Planning Ahead for Your Family

For many young parents, writing a will feels like something for later. Much later. Thinking about death, loss and saying goodbye can seem absurd and frightening. For now, there are children, a flat or a house, work, daycare and the attempt to somehow find time for each other in between.

But if one parent dies at a young age, Germany’s statutory rules of succession can place a family in a legal situation that no one consciously chose. Minor children may become co-heirs. The surviving parent remains their mother or father, with all associated rights and responsibilities, but cannot necessarily make every decision concerning the children’s inherited assets freely.

This can create situations that may feel unfair. What might seem like common sense does not always determine the legal outcome. The surviving parent may have to cope not only with the death of a loved one and a life that had always been planned for two people, but also with legal restrictions that can significantly affect their room for manoeuvre.

That is precisely why it can be worthwhile to consider estate planning at an early stage.

Without a will, children may immediately become co-heirs

Consider a married couple with two young children. The parents live under Germany’s statutory matrimonial property regime of community of accrued gains, known as the Zugewinngemeinschaft, and have not made a will.

If one parent dies, the surviving spouse receives half of the estate in this typical constellation. The two children share the other half, inheriting one quarter each. Children are statutory heirs of the first order and inherit in equal shares within their branch of the family.

If a person leaves several heirs, the estate initially becomes jointly owned by the community of heirs.

If a share of the family home forms part of the estate, the minor children therefore also acquire a property interest in that estate.

This can have practical consequences later on.

Following the death of one parent, the Youth Welfare Office does not normally take over either the children or the management of the assets they have inherited.

If both parents previously held joint parental responsibility, the surviving parent generally exercises it alone after the death of the other parent. Parental responsibility expressly includes responsibility for the child’s property. The surviving mother or father therefore generally continues to manage the minor children’s assets.

The surviving parent also continues to make decisions concerning ordinary family life.

However, the assets inherited by the children remain their legally protected property.

Understanding this distinction is essential.

Selling a house may require additional steps

Imagine that several months after the death, the surviving father realises that the family’s existing home is no longer suitable. The financing had been based on two incomes. His parents live in another city and could help him care for the children.

He wants to sell the house and move with the children closer to their grandparents.

If the children are co-heirs and the property forms part of the estate, the father cannot necessarily complete the sale entirely on his own. For certain transactions involving real estate, parents acting on behalf of minor children require approval from the family court. The court grants approval if the transaction does not conflict with the child’s best interests, taking proper economic management of the child’s assets into account.

The court is therefore examining the property transaction.

This does not mean that the family court determines where the family will live. In practice, however, the two questions may still be closely connected for the father. If moving depends on selling the existing home, the legal treatment of the children’s assets also influences the family’s financial and practical room for manoeuvre. If the house cannot be sold, how is the new home to be financed?

These protective rules serve an understandable purpose.

A young child cannot assess whether a property is being sold for an appropriate price. Nor can the child monitor what happens to their share of the sale proceeds. The law therefore imposes limits when adults deal with a child’s property.

The requirement to prepare an inventory of assets is also part of this protection.

If a minor acquires assets as a result of a death and those assets are managed by the parents, the parents must generally record them in an inventory and submit it to the family court. The law provides for exceptions. One applies where the value of the relevant acquisition does not exceed EUR 15,000.

These rules are intended to protect the child. For the surviving parent, however, they may create additional work at a time when that parent is already coping with a death, caring for the children and reorganising the family’s financial life.

A will can change the starting position

Married parents can, for example, provide that after the first death the surviving spouse initially becomes the heir, with the children inheriting only after the surviving spouse later dies. German law expressly recognises such reciprocal arrangements.

If the children do not become co-heirs after the first death, no community of heirs initially arises between the surviving parent and the minor children. This can substantially simplify the management of a house, investment portfolio or other estate assets.

However, the planning does not end there.

Children are entitled to a compulsory share under German inheritance law. If a will excludes them from immediate succession, they may generally claim a compulsory share equal to half the value of their statutory inheritance entitlement. The claim is directed against the heir and arises when the inheritance opens.

This does not make the children co-heirs again. Nevertheless, a compulsory-share claim may place a financial burden on the surviving parent, especially where a large proportion of the estate is tied up in real estate.

A reciprocal appointment of the surviving spouse as sole heir should therefore never be treated as a simple standard formula. The family’s assets, property financing, compulsory-share rights, tax consequences, children from previous relationships and the intended degree of legal commitment for the surviving spouse should all be considered together.

The position is significantly different for unmarried parents

An unmarried partner has no statutory right of inheritance merely because of the relationship. If there are children and no other testamentary arrangement, the deceased parent’s estate may therefore pass to the children, while the surviving partner receives nothing under the statutory rules of succession.

If the couple owns a house in equal shares, the surviving partner retains their own half. The deceased partner’s half becomes part of the deceased’s estate.

Unmarried parents should also clarify the position regarding parental responsibility. If they shared parental responsibility, the surviving parent generally exercises it alone after the other parent’s death. If, by contrast, the deceased parent had sole parental responsibility, the family court decides whether it should be transferred to the surviving parent. The law provides for such a transfer if it does not conflict with the child’s best interests.

There is also a difference from marriage when it comes to estate planning. Only spouses may make a joint will under German law. Unmarried partners can each make an individual will or enter into an inheritance contract. An inheritance contract must be notarised.

A will can also make provisions for the death of both parents

Even more difficult for young parents is the thought that both of them could die.

It is possible to make provisions for this situation as well.

By testamentary disposition, parents can nominate a person whom they wish to become guardian of their minor children if no parent with parental responsibility remains. Such a nomination carries considerable legal weight. The family court may disregard the nominated person only for certain reasons defined by law, for example if appointing that person would conflict with the child’s best interests.

The administration of a larger inheritance can also be structured in advance. Testamentary executorship may, for example, be used where minor children inherit substantial assets and those assets are to be administered in an orderly manner over a longer period. German notarial guidance expressly identifies minority as a possible reason for such an arrangement.

A will can therefore regulate far more than simply who receives money or a house.

When young parents should look particularly closely

A straightforward family situation does not automatically require complicated estate planning. The statutory rules of succession may correspond to the parents’ own wishes.

Nevertheless, young parents should calculate what would happen in their own situation at least once.

Four questions can help:

Who would inherit under the family’s current circumstances?

Would the surviving parent remain financially capable of acting under that distribution?

What would happen to real estate and other assets while the children are minors?

Whom would the parents want to act as guardian if both of them were no longer there?

Professional advice from a notary or a lawyer specialising in inheritance law can be particularly useful. This is especially the case where real estate is involved, the parents are unmarried, there are children from previous relationships, substantial assets exist, or testamentary executorship, disinheritance or a long-term binding arrangement is being considered.

An inheritance contract must in any event be notarised. Notarial advice can also be useful when preparing a joint will in order to avoid unintended legal commitments or unclear wording.

A will cannot spare a family the loss of a person. But in such a difficult situation, it can help the surviving parent organise their own life and the lives of the children. A will can provide security.

This article provides general guidance on German inheritance and family law. It does not replace individual legal or tax advice. Where minor children, real estate, unmarried parents, blended families or substantial assets are involved, the specific arrangement should be reviewed by a qualified professional.

Legal position as of 25 August 2026.

Sources

[1] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1924, Statutory heirs of the first order. Gesetze im Internet

[2] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1931, Statutory inheritance rights of the spouse. Gesetze im Internet

[3] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1371, Equalisation of accrued gains upon death. Gesetze im Internet

[4] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 1626, 1629 and 1680, parental responsibility and representation of the child. Sections 1626 and 1629 BGB

[5] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1640, Inventory of assets. Gesetze im Internet

[6] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 1643 and 1644, legal transactions requiring approval. Sections 1643 and 1644 BGB

[7] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1850, approval for legal transactions involving real estate and ships. Gesetze im Internet

[8] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Section 1809, supplementary guardianship, and Section 1824, exclusion of the power of representation. Sections 1809 and 1824 BGB

[9] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 2032 and 2033, community of heirs and rights of disposition of a co-heir. Sections 2032 and 2033 BGB

[10] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 2265 and 2269, joint wills and reciprocal appointment of heirs. Sections 2265 and 2269 BGB

[11] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 2303 and 2317, compulsory share. Sections 2303 and 2317 BGB

[12] German Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, 2026, German Civil Code (BGB), Sections 1782 and 1783, nomination of a guardian and circumstances in which the nominated person may be passed over. Sections 1782 and 1783 BGB

[13] German Federal Chamber of Notaries, 2026, Cohabitation. Notar.de

[14] Media Association of the German Chambers of Notaries, 2021, Implementing a person’s final wishes through testamentary executorship. Notar.de

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