Inheritance and Gifts – Part 1

A useful starting point for estate planning is therefore a simple simulation: What would happen if I died today?

Three questions provide guidance:

1. What legally belongs to me?

2. Who would inherit it today?

3. Does that reflect my wishes?

Anyone who can answer these questions will usually quickly see whether any arrangements need to be made at all.

First determine what actually belongs to you

Upon a person’s death, their estate as a whole passes to one or more heirs. This includes bank accounts, securities accounts, real estate and other assets. Estate liabilities may also pass to the heirs.

That is why the assessment begins with ownership. Married couples in particular can easily confuse a shared financial life with shared ownership. Under the statutory German matrimonial property regime of accrued gains, known as Zugewinngemeinschaft, each spouse generally retains separate ownership of their assets. A house therefore does not automatically belong to both spouses simply because they are married.

Before discussing inheritance shares, it should first be clear who legally owns a property, securities account or bank account.

The law already has a plan

If there is neither a will nor an inheritance contract, statutory succession applies.

Children are statutory heirs of the first order. Several children generally inherit in equal shares. If a child is still alive, that child initially excludes their own children from statutory succession within that family branch. If the child has already died, their descendants may take their place.

Additional rules apply to spouses. Their inheritance share depends, among other things, on which relatives are also entitled to inherit and which matrimonial property regime applies.

A common situation can be calculated relatively easily: If a married person leaves behind a spouse and children and the couple lived under the statutory matrimonial property regime of accrued gains, the spouse typically receives half of the estate. The children share the other half. With two children, each child receives one quarter.

This example only describes the statutory starting point. A different matrimonial property regime or a different family situation can produce a different result.

Married couples without children should also review the legal position. The surviving spouse is not automatically the sole statutory heir in every situation. Depending on the family structure, other relatives may also become co-heirs.

Personal closeness does not create a statutory right of inheritance

The difference between personal and legal closeness becomes particularly clear for unmarried couples. Love and affection are not legally effective categories. Neither is dislike.

An unmarried partner has no statutory right of inheritance merely by virtue of the relationship. If there is neither a will nor an inheritance contract, the partner generally receives nothing from the deceased partner’s estate.

This can have consequences even where the couple lived together in a jointly owned home. If each partner owns half of the property, the surviving partner retains their own half. The deceased partner’s share, however, becomes part of their estate and passes to their heirs.

Anyone living with an unmarried partner who wants that partner to be financially protected should therefore not simply rely on statutory succession.

A careful review is also worthwhile for blended families. Stepchildren generally have no statutory right of inheritance from a stepparent. A legal parent-child relationship, for example through adoption, can change the situation.

For unmarried couples and blended families in particular, advice from a notary is often advisable. Even small differences in marital status, ownership or the intended distribution can have significant consequences.

An inheritance share is not a specific asset

Assume the estate consists of a house, a securities account and money in a bank account.

If the deceased leaves several heirs, the law does not automatically allocate these assets individually. Instead, the heirs initially form a community of heirs. The estate becomes jointly owned property. The same applies to debts.

The spouse therefore does not automatically receive the house while the children receive the securities account. Likewise, an inheritance share of one quarter does not mean that a child individually owns a particular quarter of the house or a particular bank account.

This becomes practically relevant as soon as there are specific wishes. The partner should be able to remain in the house. One child should take over the property. A securities portfolio should remain undivided. Such objectives do not arise automatically from a statutory inheritance share.

Anyone who wants a particular property to go to a specific person, or who wants to prevent several heirs from having to make joint decisions about important assets, should have the intended arrangement professionally reviewed. Where real estate and several heirs are involved, there is much to be said for involving a notary at an early stage.

Statutory succession may still be exactly right

Estate planning does not automatically mean that you have to write a will.

Anyone who understands the statutory distribution and is satisfied with it does not need to change it merely because an individual arrangement might appear more sophisticated.

Problems arise where personal wishes and the statutory starting point diverge. This may concern protecting a partner, children from different relationships, real estate or the wish to give particular consideration to specific people or assets.

That is why review comes before arrangement.

A will changes the statutory starting point

The German Civil Code allows a person to appoint one or more heirs by will.

Clear formal requirements apply to a handwritten will. It must be written entirely by hand and signed. A printed document with a handwritten signature does not meet the formal requirements of a handwritten will.

The place and date should also be stated. If they are missing, this does not automatically make the will invalid. However, they may become important if, for example, it later has to be determined which of several testamentary dispositions is the more recent one.

A handwritten will can be entirely sufficient in a straightforward situation. As complexity increases, however, so does the risk that wording which appears clear in everyday language may legally produce a different result from what was intended.

When consulting a notary is particularly advisable

Notarial advice is not necessary for every estate. There are, however, situations in which a self-drafted standard solution should not be relied upon.

This applies in particular to real estate, substantial assets, several heirs, blended families, unmarried couples, planned disinheritance, complex legacies, intended execution of the will or international connections.

Anyone who wants a specific person to receive a particular property while other heirs are compensated in another way should also have the legal consequences reviewed in advance.

A notarial arrangement offers another practical advantage: it reduces the risk of formal errors and unclear wording. In certain situations, a notarised will may also make an additional certificate of inheritance unnecessary after death.

Where conflicts already exist or are foreseeable, compulsory share claims may arise, or the family history is complex, additional advice from a specialist lawyer for inheritance law may be appropriate.

A will must be found when it matters

A valid last will is of little use if nobody knows about it after the person’s death.

A handwritten will kept at home is not automatically registered in Germany’s Central Register of Wills. If a handwritten will is placed in special official custody with the local court, it is registered. Notarial documents relevant to succession are entered in the register automatically.

The register does not simply store the contents of the will. Its purpose is to ensure that, upon a person’s death, it can be established that a document relevant to succession exists and where it is being kept.

Estate planning therefore does not end with a signature. The arrangement must also be reliably located when it matters.

If the death has already occurred

Anyone who becomes an heir does not receive only assets. The estate may also include debts and other obligations.

If there is doubt as to whether the estate is overindebted, the available legal options should therefore be clarified quickly. An inheritance can generally only be disclaimed within a limited period. The standard disclaimer period is six weeks. Longer periods apply in certain cases involving foreign countries.

Where an estate is difficult to assess or may be overindebted, inheritance law advice should therefore be obtained at an early stage.

When you should definitely take action

Action is required at the latest when statutory succession does not reflect your actual wishes. This applies particularly if you live with an unmarried partner, have a blended family, own real estate, several people would inherit, you want to protect a particular person, you want to allocate individual assets deliberately, or you already know that there are differing interests within the family.

An older will should also be reviewed after marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a relative or major changes in assets.

The more complex the family and the assets, the less advisable it is to rely on templates and self-drafted wording. In such situations, consulting a notary is not a matter of unnecessary formality. It serves to determine whether what you want will actually have the intended legal effect.

This article provides general guidance on German inheritance law. It does not replace individual legal or tax advice. Legal status: 25 August 2026.

Sources

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1922, Universal Succession, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1922.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1967, Liability of Heirs, Estate Liabilities, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1967.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1924, Statutory Heirs of the First Order, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1924.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1925, Statutory Heirs of the Second Order, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1925.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1931, Statutory Right of Inheritance of the Spouse, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1931.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1371, Equalisation of Accrued Gains in the Event of Death, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1371.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1363, Community of Accrued Gains, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1363.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 2032, Community of Heirs, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__2032.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 2033, Right of Disposal of a Co-Heir, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__2033.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1937, Appointment of Heirs by Testamentary Disposition, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1937.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 2247, Handwritten Will, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__2247.html

Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code, Section 1944, Period for Disclaimer, Link:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__1944.html

Federal Ministry of Justice, 2026, Inheritance Law, Link:
https://www.bmj.de/DE/themen/gesellschaft_familie/erbrecht/erbrecht_node.html

Federal Chamber of Notaries, n.d., Cohabitation, Link:
https://www.notar.de/themen/familie/lebensgemeinschaft

Federal Chamber of Notaries, n.d., Estate Planning and Blended Families, Link:
https://www.notar.de/aktuelles/details/nachlassplanung-und-patchwork

Federal Chamber of Notaries, 2026, Structuring Succession: Secure Inheritance Planning with the Central Register of Wills, Link:
https://www.testamentsregister.de/fileadmin/user_upload_ztr/dokumente/BNotK_ZTR_Faltblatt_Web.pdf

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