Who actually inherits when there is no will?

If you do not have a valid will or a contract of inheritance, your assets will be passed on according to the legal succession. She states that blood relatives benefit in any case. Special statutory inheritance law applies to spouses and registered life partners. But how exactly is inherited in a death? And what to do if the legal regulations are unfavorable in individual cases? We clarify.

The orders

If there is no will, the Civil Code determines the succession. Then the relatives are divided into so -called orders. This is a certain ranking that determines who gets under the blood relatives how much.

First order inheritance are the descendants of the deceased. After the children, the grandchildren inherit, then their children and so on. « If there is no first order relatives, parents and siblings inherit, » says Sophie Mecchia, expert in inheritance law at the Stiftung Warentest« You are a second order. » Third -order heirs are grandparents and their descendants, i.e. aunts, uncle, cousins. Heirs fourth order great -grandparents and their descendants. And so forth.

It is inherited according to a certain basic rule: « As long as at the time of death, at least one relative of a priority order lives, he inherits, » says Mecchia. « Relatives of subordinated orders then go away empty -handed. » The parents or siblings of the deceased, for example, only inherit if there are no children or grandchildren.

The spouse phrase

« The spouses do not belong to any order, they inherit separately, » says Jan Bittler, Managing Director of the German Association for Inheritance Law and Wealth Succession and Specialist for Inheritance Law. How much percent of the inheritance the surviving partner gets depends on the marriage status of the spouses and the number of inherited blood relatives. The community of profits applies without a marriage contract. « The spouse receives 50 percent of the inheritance at the gain community, » says Jan Bittler. « If he has children, they share the other half. » If there are no children, the partner receives three quarters of the legacy, the parents of the deceased a quarter of them.

If the parents’ parents are no longer alive, the testator’s siblings inherit the district. If there are no siblings, the nieces and nephews inherit, then the grandparents. If this does not exist or if they are no longer alive, the surviving partner also receives the rest of the neighborhood.

« If the marriage contract deviates from the statutory property level of the gain community, the significant influence on the inheritance quota can have, » says Sophie Mecchia. In the event of separation of goods, the inheritance rate, depending on the number of other heirs, can fall to a quarter. In this case, the heir is divided equally by all heirs, the spouse loses its special status. The inheritance partner does not get less than a quarter.

If the deceased is not married, the children inherit everything. If he also has no children, it goes through the various orders again, i.e. only through the parents and siblings, then to the nephew, nieces and grandparents. If there is no inheritance or if the legacy is knocked out, the state receives everything – more precisely the federal state in which the deceased was last reported. That should avoid abandoned legacies.

The problems

« The estate in the legal succession is distributed according to quotas, not according to things, » says Jan Bittler. The heirs may have to share a property, a classic car or valuable art. This is almost always associated with conflicts.

In addition, many common life forms such as patchwork or unmarried coexistence are not taken into account in statutory inheritance law. Before the law, the unmarried partner is a stranger and is not considered as an inheritance.

It can also be uncomfortable if the children are still minors. Since they are then not yet fully fully fully fully fulfilled, the family court perceives the rights of the children in numerous decisions.

If you don’t have children, you have to share the inheritance with the in -laws. That can also be unattractive. But all of these difficulties are easy to solve: with your own last will.

The solution

There are cases in which a will or inheritance contract is essential: for example, if underage children or larger assets are present or the successor to a company must be regulated. But even those who are not happy with the state succession, want to distribute their legacy independently, or want to avoid an argument from the heirs, should make an independent provision.

Basically, the last will is also valid without a notary. « It is important to write the will completely handwritten, handwritten and legible, » says Sophie Mecchia, expert in inheritance law. «The signature is also a must. Without them, the will is ineffective. » It is also advisable to give the whole a certain framework. “My will” should be the heading that it should be provided with the date, the heirs are called first and last names, it is best to be clearly regulated with date of birth and the division of the inheritance.

Whether a lawyer or notary is necessary depends on the individual situation. The more complex the constellation, the more likely. An inheritance contract cannot be effectively concluded without a notarial certification. The costs for legal support are based on a notary on the heir, and a lawyer has to expect 226.10 euros for a first consultation.