Legal succession
Any person of legal age can make testamentary dispositions as to who should inherit them after their death. Testamentary dispositions can be made either in handwritten or notarized wills, or in inheritance contracts. According to the German Civil Code (BGB), every person who dies in Germany must have an heir, as the heir takes on all the rights and obligations of the deceased. But what happens if a deceased person has not made a last will and testament and therefore has not specified who their heir should be?
In this case, the so-called statutory succession applies.
According to the German Civil Code, in this case the deceased's relatives and spouse (if any) are to be the deceased's heirs. The term kinship is to be understood here in the legal sense. Biological kinship is not relevant, so that adopted children, for example, can also become legal heirs of the deceased.
As the surviving spouse is not related to the deceased spouse within the meaning of the German Civil Code, the law provides for a separate spouse's right of inheritance. Depending on the matrimonial property regime in which the spouses are married, various special features apply to this.
In order to clarify who is the testator's legal heir if several relatives (and possibly the spouse) are still alive, the law assigns so-called "orders" to the relatives and the spouse. These orders are ranked in relation to each other. If there is a legal heir of a lower order, this excludes the legal heirs of the more distant, i.e. higher order.
The law provides for the following orders of intestate succession:
Legal heirs of the first order are the descendants of the deceased, as well as the deceased's spouse or partner. Non-marital descendants are equal to marital descendants.
Legal heirs of the second order are the parents of the deceased and their descendants, i.e. the (half) siblings of the deceased.
Legal heirs of the third order are the grandparents and their descendants, i.e. the uncles and aunts of the deceased.
The legal heirs of the fourth order are the deceased's great-grandparents.
Even after the fourth order, the law theoretically appoints relatives in more distant orders as legal heirs. The law thus assumes an unlimited right to inherit from relatives. In practice, this can lead to an extremely tedious and lengthy search for distant relatives. If there are no relatives left at all, the state ultimately inherits as the legal heir.
Within an order, the legal succession is based on the so-called principle of representation. This states that within an order, those relatives who are most closely related to the deceased inherit. For example, if the deceased leaves a daughter who has two children, the daughter inherits alone as the legal heir of the first order. She excludes her children, the grandchildren of the deceased, because she "represents" her lineage in the sense of the principle of representation and this has therefore been sufficiently taken into account in accordance with the law.
The above explanation is intended to provide an initial insight into the subject of intestate succession. It is not a substitute for advice in individual cases.
If you have specific questions or would like an assessment of your case, we will be happy to provide you with an initial consultation at any time. The costs of such a consultation amount to a maximum of EUR 190.00 plus VAT. The length of the consultation and the size of your assets are irrelevant.
Status: 29.03.2023