In the absence of a will, who inherits and how much?
Last update: 10/3/2012
Where there is no will, the heirs are the descendants first and foremost (children etc.). Failing that, the parents and their descendants and, failing that, other members of the family. Therefore:
- If the deceased leaves neither a spouse nor descendants, the estate is divided equally between his/her parents.
- If the deceased is unmarried and leaves children, the estate is divided equally between them.
The surviving spouse (or: registered partner) will be only a joint heir along with the children, etc. The total of his/her share of the estate depends on the matrimonial property regime. If the deceased lived with his/her spouse under the statutory property regime of participation in the surplus (”Zugewinngemeinschaft“) and he/she leaves children, the surviving spouse receives half of the estate (¼ by way of legal succession and ¼ as a lump-sum compensatory payment). The remainder of the estate is shared equally between the children.
Do partners of a registered or unregistered partnership inherit?
Non-registered partnerships must provide for the transmission of rights to the surviving partner in a will, since partners are not legal heirs. Same sex partners qualify as legal heirs if they have entered into a registered partnership in Germany (” eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft“ ).
Information about how to keep, to register and to search for a will are also available on the website of the European Network of Register of Wills Association (ENRWA) in the section “Information sheet”.
Detailed information
In the absence of a will, the following principles apply:
If the deceased was unmarried and does not have children, the inheritance is devolved to the parents of the deceased and their descendants (§ 1925 BGB).
If the deceased was unmarried and leaves children, the estate will be divided equally between the children.
If the deceased was married, the share of the estate of the surviving spouse depends on the matrimonial regime. If the couple were married under the legal system of participation in the property acquired after the marriage (Zugewinngemeinschaft), the surviving spouse inherits – alongside the parents of the deceased and their descendants – half of the estate by virtue of inheritance law (§ 1931, par. 1er BGB) and a quarter as the matrimonial compensatory benefit (all-inclusive) (§ 1371, par. 1er BGB). In the absence of parents and their descendants and grandparents, he/she inherits the entire estate (§ 1931, par. 2 BGB).
If the deceased was married and leaves children, the spouse married under the legal matrimonial regime inherits half of the estate (§§ 1931, par. 1er, § 1371 par. 1er BGB”:http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#BGBengl_000P1371). The children inherit the other half in equal shares (§ 1924, par. 4 BGB).
What are the inheritance rights of the partners of a registered or unregistered partnership?
In Germany, registered partners (of the same sex) are equated to spouses from the point of view of inheritance law (§ 10 of the Registered Partnerships Act; Lebenspartnerschaftsgesetz = LPartG). If the partnership has been registered abroad and German inheritance law applies by virtue of art. 25 EGBGB, the participation of the surviving partner in the inheritance depends on whether the foreign partnership is equivalent to the German partnership. When foreign inheritance law applies and it does not stipulate a statutory portion of the inheritance in the favour of the partner, the law of the State of registration applies to the partnership (lex libri) in a subsidiary capacity (art. 17b par. 1er phr. 2 EGBGB).
German law does not stipulate a share of the inheritance in the favour of a surviving partner of a de facto union.
