The basis of the present study on succession and freedom in the law of family fideicommissa is a comprehensive understanding of the legal institution. Starting from considerations of legal philosophy in Plato's "Laws," the reflections center around the following triad: it concerns the power of the testator to determine the preservation of real estate within his family post mortem; the right of the family to partake in the family estate; and the freedom of the individual to be subject only to norms that can be traced back to their own authorship. The breaking of the dead's dominion over the living became an Enlightenment motto in the 18th century, criticizing the institution of fideicommissa. However, political romanticism attempted an apology for it at the beginning of the 19th century. A significant part of the discussion is devoted to the thoughts of Hegel, Marx, and in particular.