The grandmother has died; the will names the aunt as sole heir; and the grandson’s own father, who was his link to her, has been dead for years. At times like these, two questions spring to mind for a grandchild. Am I entitled to any share of the estate at all, and if so, how can I get hold of this money without getting caught up in a dispute that could drag on for years?
The answer almost always hinges on a single factor. As descendants – that is, direct descendants – grandchildren are, by law, included in the small group of people who may be entitled to a compulsory share. However, they only come into their rights if their own parent has been excluded from the line of succession, usually due to that parent’s prior death. If this has happened and the will excludes the grandchildren, a financial claim arises against the heirs amounting to half the statutory share of the inheritance, which can reach considerable sums in the case of larger estates.
This article explains when grandchildren are entitled to a compulsory share, how the amount of the claim is calculated, why gifted property is often taken into account, and how this entitlement is enforced against the heirs in practice.
As long as the parents are alive, it’s usually not the grandchildren’s turn
German inheritance law classifies descendants into lineages. Each child of the deceased, together with their own descendants, forms such a lineage, and within the lineage, the older generation represents the younger. A descendant who is alive at the time of the opening of the succession excludes their own children from the line of succession, as set out in Section 1924(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB). Experts refer to this as the principle of representation. So, as long as your mother or father is alive, you will inherit nothing from your grandparents under the law, regardless of how close your relationship with them was.
The same applies to the compulsory share. If the entire branch of the family has been omitted from the will, the entitlement lies solely with the surviving parent (Section 2309 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Incidentally, simply being omitted is sufficient for this purpose. Disinheritance does not have to be expressly stated. Anyone who would otherwise qualify as a statutory heir but is simply not mentioned in the will is thereby already disinherited. For grandchildren, this means that in such a situation they can neither inherit nor claim payment. Their turn has not yet come.
When grandchildren become entitled to a compulsory share
For grandchildren to acquire their own rights, the link between them and their grandparents must be severed. The law essentially recognises two ways of achieving this. A third scenario works in the opposite direction and extinguishes all rights before they arise.
If the parent has died before the grandparents
If a child of the testator dies before the testator, that child’s own children take their place (Section 1924(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Legal experts refer to this as succession by line. The grandchildren collectively take the exact position that would have been due to their father or mother. If there is no will, they thereby become statutory heirs. If, on the other hand, the will appoints other persons, such as the surviving grandparent or an uncle, the grandchildren who have taken their place are disinherited and may claim their statutory share.
This situation arises particularly frequently as a result of a ‘Berlin will’. In such cases, spouses appoint each other as sole heirs, with the next generation only coming into their inheritance after the death of the second partner. If one’s own parent has already died by that point, the grandchildren are excluded from the line of succession upon the first death and, as a rule, already have a claim to a compulsory share against the surviving grandparent. Many families overlook this because they treat the first death as a mere formality.
If the parent renounces the inheritance
The second option is to renounce the inheritance. Anyone who does not wish to accept an inheritance may renounce it before the probate court within a short period – usually six weeks – for reasons such as being heavily in debt themselves and fearing that their own creditors might seize their assets. The person who renounces the inheritance is then treated in law as if they had not survived the testator (§ 1953 BGB). In this scenario, the inheritance usually passes to the grandchildren.
Accuracy is important here. If the grandchildren become legal heirs as a result of the disinheritance, they receive a genuine share of the estate and do not require a compulsory share. Only if a will excludes them from the line of succession does the financial claim come into play. For the parent who renounces the inheritance, however, there is a rule that is frequently underestimated. Anyone who is named as an heir and renounces the inheritance generally also forfeits their own statutory share. Exceptions exist only within very narrow limits, such as in cases of heavily encumbered or restricted bequests. Such situations should be referred to a specialist solicitor for advice before a decision is made.
If the parent has waived their rights in a notarised document
The renunciation of inheritance has a very different effect. This refers to a contract drawn up before a notary, which the parent entered into with the grandparents whilst they were still alive, often in return for a lump-sum payment. Such a waiver deprives the person making the waiver of their right to inherit and their right to a compulsory share (Section 2346 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and, in cases of doubt, also extends to their descendants (Section 2349 BGB). Unless the contract contains a provision to the contrary, the entire branch of the family is excluded. The grandchildren then receive nothing, even though they themselves have never signed anything. If an old waiver agreement exists, its exact wording therefore determines whether any claims still exist at all.
Conversely, grandparents cannot simply remove the compulsory share by will. Such a deprivation is only possible on the basis of a few grounds, which are exhaustively listed in the law – for example, following serious criminal offences against the testator – and remains a rare exception in practice (Section 2333 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
An overview of the constellations
To get a general idea, it is helpful to look at the typical starting points.
| Background | What applies to grandchildren |
|---|---|
| The parent is still alive, but the family has been omitted from the will | The grandchildren have no claim of their own. Only a parent may claim the compulsory share. |
| The parent is still alive; there is no will | The parent inherits. It is not the grandchildren’s turn. |
| The parent has died; there is no will | His grandchildren will inherit in his place as his legal heirs. |
| The parent has predeceased the child, and the will excludes the grandchildren | Grandchildren are generally entitled to a compulsory share. |
| The parent renounces the inheritance | The grandchildren step in as heirs in the absence of a will. If they are themselves disinherited, they may be entitled to a compulsory share. |
| The parent renounced their inheritance by a notarised deed whilst still alive | In cases of doubt, the waiver also applies to grandchildren. In such cases, there are usually no claims. |
This is how much the statutory share is for grandchildren
The compulsory share is purely a monetary claim against the heirs (Section 2303 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Grandchildren do not thereby become co-owners of the family home and have no claim to specific items from the estate, i.e. the entire estate left behind. They may only demand payment. The amount of the claim is half the value of the statutory share of the inheritance. In the case of grandchildren, there is an additional special provision. The relevant factor is the share to which the deceased parent would have been entitled. This passes to that parent’s children and is divided equally amongst siblings.
The estate is valued as at the date of death (Section 2311 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Liabilities are deducted; an outstanding loan therefore reduces the value, as do funeral costs. Property is valued at its market value, which is the price that could be realised if it were sold on the open market. The original purchase price or tax values are irrelevant.
A maths example involving two grandchildren
A widowed grandmother leaves behind a daughter and two grandchildren, the children of her son who has already passed away. Her will names her daughter as sole heir. After all debts have been settled, the estate is worth 200,000 euros.
Without a will, the daughter would have inherited half. The other half would have gone to the line of descent of the deceased son; his two children would therefore each have received a quarter. The compulsory share halves this proportion. Each of the two grandchildren is therefore entitled to one-eighth of the value of the estate, amounting to 25,000 euros each. If there were only one child in the son’s line, that grandchild would receive one-quarter, i.e. 50,000 euros.
Incidentally, even grandchildren who have not been entirely overlooked in the will may have claims. Anyone who has been named as an heir but whose share is less than their statutory share may claim the difference as an additional statutory share (Section 2305 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
Gifted assets are often taken into account
In many families, the estate is modest at the time of death because the main assets have long since been distributed. The house was passed on to the aunt years ago, and larger sums of money have already been transferred. If only what is left at the end were counted, the statutory share would amount to nothing in such cases. It is precisely this that the claim for a supplementary statutory share (§ 2325 BGB) protects against. Gifts made by the testator are added back to the estate for the purposes of calculation, as if they had never been transferred. This is a separate financial claim with its own rules, which exists alongside the ordinary statutory share.
A phasing-out model applies over time. A gift made in the year immediately preceding death counts in full; thereafter, the value of the gift is reduced by one-tenth for each subsequent year. After ten years, the gift is no longer taken into account. However, many heirs rely on this ten-year period too soon, as it does not begin to run as long as the grandparents have continued to make economic use of the gifted property. This is typically the case if, when transferring the house, they have reserved a right of usufruct – that is, the right to continue using the property and to receive its income – or a comprehensive right of residence over the entire property. In such cases, a transfer made twenty years ago may still be fully taken into account in the calculation today. In the case of gifts between grandparents, the period does not even begin until the end of the marriage at the earliest. At the same time, a reserved right of use reduces the value of the property to be assessed. The extent to which this is the case is often itself the subject of dispute.
There are two qualifications to this fair assessment. Anything that grandchildren have received directly from their grandparents may reduce their own claim, but only if the grandparents expressly stipulated at the time of the gift that it was to be set off against the inheritance (Section 2315 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Among descendants, a set-off of certain gifts may also be considered (Section 2316 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). And if the existing estate is insufficient to make up the shortfall, the claim may, under certain circumstances, be directed directly against the person who received the gift (Section 2329 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). This special form of claim becomes time-barred exactly three years after the opening of the succession, irrespective of whether the entitled person was even aware of the gift.
The path to the payout lies with the heirs
A common misconception leads those affected to the probate court in the first instance. There, the will is opened and held in safekeeping; the court does nothing further in this matter. It has no jurisdiction over the payment of the compulsory share. The claim is directed exclusively against the heirs. It arises upon the opening of the succession and is immediately due (Section 2317 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The heirs cannot therefore argue that the assets are tied up in a property. If necessary, they must take out a mortgage or sell the property. Only in very limited exceptional cases may they request a deferral – that is, a postponement of payment – if immediate payment would place them in undue hardship, for example because they would otherwise have to give up the family home in which they live (Section 2331a of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In practice, this remains the exception.
Information and a notarial inventory of the estate
Those who are not heirs are usually unaware of the contents of the estate. Bank balances, securities holdings, property and previous gifts are initially unknown, and banks generally invoke banking secrecy when dealing with disinherited persons. The law compensates for this information gap by granting a right to information (Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Upon request, the heirs must provide a complete inventory of the estate; if requested, this may take the form of a notarised inventory of the estate, in which a notary determines the contents themselves and which is therefore considered significantly more reliable. The information provided also covers gifts, which may be relevant for the purposes of supplementing the estate. In addition, a valuation of individual items may be requested; in the case of a property, for example, this would involve an expert’s report on the market value. The costs of the inventory and the expert’s report are borne by the estate, not by the beneficiary.
Time limits that determine entitlement
The right to a compulsory share is generally subject to a limitation period of three years (Sections 195 and 199 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The limitation period begins at the end of the year in which the beneficiary becomes aware of the death and of the disposition that disadvantages them – as a rule, therefore, of the contents of the will. If, for example, the grandfather dies in the spring of 2026 and the granddaughter learns of her disinheritance in the summer, the limitation period runs from 31 December 2026 until the end of 31 December 2029. After that, the heirs may permanently refuse payment, however justified the claim may have been. Irrespective of whether the claimant was aware of the situation, this right expires at the latest thirty years after the opening of the succession. Anyone negotiating with the heirs should therefore bear these time limits in mind, rather than relying on a favourable outcome.
Common points of conflict and mistakes
On paper, the process seems well-organised. In reality, however, there are a number of recurring points at which it is decided whether grandchildren will succeed in asserting their claim or give up in frustration.
It almost always begins with a struggle to obtain information. Some heirs are slow to respond, submit a self-compiled inventory with gaps, or underestimate the value of the estate. A notarial inventory helps to counter this, and if even that is not provided, a specialist solicitor can assert the claims by means of a staged claim. This is a legal action that first demands information and, on that basis, then demands payment.
The second long-standing point of contention is the value of property. The heirs have an interest in ensuring the valuation is as low as possible, because any difference in valuation directly affects the payment. With a compulsory share of one-eighth, a difference of 80,000 euros in the value of the house amounts to 10,000 euros. The only relevant factor is the market value on the date of death. An impartial valuation report usually achieves more progress here than months of correspondence.
The significance of old deeds of transfer is regularly underestimated. The statement that ‘the house has been gone for over ten years and no longer counts’ is not correct in such general terms if the grandparents had reserved the right to use it. In such cases, it is worth checking the contracts and registered rights before hastily dismissing a claim that may well be of value.
Then there is the human aspect. On the other side of the dispute are often one’s own aunt, uncle or grandmother. Many grandchildren therefore do not even assert their claim in the first place, or accept a settlement early on that is far below the actual value, simply to keep the peace. This is understandable, but rarely in one’s best interests. Anyone who knows their own share and the approximate value of the estate negotiates from a different position and can still make concessions, but then of their own free will.
And finally, there is the question of money. Lawyers’ fees and court costs are incurred regardless of the outcome, as lawyers in Deutschland are only permitted to work on a pure success fee basis in very limited exceptional cases. Where the amounts in dispute are high, the risk adds up to sums that many entitled parties are reluctant to face, particularly as the estate may ultimately end up heavily in debt. In practice, this hurdle causes claims that would otherwise have had good legal prospects to fail.
Support when your payment is delayed
Normally, no service provider is required to claim the compulsory share. Grandchildren make the claim against the heirs, receive a response, agree on a sum, and the amount is paid. Things become difficult if the heirs obstruct the process, try to drive down the value or play for time, thereby risking the enforcement process becoming costly. For such cases, Erbfinanz offers two options.
Erbfinanz can bear the cost risk associated with enforcement. This means that those affected do not have to pay upfront for solicitors’ fees, expert reports or court costs. Legal representation is always provided by a specialist solicitor; on request, we can put you in touch with specialist solicitors specialising in inheritance law with whom we collaborate. Our fee is agreed in advance on an individual and transparent basis and is only payable if the case is successful. If the case is unsuccessful, we bear the costs incurred.
If reaching a swift settlement is more important than the last euro, the second option is worth considering. The right to a compulsory share is transferable and can therefore be sold. Erbfinanz purchases such rights. Payment is made promptly, and from that point onwards, dealing with the heirs is our responsibility.
It is possible to find out whether any of these options are suitable for your particular situation without providing a full set of documents. A no-obligation enquiry is free of charge, discreet and takes just a few minutes to complete.
Ultimately, the same applies to both approaches as to the claim itself. It is crucial to be aware of one’s own position before signing a settlement agreement or waiving one’s claim definitively. The legal position is often more favourable for grandchildren than a first glance at the will might suggest.
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Note on the content of this guide
The articles in this guide are intended to provide general information on inheritance law matters. They do not constitute legal advice and are no substitute for advice in individual cases. Whether a claim exists, and if so, to what extent, always depends on the circumstances of the specific case. Only a solicitor can provide a definitive assessment; in matters of inheritance law, this is usually a specialist solicitor in inheritance law.
All content is carefully researched and regularly reviewed. However, legislation and case law are subject to change. We are therefore unable to guarantee that the content is accurate, complete or up to date.
Note on the use of artificial intelligence
The articles in this guide are produced with the help of artificial intelligence and are editorially reviewed and approved.