The abolition of fideicommissum is a result of efforts of the Yugoslav state to eradicate the institutions of the feudal past of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fideicommissum, originating in Roman law, was initially utilized by testators to circumvent the rules of inheritance law on passive testamentary capacity. From 17th century onwards, the nobility through the use of the hereditary fideicommissum retained the property within the members of the family and thus preserved the family prestige (splendor familiae). As such, the fideicommissum had a major role in feudal society. The St. Vitus Day Constitution of 1921 abolished the fideicommissum for the territory of present-day Slovenia. However, the Constitution did not provide for the dissolution of the fideicommisary relations, specifically for the division of property among the fiduciary and the beneficiary. As a consequence, the interpretation of the courts of different Yugoslav civil jurisdictions varied, leading to divergence in case law. The Abolition of Hereditary Fideicommissum Act, adopted in 1934, converted the »vinculated« property into property of the fiduciary and the first beneficiary. Three main arguments for abolishing the fideicommissum are identified – its connection to nobility, understood as a foreign element in the newfound Yugoslav state, its negative impact on economy, and the incompatibility of the feudal double domain (dominium directum et utile) with the principles of the new legal system of the state.
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