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• Inheriting in Germany

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  Jan Schipkowski    Premium Member

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  Inheriting in Germany

  We specialize in Inheritance. We represent numerous clients from English speaking countries that had relatives in Germany and inherited in Germany.
  
  If you have questions concerning German Inheritance Law or Inheritance Tax please feel free to contact me. German Inheritance Law is very different from Inheritance Law in Anglo-American countries. For example there is a mandatory inheritance for offsprings of the deceased even if they are not mentioned in a will. The mandatory inheritance is half of the inheritance the heir would receive if there would be no will. e.g. The deceased has one child and stipulated in his will that his sole heir is his second wife (not the mother of the child). Since the child is now excluded from the inheritance, the child can claim half of the inheritance it would have received if the deceased would not have left a will (legal inheritance). The legal inheritance without a will would have been 1/2 of the estate for the 2nd wife and 1/2 for the child. Since the child is left out of the will, it can now claim half of i.e. 1/4 of the estate. The claim has to be made against the true heir within 3 years of the death of the deceased.
  
  This is only a small example of the complexity of German Inheritance Law. If you are unsure if you are entitled to inherit please contact me.
  
  Thank you for reading.
  
  Jan Schipkowski
  Attorney
  
  • 12 Aug 2010, 11:54 pm
  Jan Schipkowski wrote: > We specialize in Inheritance. We represent numerous clients from > English speaking countries that had relatives in Germany and > inherited in Germany. > > If you have questions concerning German Inheritance Law or > Inheritance Tax please feel free to contact me. German Inheritance > Law is very different from Inheritance Law in Anglo-American > countries. For example there is a mandatory inheritance for > offsprings of the deceased even if they are not mentioned in a will. > The mandatory inheritance is half of the inheritance the heir would > receive if there would be no will. e.g. The deceased has one child > and stipulated in his will that his sole heir is his second wife (not > the mother of the child). Since the child is now excluded from the > inheritance, the child can claim half of the inheritance it would > have received if the deceased would not have left a will (legal > inheritance). The legal inheritance without a will would have been > 1/2 of the estate for the 2nd wife and 1/2 for the child. Since the > child is left out of the will, it can now claim half of i.e. 1/4 of > the estate. The claim has to be made against the true heir within 3 > years of the death of the deceased. > > This is only a small example of the complexity of German Inheritance > Law. If you are unsure if you are entitled to inherit please contact > me. > > Thank you for reading. > > Jan Schipkowski > Attorney