Even in the first few weeks following a death, those entitled to a compulsory share often hear the phrase: „This is an inheritance agreement, notarised. Nothing can be done to change it now.“ Sometimes this comes from the heir, sometimes from a well-meaning family member. However, this statement is only half true.
It is true that the inheritance contract itself is virtually unassailable. That is precisely what it was designed to do. Anyone who enters into an inheritance agreement wants to prevent the matter from being reopened at a later date. However, this binding agreement is directed against the testator, not against you. It has deprived him of the opportunity to change his mind. It has not affected your statutory share.
There is one exception, and it is usually set out in the same document. If a contract of inheritance does indeed extinguish your claim, it is generally because you yourself once signed a document at a notary’s office.
Key points at a glance
- As far as the compulsory share is concerned, it makes no difference whether a person has been disinherited by will or by contract of inheritance. Section 2303 of the German Civil Code (BGB) applies to both.
- Only children and other descendants, the spouse or registered partner, and the parents – if there are no children – are entitled to a compulsory share. Unmarried partners and stepchildren are not included.
- The compulsory share is purely a financial claim against the heir and does not make you a co-owner of the house, bank account or business.
- Only four provisions in an inheritance contract can be binding. Everything else is merely a unilateral statement in the contract anyway and could have been amended at any time.
- Without your cooperation, the testator can only deprive you of your statutory share in a few serious exceptional cases. It can only be reliably excluded by means of a notarised waiver.
- Despite the existence of a contract of inheritance, the testator was permitted to make gifts and transfers during his or her lifetime. This often forms the bulk of the claim, even if the transfer took place well over ten years ago.
What an inheritance agreement is and why someone might enter into one
A contract of inheritance is a disposition of property upon death in the form of a contract; in other words, it is an arrangement concerning the estate which the testator does not make alone, but jointly with a contracting party. The contract becomes binding immediately upon its conclusion before a notary, not only upon the testator’s death.
There are almost always the same reasons behind this. Unmarried couples cannot draw up a joint will; this is reserved for married couples and registered civil partners (Section 2265 of the German Civil Code (BGB), Section 10(4) of the Civil Partnership Act (LPartG)). For them, an inheritance contract is the only way to ensure reliable mutual financial security. In blended families, it is intended to prevent children from a previous relationship from ultimately being left empty-handed. And very often, it is linked to a handover. Someone takes over a business, a farm or a property and, in return, undertakes to provide for, care for or make regular payments. The appointment of an heir is then the consideration, and it is intended that this cannot be revoked.
The requirements for validity are strict. The testator must appear in person before a notary; a power of attorney is not sufficient (Section 2274 of the German Civil Code (BGB)), and the testator must have full legal capacity (Section 2275 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Under current law, minors are therefore unable to enter into an inheritance contract, even with their parents’ consent. In the case of very old contracts, the rules were not quite so strict; in such cases, fiancés and spouses could, under certain circumstances, enter into such contracts even if they had limited legal capacity.
Who is entitled to a compulsory share at all under a contract of inheritance?
This question takes precedence over all others, and it is often overlooked in the context of inheritance contracts in particular, as these are frequently used in situations where family circumstances deviate from the statutory model.
Only the descendants of the testator are entitled to a compulsory share, that is, his children and, in their absence, his grandchildren, his spouse or registered civil partner, and his parents; the latter, however, only if there are no descendants (Section 2303 of the German Civil Code (BGB), § 10(6) LPartG). This group remains unchanged in the event of a contract of inheritance.
Anyone who is not a member of the family comes away empty-handed, however close the relationship may have been. An unmarried partner is not entitled to a compulsory share, even after thirty years together. A stepchild is only entitled if they have been adopted. Siblings, nieces, nephews and grandparents are never entitled. Grandchildren, on the other hand, only come into line if their own parent is no longer alive. As long as that parent is alive and could themselves claim the compulsory share or accept what is intended for them, the grandchildren have no separate claim of their own (Section 2309 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
How an inheritance contract differs from a will
| Feature | Individual will | Joint Will | Contract of inheritance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can build it? | any person capable of making a will | only married couples and registered civil partners | any person with full legal capacity, including those who are unmarried |
| Form | handwritten or notarised | handwritten or notarised | Must be notarised; both parties must be present at the same time |
| Amendment by the testator | at any time and on your own | during both their lifetimes, through a notary; thereafter, binding | only by way of a termination agreement, a reserved right of withdrawal or statutory grounds for withdrawal |
| When does it become binding? | never | from the death of the first spouse to die | immediately upon conclusion of the contract |
| Your right to a compulsory share | remains unchanged | remains unchanged | remains unchanged |
In essence, therefore, your claim remains valid in each of these forms. However, a disposition may well affect the amount of the claim, particularly through transfers made during the settlor’s lifetime.
In practice, however, cases involving inheritance contracts tend to unfold differently. With handwritten wills, many provisions are invalidated due to technical errors, for example because the text was typed on a computer or the signature is in the wrong place. This rarely happens with inheritance contracts, as the notary is responsible for ensuring they are in the correct form. It is also more difficult to raise the objection that the testator was no longer of sound mind at the time, as the notary is required to record their observations on this matter in the deed (Section 28 of the Notarial Act (BeurkG)).
Two factors work in the opposite direction. Inheritance agreements are often old – frequently dating back several decades – and their wording no longer reflects what the family has since experienced. Furthermore, they are often linked to a transaction between living persons, that is, a transfer that took place during the testator’s lifetime. These are the areas where it pays to do a thorough review.
Why the restriction does not affect your entitlement
The effects of a contract of inheritance are set out in section 2289 of the German Civil Code (BGB). It revokes any previous will insofar as it would prejudice the beneficiaries named in the contract, and renders any subsequent disposition of property upon death invalid to the same extent. Anyone who drew up a will after entering into an inheritance contract could therefore no longer override the binding provisions of that contract.
The compulsory share does not fall within this category. It is not a provision made by the testator, but a right that arises by operation of law upon the testator’s death. A restriction that relates solely to the freedom to make a will cannot apply to it.
Your claim is therefore against the person who became an heir under the inheritance contract. If several persons have been appointed, they are jointly and severally liable (Section 2058 of the German Civil Code (BGB)); you may therefore claim the full amount from each of them individually. However, as long as the estate remains undivided, an individual co-heir may refuse to pay from their own assets and refer you to the estate (Section 2059 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Neither the notary nor the probate court has jurisdiction in this matter.
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Only a small part of the contract is binding
A common misconception is that everything set out in a contract of inheritance is set in stone. Under Section 2278(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB), only four provisions may be made by contract – that is, in a manner that is legally binding:
- the appointment of an heir,
- a bequest, that is, a single gift, without the beneficiary thereby becoming an heir,
- a condition which obliges an heir to fulfil a specific obligation,
- the choice of the law governing succession.
Any other provisions may, of course, be included in the will, but they are only binding on the testator (Section 2299 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and could have been amended at any time by a new will. This applies to the appointment of an executor – that is, a person who administers and distributes the estate – as well as to provisions regarding who is to receive which items, and to the deprivation of the compulsory share.
It is not always clear whether a particular clause was actually intended to be binding. In the case of a joint will, a statutory rule of interpretation provides guidance in cases of doubt. This rule does not apply to inheritance contracts, as the Federal Court of Justice clarified in 2025. In such cases, the intention must be determined from the contract itself (decision of 26 March 2025, IV ZB 15/24).
Whether the inheritance agreement is still valid at all
Before we talk about shares, there is a question that is rarely asked. An inheritance agreement may have long since lapsed.
This most commonly occurs as a result of divorce. An inheritance contract between spouses generally becomes void if the marriage was dissolved by divorce prior to the testator’s death, and this also applies where a third party was named as a beneficiary (Section 2279 in conjunction with Section 2077 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The same applies where the testator had filed for divorce or consented to it, and the conditions for divorce were met at the time of their death. If the inheritance agreement lapses, the statutory order of succession applies, provided there is no other valid disposition of property upon death. In that case, the issue is no longer the compulsory share, but the full share of the estate.
Whilst both parties to the contract were still alive, the contract of inheritance could also be revoked by means of a notarised agreement; in the case of married couples and registered civil partners, it could also be revoked by a subsequent joint will (Sections 2290 and 2292 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Once one of the two has died, this is no longer possible.
If the appointment of an heir was in return for someone providing for the testator or making regular payments to him, revocation was possible as soon as that obligation was lifted whilst the testator was still alive (Section 2295 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). However, the testator had to declare this expressly and have it notarised (Section 2296 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The mere fact that the promised care was not actually provided was not sufficient for this.
It may therefore be worth asking for a more recent document.
How the amount of your entitlement is determined
The compulsory share is half the statutory share of the inheritance. To determine it, the first step is to establish what you would have been entitled to in the absence of any will, i.e. under the rules of intestate succession. This share is then halved and applied to the estate after debts have been deducted. What counts is the composition and value of the estate on the date of death (Section 2311 of the German Civil Code [BGB]), not an earlier purchase price or a tax value.
An example: In 1998, a father named his son as sole heir in a contract of inheritance, in return for which the son took over the family business and provided for his parents. The mother has already passed away; in addition to the son, there is a daughter who is not mentioned in the contract of inheritance. Without the agreement, both children would have inherited half each. The daughter’s statutory share is therefore one quarter. With an estate worth 480,000 euros after deduction of liabilities, this amounts to 120,000 euros in cash.
This involves taking the siblings into account. Anyone who, at the time, waived their statutory right to an inheritance entirely is not taken into account when calculating the shares, and the share of the remaining heirs increases accordingly, unless their children take their place. In the case of a waiver of the compulsory portion only, however, the calculation remains as before (Section 2310 of the German Civil Code). The relevant provision is set out in the deed.
In the case of the surviving spouse, the matrimonial property regime comes into play. If the spouses were subject to the statutory matrimonial property regime of community of accrued gains and the surviving spouse was completely excluded by the inheritance contract, then they receive two things. Firstly, the equalisation of accrued gains – that is, their share of the assets acquired during the marriage – which is calculated on a case-by-case basis. Secondly, the compulsory portion, which in this case is calculated on the basis of the unincreased share of the estate (Section 1371(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In financial terms, the equalisation of accrued gains often carries greater weight.
If you’re not yet sure where you stand
At the outset, many people affected are unable to say either how much they are entitled to or whether it is worth making a claim. This is the normal starting point, and you do not need to provide a full set of documents. Simply tell us what you know.
The easiest first step is to make a no-obligation enquiry. It’s free, discreet and comes with no strings attached.
How waiving one’s statutory share works
Anyone wishing to settle the statutory share in advance has no choice but to deal with the beneficiary. A waiver of the compulsory share under Section 2346(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB) is a contract between the testator and the beneficiary of the compulsory share, which must be notarised (Section 2348 BGB). It can be included in the same deed as the contract of inheritance, and this is often the case when businesses or farms are being transferred.
The first thing to check is whether a waiver has actually taken place. Disinheritance does not constitute a waiver. If the testator has stipulated in the inheritance contract that a particular person is to receive nothing, this is his unilateral decision, and the statutory share remains in force.
A waiver requires a separate declaration by the entitled party before a notary. Two points should be borne in mind here. On the part of the person waiving their rights, representation is permitted; the waiver may therefore also have been declared by an authorised representative or legal guardian. Furthermore, if a parent waived their statutory right to inheritance in full at the time, this will, in case of doubt, also apply to their children, provided nothing else was agreed in the deed (Section 2349 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Anyone affected by a transfer made by the previous generation should therefore also have the deed that their parents signed at the time checked.
The second issue is scope. A waiver may be limited to a specific inheritance, for example, only to the death of the first parent to die, or to individual assets. Whether it also covers the supplementary claim in the case of gifts depends on the wording. In the case of older contracts, this is often the actual point of contention, and it can only be clarified by referring to the specific wording.
Then there is the question of validity. If a minor child waives their right, authorisation from the family court is required (Section 1643(1) in conjunction with Section 1851(9) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). As the testator is usually the child’s own father or mother, the parents are generally not permitted to represent the child themselves; instead, a supplementary guardian is appointed. If neither parent is available, the waiver is vulnerable to challenge. The testator, for his part, was generally required to act in person. If he lacked legal capacity, his legal representative could act on his behalf (Section 2347 of the German Civil Code (BGB)), but even this was only permitted with court authorisation (Section 1851(9) BGB).
Incidentally, a waiver is only possible during the testator’s lifetime and only with the testator’s consent. After the testator’s death, you can, of course, reach an agreement with the heirs and waive part of your claim. This would then constitute an ordinary agreement of remission relating to a monetary claim that has already arisen and is subject to different rules.
If your statutory share has been revoked without any action on your part
If the deed states that you are being deprived of your statutory share, it is worth taking a closer look. This is only permitted in a few cases, which are exhaustively listed in the law (Section 2333 of the German Civil Code (BGB)), and these are serious cases. Family disputes, a breakdown in contact lasting for years, or disappointment with the course of a person’s life do not fall into this category.
Added to this is a procedural hurdle which often causes such provisions to fail in practice. The ground for revocation must have existed at the time the deed was drawn up and must be stated in the deed itself (Section 2336(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). It cannot be added retrospectively. Furthermore, the burden of proof lies with the person invoking the revocation – that is, the heir (Section 2336(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB)) – not with you.
Gifts during your lifetime
The contract of inheritance restricted the testator only in his dispositions upon death. He remained free to dispose of his assets during his lifetime, meaning he could also give them away or transfer them (Section 2286 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In the case of inheritance contracts relating to a transfer of assets, this is precisely the norm, and it is often the basis for the larger part of the claim.
This distinction determines the leverage. Whatever the testator retained until his or her death forms part of the estate and is, in any case, included in full in the calculation. The appointment of an heir in an inheritance contract does not constitute a gift and does not reduce the estate’s value. By contrast, anything transferred during the testator’s lifetime is excluded from the estate and is only recovered through the claim for a supplementary compulsory portion (Section 2325 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
Separate rules apply to this claim. Gifts made during the ten years prior to the opening of the succession are taken into account, on a sliding scale. A gift made in the year immediately preceding death counts in full; for each year prior to that, the value to be taken into account is reduced by one-tenth; after ten years, it is disregarded.
There are two exceptions to this time limit, both of which are common in transfer agreements. In the case of gifts between spouses, the time limit only begins to run upon the dissolution of the marriage. And if the transferor retains a right of usufruct – that is, the right to continue living in the property or to collect the rent – the ten-year period generally does not commence at all, because the transferor continues to make economic use of the property. This does not automatically apply to a mere right of residence. The Federal Court of Justice only accepts this as sufficient in exceptional cases, for example where the right extends to practically the entire property and the transferor effectively remains in charge there (judgement of 29 June 2016, IV ZR 474/15).
If the transfer was not entirely free of charge – because the recipient provided something in return, such as care or payments – only the part that was free of charge is taken into account. How this is to be valued depends on the individual case and is usually the actual point of contention in practice.
This is not a one-way process. If you received anything during the testator’s lifetime – such as a settlement upon the transfer of assets – this will be set off against your statutory share if the testator stipulated this at the latest at the time of the gift (Section 2315 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). And if the heir is themselves entitled to a compulsory share – for example, your brother or sister – they may refuse to accept the supplementary payment to the extent that they retain their own compulsory share together with their own supplementary payment (Section 2328 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In cases involving the handover of assets, the entire defence is often based on this.
Insofar as the heir is not obliged to make up the shortfall, you may seek recourse against the donee (Section 2329 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). This claim is for the return of the gift; the donee may satisfy it by making a payment. Time is of the essence here, as the claim becomes time-barred exactly three years to the day after the opening of the succession, regardless of whether you were even aware of the gift (Sections 195, 2332(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
You should not confuse this with Section 2287 of the German Civil Code (BGB). This provision establishes a claim for restitution against the recipient of a gift if the testator made the gift with the intention of prejudicing the contractual heir. It expressly applies only to the contractual heir, that is, the person who has become an heir through the inheritance contract. For those entitled to a compulsory share, the relevant provisions are Sections 2325 and 2329 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
If you were treated with consideration but restricted
Not every will completely excludes those entitled to a compulsory share. Often, they are included, but subject to conditions. This is where the most costly mistakes arise, because time limits are running.
If you have been named as an heir but your inheritance is restricted or encumbered – for example, by a reversionary succession where the estate is subsequently passed on to someone else, by the administration of the estate, by a provision specifying who is to receive which item, or by a bequest in favour of a third party – then you may claim the full statutory share if you renounce the inheritance (Section 2306 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Since 2010, this has applied regardless of the size of the intended share of the inheritance. Anyone who does not renounce the inheritance remains bound by the restriction.
The time limit is six weeks and does not begin until you have been made aware of the restriction. It is six months if the deceased was last resident solely abroad or if you are abroad when the time limit begins (Section 1944(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
If you have been offered a share of an inheritance that is smaller than your statutory share, you do not need to renounce it. You retain the share of the inheritance and may claim the difference in cash (Section 2305 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
If you have been named as a beneficiary of a bequest, the choice is yours. If you accept it, its value will be set off against your statutory share. If you renounce it, you will retain your full statutory share (Section 2307 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). There is no fixed deadline for this initially; however, the testator may set you a reasonable time limit, after which the bequest is deemed to have been renounced. Once you have accepted the bequest, you can no longer change your mind (Section 2180 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Acceptance is a declaration made to the person responsible for fulfilling the bequest, and it may also be implied.
The only way to work out which option is better is if the value of the estate is known. That is why this information should be obtained before a decision is made.
What you will be told by the probate court and what you will need to sort out yourself
Inheritance contracts are recorded in the Central Register of Wills maintained by the Federal Chamber of Notaries. When the registry office reports a death, the Register notifies the relevant probate court and the body responsible for safeguarding the deed. An inheritance contract can therefore usually be located, even if it is not held by the local civil court but has remained with the notary.
This situation occurs more frequently than many people might expect. In the case of a contract of inheritance, the parties may exclude official registration; and if it is contained in the same document as another contract, such an exclusion is even presumed (section 34(2) of the Notarial Act).
The probate court shall make the document public and notify the parties concerned in writing of the parts that affect them. This is normally how disinherited relatives learn of their disinheritance. However, you should not expect too much from this. You will only be informed of the part that concerns you, not the full document (Section 348(3) FamFG). Furthermore, in the case of an inheritance contract between two people, the arrangements made by the surviving party for their own death remain confidential for the time being (Section 349(1) and (4) FamFG). Nor does the notification contain any information regarding the composition or value of the estate.
Anyone wishing to find out more must take the initiative themselves. Anyone who can demonstrate a legitimate interest – that is, who can set it out in a comprehensible manner – is entitled to inspect a probate file that has been opened (section 357(1) FamFG). To inspect the estate file, it is sufficient to have a legitimate interest, provided that this is not conflicted by any interests of others worthy of protection (Section 13 FamFG). Those entitled to a compulsory share generally meet this requirement, but they must conclusively demonstrate that they are, in fact, eligible as beneficiaries.
The figures do not come from the court, but from the heir. The right to information under Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is directed against the heir. You may request a complete inventory of the estate, in the form of a notarised inventory of the estate if you so wish. The notary draws up the inventory themselves and must carry out their own investigations to do so; merely recording the heir’s statements is not sufficient. The extent to which they must go depends on what an outsider in your position would consider necessary. For anything beyond that, they require concrete evidence; they are not required to search at random. Anyone who has doubts about a particular item should therefore specify it.
You may also request a valuation of individual items, such as an expert’s report on a property. The costs are borne by the estate; however, they also reduce the total amount on which your claim is calculated. The information must also include transfers from previous years, as without them the supplementary claim cannot be quantified.
You should not wait too long. The right to a compulsory share arises upon the opening of the succession (Section 2317(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and is due immediately. It is subject to a limitation period of three years, calculated from the end of the year in which you became aware of the death, your disinheritance and the identity of the heir, or in which you could have become aware of these facts had it not been for gross negligence. In any case, the limitation period expires at the latest thirty years after the opening of the succession.
One point is regularly overlooked in this regard. The limitation period for the claim for payment is not suspended merely by the fact that you request information. It is suspended whilst the claim is being negotiated, or if it is asserted in court – in practice, usually via a ‘staged action’, which combines a claim for information and payment in a single set of proceedings. Anyone who waits for years for a notarial statement may ultimately find themselves left with a claim that has become time-barred.
Two further consequences are also important. The claim is inheritable and transferable (Section 2317(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). If a person entitled to the claim dies before it has been paid out, the claim passes to their own heirs, and it may also be assigned to a third party. Furthermore, interest does not accrue from the date of death, but only once the heir has been served with a reminder or the matter has been brought before the court. Anyone who simply waits forfeits this interest.
Where problems typically arise with inheritance agreements
Often, it is not the law that carries the most weight, but the heir’s sense of justice. Anyone who has taken over a business, run it for years or maintained a property feels that the claim is unfair and argues that everything has been settled by a notary. Legally, this changes nothing. However, it makes a huge difference to their willingness to negotiate.
Added to this is the lack of liquidity. In the case of an inheritance contract, the assets are particularly often tied up in a farm, a business or a house. The claim is nevertheless due immediately, and the heir must, if necessary, raise the money – for example, through a mortgage or a loan. Only in very exceptional cases can they request a deferral of payment, particularly if immediate payment would force them to give up their means of livelihood or the family home in which they live (Section 2331a of the German Civil Code (BGB)). You cannot demand a private sale, as you are not the owner. However, enforcement proceedings may be brought against the inherited property on the basis of a title.
The third ongoing conflict concerns value. In the case of family-owned properties, the difference between the heir’s valuation and that of the entitled party can easily run into six-figure sums. In the case of agricultural holdings, there is an additional factor which can significantly reduce the claim. Under strict conditions, the lower income value takes precedence over the market value for a country estate (Section 2312 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). This requires, amongst other things, that a right of acquisition based on the income value exists and is exercised, and that the acquirer is themselves entitled to a compulsory share. In Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, the Farmland Regulations also apply to farms, with their own, similarly lower valuation standards. Whether and to what extent this applies in individual cases is often itself the subject of dispute.
Finally, the age of the document. In the case of an inheritance agreement dating from the 1980s or 1990s, it is often unclear what a clause was intended to mean, whether a provision was meant to be binding, and what a waiver declared at that time covers today. Such questions of interpretation are the reason why cases involving inheritance agreements drag on.
The right to contest the will plays a lesser role in this context than many guidebooks suggest. If a person entitled to a compulsory share has been overlooked – where the testator was unaware of their existence at the time the contract was concluded, or where they were born or became entitled to a compulsory share only later, for example through a subsequent marriage – a challenge under section 2079 of the German Civil Code (BGB) may be considered. The main obstacle lies elsewhere. Under Section 2285 of the German Civil Code (BGB), a challenge by relatives is precluded if the testator’s right to challenge had already lapsed at the time of death, and this right was limited to one year from the date of their knowledge. If the testator had known of the new child or spouse for some time and took no action, this route is usually closed off.
If the payment is blocked or delayed
Normally, the compulsory share is claimed from and paid out to the heirs in the usual way. Things become difficult if the information provided is incomplete, if the value of the business or property is underestimated, or if the matter remains at a standstill for years. This is precisely when Erbfinanz steps in. We can bear the cost risk of enforcement, so that you do not have to pay for solicitors, expert reports and court costs up front. Legal representation is always provided by a specialist solicitor.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can a contract of inheritance exclude the statutory share?
Not of their own accord. The testator may specify in their will who is to inherit and is bound by that provision. The statutory share remains unaffected by this, as it arises by operation of law. Without the cooperation of the beneficiary, the only option would be disinheritance, and this is restricted to a few serious cases.
I co-signed the document at the notary’s office at the time. Have I lost my statutory share?
Not every signature constitutes a waiver. Anyone who has been involved in the handover of a farm or a transfer agreement has not automatically waived their rights. And even a waiver may be limited to a specific inheritance or to individual assets. You can obtain a copy of the deed from the notary who authenticated it or from the probate court.
Do I have to challenge the inheritance agreement in order to get my money?
No. The statutory share is based precisely on the assumption that the disposition is valid and excludes you from the line of succession. A challenge aims to achieve something else, namely to have the contract set aside and thereby become a statutory heir. It is only successful in very limited exceptional cases, whereas the statutory share does not require any specific conditions to be met.
The inheritance agreement is thirty years old. Is it still valid?
Age alone does not invalidate an inheritance contract. However, it may have ceased to exist for other reasons, such as a subsequent divorce between the contracting parties, a notarial agreement to rescind the contract, or a validly declared withdrawal. In the case of old contracts, it is also worth considering whether individual clauses were ever intended to be binding.
The farm was handed over whilst I was still alive. Will there be anything left for me then?
Often, yes. A transfer during the transferor’s lifetime may give rise to a claim for a supplementary compulsory share. The extent to which this applies depends on the timing of the transfer, any consideration provided in return, and whether the transferor has reserved a right of use, as a usufruct can prevent the limitation period from running for many years. In the case of agricultural holdings, specific valuation rules may also apply.
What should you do if the heir refuses to provide any information?
The right to information can be enforced through the courts, usually by means of a staged claim that combines a claim for information and a claim for payment in a single set of proceedings. The time factor is important here, as an out-of-court request for information alone does not suspend the limitation period.
What matters in the end
At first glance, a contract of inheritance may seem more definitive than it actually is for you. It is binding on the person who has entered into it, and even then only in respect of the four points specified by law. Your entitlement arises, irrespective of this, on the date of death.
The real work, therefore, rarely lies in determining whether you are entitled to anything. It lies in compiling a complete inventory of the estate, taking into account transfers made in previous years, and valuing the assets correctly. Those who start this process early find themselves in a much stronger negotiating position.
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.