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SNP Canada Ltd.
Inheritance in Germany?
The death of a german family member can lead to many legal difficulties. German inheritance law is a complex legal field. Our inheritance lawyers help through German law:
- All questions concerning inheritance tax
- The power of disposition
- Obtaining bank account information
- Gaining inheritance certificates (Erbschein)
- Correspondence with the German probate courts
- We help with inheritance disputes
Contact us ⬇️
Richard Rummel
Lawyer
Foreign Legal Consultant
+1 587 349 3535
office@snp-canada.com
Calgary, Canada
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I have had a very good experience with SNP. The advice, the whole process, the processing and communication during the application processing time was simply very good. Thank you very much and wish you all the best, dear SNP!
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Our services
Inheritance Tax Guidance
We provide expert advice on all aspects of inheritance tax in Germany, ensuring you understand your tax obligations and optimize your estate planning.
Gaining inheritance certificates (Erbschein)
We provide comprehensive assistance in obtaining an Erbschein, the official inheritance certificate required to access and manage a deceased person’s estate.
Secure & Legal Asset Planning
We provide expert legal guidance on structuring your power of disposition to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes while complying with German inheritance law.
German Probate Court Correspondence
We offer professional support for all matters involving communication with German probate courts during the estate administration process.
Obtaining bank account information
We help heirs and beneficiaries lawfully obtain bank account information of a deceased person to ensure a smooth inheritance process.
Inheritance Dispute Resolution
We assist in resolving conflicts between heirs, beneficiaries, or other parties involved in inheritance matters, ensuring a fair and legal resolution.
Describe your concern to us here without obligation:
An inheritance in Germany is a lot of work: as an heir, you are responsible to take action. We support our clients in all inheritance matters – especially with all matters regarding court proceedings -related to an estate in Germany.
Our commitment to our clients is unwavering. Our promise is to provide clear, straightforward advice, maintain prompt communication, and ensure complete transparency throughout every step.
Wills in Germany (Testament)
By drafting a will, the testator can control how his assets are to be distributed after his death.
German last will and testaments follow German rules. Other than in Canada or the USA, you don’t need witnesses nor a notary to compose a valid last will. On the contrary, German wills have fewer formal requirements. However, not having to consult a notary to draft a will does not exclude the option for involving one. The safest type of will in Germany is a notarial will. The notarial will includes individual advice from a notary experienced in German inheritance law on how to draw up the will. These experts ensure that the will meets the legal requirements under German law. Otherwise, there is a risk that the inheritance will not be carried out as desired by the testator.
If you choose not to consult a notary, you can write your last will yourself or even together with your married partner. However, you need to consider a few things when drafting your last will. If you e.g., don’t write it by hand, your last will be considered invalid.
Drafting a will in Germany means that anyone must be aware of the requirements of German law. These requirements include that
- The person must be over 16 years of age and legally competent to make a will. Legal capacity includes determining whether they have the required mental capacity.
- In addition, the will must be handwritten. A will written on a computer or a printed will does not meet the legal requirements.
Further, German wills can be binding. This applies if you wrote a last will together with your partner or if you opted for the so-called contract of inheritance. Having once, legally binding, involved another person in your personal estate planning you no longer have the power to change it without that other person. This even applies if the other person predeceases you. However, this limitation might or might not apply to all elements of your last will/ contract of inheritance.
Your will was drawn up in Germany and concerns assets or real estate located in Germany? In this case, too, it is worth consulting a German lawyer for inheritance law, as some unintended consequences may occur. Ambiguities may arise around the individual’s citizenship and residency status that can only be clarified with a lawyer specializing in German inheritance law.
We strongly recommend getting legal advice about the process and your options before composing your last will and testament to ensure that it will be considered valid and to ensure that the result represents what you want.
Statutory succession under German law (Gesetzliche Erbfolge)
German laws have provisions for a line of succession. If a person dies without making a will, the legal succession in Germany stipulates that the next of kin are considered direct heirs. Children and grandchildren are the most immediate relatives, while parents, siblings and nieces or nephews belong to the second group of heirs. Uncles, aunts, cousins and more distant relatives are placed in the third group.
This mechanism works on the basis that if the deceased has children, they come first to receive an inheritance. If the deceased’s children died first, then the rights of the deceased’s children pass to the deceased’s grandchildren. If the deceased died without children, then his or her parents or siblings come next in the line of succession.
The rights of the deceased’s spouse depend on which group inherited. If there are heirs in the first group, the children or grandchildren, the spouse of the deceased is entitled to a quarter of the inheritance. However, if the claim has passed to the second group, the spouse receives half of the estate. Furthermore, the existence of a marriage contract (or lack thereof) can have a significant impact on the spouse’s inheritance rights under German law.
The inheritance dispute
Unfortunately, when it comes to inheritance, disputes often arise between heirs. In most cases, someone feels left out of the inheritance or feels that the compulsory portion of the inheritance is too low. Inheritance disputes involving shared real estate, art or other assets often lead to disputes among the surviving heirs. There are many reasons for an inheritance dispute.
But how can you prevent an inheritance dispute or what is the best course of action in the middle of an inheritance dispute? What are the costs of an inheritance dispute and who has to pay the legal fees in inheritance disputes in the first place? Our German lawyers can give you an answer to these questions.
Compulsory share of the inheritance (Pflichtteil)
Germany has legal provisions for a line of succession. These legal provisions are only applicable if the deceased did not draft a valid last will and testament. However, even if the deceased did draft such a last will, the legal provisions might still have some impact. Other than in most countries, German laws do not generally allow anyone to deprive their legal heirs (according to the legal provisions) of their inheritance completely.
The compulsory share is the part of the inheritance to which the immediate family members of the deceased are entitled under German inheritance law. Those entitled to a compulsory portion are spouses, children and grandchildren if the deceased’s children died first. Each person entitled to a compulsory portion may claim a share of the estate. A testator may not exclude the members of the compulsory share beneficiaries from his or her will, and they may not reduce their share of the estate below the statutory minimum.
Persons entitled to a compulsory share may waive their right to inherit. If the relationship between the decedent and their children was strained or complicated, the child may choose not to inherit. In this case, they would sign a legal document known as an inheritance waiver agreement to formally waive their rights.
Even if the deceased drafted a valid last will and according to this will you are not an heir, you might still be entitled to some part of the estate. If you were a legal heir e.g., the son of the deceased, you can claim half of what you would have gotten if there was no will in place.
If you are entitled after all, how much you are entitled to, and from whom and when you can request it are all questions that depend on your individual situation. Beware that there is a certain deadline to consider as well.
Community of heirs (Erbengemeinschaft)
Under German law, a community of heirs is a majority of heirs left by a decedent. The estate becomes their joint property, thus none of them is entitled to the property individually. The individual persons are referred to as co-heirs. The heirs must make decisions about the assets as a group.
Members of the community of heirs have several rights that must be observed, from the right to inheritance, to the right to receive income from the sale of the estate, to the right to demand the division of the estate. However, it also entails administrative duties, obligations to provide information to other co-heirs about their inheritance and estate debts.
The co-heirs do not acquire ownership of the individual estate items according to fractional shares, but are jointly entitled to the undivided estate.
The co-heirs administer the estate jointly. Each co-heir is obliged towards the others to cooperate in measures that are necessary for „proper administration“.Often, individuals decide that the other co-heirs can buy their share of the estate, leaving the group. However, if you decide to remain in the group, it is critical to work as productively and amicably as possible with the other co-heirs to resolve issues within the estate.
In communities of heirs, conflicts often arise between the participating heirs due to different goals and wishes regarding the estate.
Identifying other co-heirs, getting a comprehensive overview of the estate, meeting the bureaucratic requirements and coordinating with the necessary authorities and the tax office are essential aspects of dealing with the estate.
Rejection of an inheritance in Germany (Erbausschlagung)
It makes sense to reject an inheritance if the estate is overindebted and no assets can be drawn from the inheritance.
According to German law the heirs can declare the renouncement of succession to the German probate court within six weeks after being informed about the case of succession. This period is extended to 6 months, if the deceased had his last residence abroad or if the heir is staying outside of Germany.
Pursuant to Section 1943 of the Civil Code, the heir may not subsequently reject an inheritance if he or she has accepted it with legal effect or if the period for rejection has expired. If the six-week period for rejecting the inheritance has expired, the inheritance is automatically deemed to have been accepted.
How does a rejection of inheritance work?
To reject an inheritance, a declaration must be made to the competent probate court in Germany. This declaration must be made by the heir in person for the probate court or in certified form by a notary public. Therefore, it is important to act quickly and, if necessary, consult a lawyer for German inheritance law immediately when you learn of an inheritance in Germany.
The signatures on the declaration will, as a minimum requirement of form, have to be certified (signature certification). Both parents (one if it is a case of sole custody) of minor children, have to declare the renouncement of succession on the children’s behalf. The declaration of renouncement may be executed before the consular officer at the competent German Mission or a honorary consul.
It may be possible to disclaim an inheritance in Germany even after the 6-week period has expired if the heir can prove that new information about the estate has come to light. This makes sense, for example, if it subsequently emerges that the inheritance is heavily in debt.
Similarly, under German law, it is possible to reverse a disclaimed inheritance if new information about the estate becomes known to the heir. These cases require legal analysis by experts in German inheritance law.
International succession cases and the German inheritance law system (Internationales Erbrecht)
Inheritance cases with an international connection include:
- Death of a German citizen abroad
- Death of a foreign national in Germany
- Cases involving real property or other assets abroad.
What happens if the estate you inherited has assets in Germany as well as in other countries? The question to this answer varies depending on your individual situation. That being said, the first step is always the same: You need to find out which law is applicable.
If the deceased died in Germany and had a German last will, it is most likely that German law is applicable for the entire estate. Sometimes, you find that a certain law is only applicable for some part of the estate. If you come to the conclusion that German law is not applicable for settling the estate, but some assets are in Germany, you might still have to follow certain German rules, e.g. declaring your German inheritance tax on the assets situated in Germany.
According to the EU Directive, the most important point of reference for assessing the inheritance situation is the last habitual residence at the time of death. This last place of residence is decisive for the internationally competent court as well as the applicable law of succession. The aim is to regulate the succession according to the law in the state with which the decedent had the closest connection at the time of death.
International inheritances can be challenging, especially if two or more different laws are involved. Therefore, we recommend getting legal advice right at the beginning of the inheritance because you don’t want to end up in a situation in which you (unknowingly) did something wrong and then can be held liable with your personal funds.
SNP Canada Ltd.
Foreign Legal Consultants German Law in Canada
Suite 1640 | 700 4th Avenue S.W.
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