponsabilitamedica.it/un-diritto-gentile-per-la-persona-anziana-3-4-novembre-2023/
4) Calabrese, G. (2024), Le limitazioni della capacità del benficiario di amministrazione di sostegno. Dalla teoria alla prassi applicativa, atti del convegno in A. Fusaro, M. Piccinni (eds.), Un diritto gentile per la persona anziana, Pisa, Pacini, 2024; https://www.rivistaresponsabilitamedica.it/un-diritto-gentile-per-la-persona-anziana-3-4-novembre-2023/
5) Calabrese, G. (2024), Cenni sulla normativa europea per la tutela delle persone anziane e adulte fragili, relazione nel seminario organizzato dall’Associazione “Anziani a casa propria” a Padova;
6) Corso, S. (2024), La telemedicina come strumento di cura della persona anziana a casa, relazione nel seminario organizzato dall’Associazione "Anziani a casa propria" a Padova;
7) Corso, S. (2024), Sanità digitale e soggetto vulnerabile: profili di tutela per la persona anziana, “Sanità digitale: teoria e pratica”, as part of the Health Law course of the Department of Law, University of RomaTre, Rome, April 23, 2024; https://www.cesdirsan.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lezione_aperta_23_aprile_24.pdf
8) Fusaro, A., & Calabrese, G. (2024), Donations, contracts, wills: the acts of the vulnerable elderly person and undue influence. Age-It Spoke 5 Meeting, Sustainability of elderly care system in an ageing society, University of Molise, Termoli (CB, Italy), September 11-13, 2024; https://age-it.github.io/spoke5.github.io/#venue
9) Corso, S. (2024), Estate planning tools for the elderly person. Age-It Spoke 5 Meeting, Sustainability of elderly care system in an ageing society, University of Molise, Termoli (CB, Italy), September 11-13, 2024; https://age-it.github.io/spoke5.github.io/#venue
10) Corso, S., Fusaro, A., & Calabrese, G. (2024), The elderly person in the italian legal system. Vulnerability and private law, Age-It cross-Spoke meeting, Padua, October 22-23, 2024; https://ageit.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PE8_Meeting_UNIPD_Agenda_22-23.10.2024-002.pdf
11) Fusaro, A. (2024), Invecchiamento attivo: robot e tecnologia al servizio della popolazione, Age-It cross-Spoke meeting, Padua, October 2024; https://digitalmeet.it/programma-2024/
12) Corso, S. (2024). Algorithm discrimination in the medical field and legal liability, Cybersecurity e prodotti: sfide e responsabilità nelle società interconnesse, Focus Sanità, San Raffaele University, Italian Bar Council, Rome, November 29, 2024. https://www.uniroma5.it/news/cybersecurity-e-prodotti-sfide-e-responsabilita-nelle-societa-interconnesse.html