It rarely takes less than half a year from the time of death to the payout. If there is a dispute, this often stretches to three or four years. The decisive factor is almost never the amount of the claim, but rather how early on someone starts to sort out the paperwork instead of simply waiting for it.
The compulsory share has a peculiarity that many of those affected only realise later on. It arises automatically upon death, but there is no one who calculates, determines or orders it ex officio. No court, no public authority, no notary. Anyone who wishes to claim it must do so themselves, by making a claim against the heirs.
The following sections explain how this works in practice, where time and money are wasted, and how to recognise a worthwhile offer.
Key points at a glance
- The compulsory share is a monetary claim against the heirs and does not constitute a share in the estate (Section 2303 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). It arises upon the opening of the succession (Section 2317 BGB) and is, as a rule, immediately due (Section 271 BGB).
- Nothing is paid out automatically. You must make a claim against the heirs, not the probate court.
- If you have not been disinherited but have been appointed as an heir and are subject to restrictions or encumbrances as a result, you must renounce the inheritance within six weeks in order to receive the full statutory share in cash (Sections 2306 and 1944 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Short time limits are otherwise the exception under the law governing statutory shares.
- Interest usually only starts to accrue once a reminder has been issued, or at the latest once legal proceedings have been brought. You do not need to specify an amount in the letter, but you must demand information, a valuation and payment of the resulting amount.
- It is customary for a notarial inventory of the estate, involving the notary’s own investigations, to take three to four months. Anyone who brings legal proceedings significantly earlier will be left to bear the costs themselves as soon as the heir acknowledges the claim immediately (Section 93 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
- Not everything that an heir deducts is allowable. Grave maintenance, their inheritance tax, bequests and the costs of probate do not reduce your entitlement.
- The claim against the heirs is generally time-barred three years after the end of the year in which you became aware of the opening of the succession and the disinheritance (Sections 195 and 199 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). If a claim for supplementary payment is directed against a person who has received a gift, it becomes time-barred just three years after the opening of the succession, regardless of when you became aware of the gift (Section 2332 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
The course that is set right at the very beginning
Before you do anything else, clarify one single question. Have you simply been omitted from the will, or have you been named as an heir but your share has been restricted?
The first scenario is the standard one. Anyone who is not mentioned at all in a will that names others as heirs is thereby disinherited and entitled to a compulsory share. The rest of this article describes this process.
The second scenario appears more favourable but is in fact the more dangerous. Whilst some wills do indeed name close relatives as heirs, they subject that status to one of the restrictions exhaustively listed in the law. These include reversionary succession, whereby your share is subsequently transferred to another person; the appointment of an executor, whereby a third party administers the estate instead of you; a partition order, which specifies who receives which item; and a legacy or a condition which you must fulfil in favour of third parties. In that case, you will only receive the full statutory share in cash if you renounce the inheritance (Section 2306 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). You have six weeks from the date on which you became aware of the restriction to do so; in cases involving foreign elements, the period is six months (Section 1944 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). If the deadline expires, you remain an heir and bear the encumbrance. You will not necessarily end up with nothing, however, because if your share of the estate, calculated without the restrictions, is worth less than half of your statutory share, you may claim the shortfall (Section 2305 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
The situation is different if, instead of a share of the estate, you have been bequeathed only a specific legacy – that is, a single item or a sum of money. In this case, there is no statutory time limit. If the bequest falls short of your statutory share, you may retain it and claim the difference (Section 2307 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). You will only come under time pressure once the heir asks you to make a declaration and sets you a reasonable deadline for doing so.
Six weeks is not much time when you have to understand a will and value a property at the same time. Anyone who is unsure about this should prioritise this question and not leave it until last.
What you can sort out without asking the heir
Most of those affected choose to wait at first. This is understandable, but it takes weeks, as a surprisingly large proportion of the necessary documentation can be obtained without any involvement from the other party.
The first step is the will itself. The probate court opens an existing will and notifies the parties concerned in writing of the content that affects them (Section 348 of the German Family Proceedings Act (FamFG)). Relatives who have been disinherited are informed of this in this way. However, the full text is not necessarily included in this notification, and it is the full text that matters. Whether a penalty clause regarding the statutory share is included – that is, a provision stipulating that anyone who claims their statutory share upon the first death will receive nothing – whether the execution of the will has been ordered, and whether you have in fact been bequeathed something, is often only set out there. Access to the opened will is granted to anyone who can demonstrate a legal interest (Section 357 of the FamFG), and anyone granted access may obtain a copy at their own expense (Section 13(3) of the FamFG). As a person entitled to a compulsory share, you have this interest, but you must demonstrate it.
This raises the question of to whom your claim is actually directed. The identity of the heirs is determined by the will and the record of the opening of the estate – that is, the minutes drawn up by the probate court to record the opening of the estate. This is not a mere formality, as the statutory share is directed exclusively at these individuals. The probate court opens and safeguards the estate; it does not examine or make payments.
The third point is almost always overlooked and is often the most valuable. If the estate included a property, you may apply to the Land Registry for access to the register if you can demonstrate a legitimate interest (Section 12 of the Land Registry Act (GBO)). As a creditor of the heir, you have this interest, even if the property was transferred some time ago. It is precisely in such cases that you need access to the register in order to assess whether a gift was made which would increase your claim (Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, decision of 5 September 2013, 11 Wx 57/13). The right of inspection extends to the documents referred to in the Land Register, such as the deed of transfer. Anyone wishing to know whether the family home changed hands two years before the death, and under what conditions, is not reliant on the heir’s cooperation. The Land Registry decides on the application, and an appeal may be lodged against a refusal.
This research is also worthwhile because the time limits work differently in the case of gifts. If a recipient of a gift is personally liable because the estate is insufficient, the claim against them becomes time-barred exactly three years after the date of death, regardless of when you become aware of the gift (Section 2332 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Anyone who waits patiently for the estate inventory may, under certain circumstances, lose this very claim.
Two approaches, on the other hand, lead nowhere. The Central Register of Wills is not a public register; relatives cannot make enquiries there themselves, and in any case, only details of where the will is held are recorded, not its contents. Nor is there any direct right to information from the deceased’s bank. Access to the accounts always has to go via the heirs.
The size of your statutory share depends on your relationship to the deceased, who else would have inherited, and – in the case of spouses – the matrimonial property regime under which the marriage was governed. You can find out this figure in just a few minutes. The more complex factor is the value of the estate to which the statutory share is applied, and this is what the rest of this article is about.
How long each stage takes
Anyone going through the process for the first time tends to underestimate how long it will take. The figures given below are not statutory deadlines, but rather what is considered normal in practice and in case law.
| Stage | Realistic duration |
|---|---|
| Opening of the will by the probate court | A few weeks to around three months |
| The heir’s private inventory of the estate | A few weeks to a few months |
| Notarised inventory of the estate based on the notary’s own investigations | Three to four months from the date the order is placed |
| Valuation report for a property | Six weeks to four months |
| Proceedings at first instance before the Regional Court up to the judgment in the case | 17.5 months on average (Federal Statistical Office, 2024) |
The three to four-month period for the notarial inventory is the benchmark applied by the courts. This also serves as a warning. Anyone who brings legal proceedings before this period has elapsed will bear the costs of the proceedings themselves as soon as the heir acknowledges the claim immediately (Section 93 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Anyone who is reliant on legal aid will usually not be granted it during this period, as the claim is deemed to be frivolous (Hamburg Higher Regional Court, order of 28 January 2025, 2 W 64/24).
Furthermore, the 17.5 months refer only to proceedings that actually result in a contested judgement. A multi-stage claim, which deals with disclosure, valuation and payment in succession whilst awaiting an inventory and a valuation report in between, takes longer than that. The limitation period continues to run for you throughout this entire period. As for the heir, nothing happens at first, as long as no one forces them to act.
So that the wait costs the heirs something
There is no statutory payment deadline. The heir is liable for the money from the date of death, without anyone having to grant them a grace period. However, interest does not start to accrue at that point; for that to happen, the heir must first be in default, and this generally requires a reminder to have been issued (Section 286 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The rule familiar from invoices, whereby default occurs automatically after thirty days, does not apply here.
You do not need to know the exact amount for this. According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, even an unspecified demand places the heir in default, provided that it corresponds to what could be claimed in a staged action (judgement of 6 May 1981, IVa ZR 170/80). Once in default, the heir owes interest at a rate of five percentage points above the base rate (Section 288(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)), which in the second half of 2026 amounts to 6.52 per cent per annum. For a claim of 100,000 euros, this amounts to around 543 euros per month. As long as no reminder has been issued, the heir incurs no costs for delaying payment; once a reminder has been issued, this is no longer the case.
He may defer payment only during the first three months following acceptance of the inheritance, in order to gain an overview of the situation, and even then only if he expressly invokes this right (Section 2014 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). If he remains silent, he will nevertheless be in default.
How to find the figures
What the heir owes
The value of the claim can only be determined once the contents of the estate are known. Therefore, unless you have become an heir yourself, the heir is obliged to provide you with information and a properly organised list of all assets and liabilities as at the date of death, including gifts made in previous years (Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). You may request to be involved in the preparation of the inventory, and you may demand that the value of individual items be determined.
However, you do not have a general right to be provided with supporting documents. Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) entitles you to an inventory, not to a full account of the assets; as a rule, therefore, bank statements or purchase contracts do not have to be provided to you (Higher Regional Court of Munich, judgement of 23 August 2021, 33 U 325/21). The situation is different where an asset’s value cannot be assessed at all without supporting documents, for example in the case of a business forming part of the estate. The right to be present at the inventory at least gives you the opportunity to be there whilst it is being drawn up and to ask questions on the spot, rather than simply being presented with a finished document. Furthermore, where there are specific indications of gifts, the heir must review the account transactions of the last ten years and compile a list of any suspicious transactions (Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart, order of 26 January 2016, 19 W 78/15).
The route via the solicitor
The notarial inventory, which you can request from the outset without having to wait for a private one, is far more comprehensive. The notary does not merely record the information provided by the heir, but is required to carry out their own investigations, in the manner that an objective third party in your position would deem necessary (Federal Court of Justice, ruling of 7 March 2024, I ZB 40/23). He is not required to investigate at random. You should therefore provide him with your observations as specifically as possible, ranging from the bank where an account is suspected to exist to the life insurance policy that was once mentioned.
If the inventory is not provided, many of those affected make the same mistake. They put pressure on the notary. This achieves nothing, as the notary has been instructed by the heir, and a complaint by the person entitled to a compulsory share against the notary is not admissible (Federal Court of Justice, ruling of 19 July 2023, IV ZB 31/22). The correct party to address remains the heir. If there is a court order requiring the provision of information, it will be enforced by means of a penalty payment, and the heir must then demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps. Merely following up is not sufficient for this; they must exhaust all available options and, if necessary, take legal action against the notary. Just how seriously this is taken is demonstrated by a decision of the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart, in which a penalty payment of 3,000 euros was imposed on an heiress (order of 8 August 2023, 19 W 4/23). Anyone complaining about a delay should be able to substantiate it with correspondence, as mere assertions carry little weight in court.
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 inventory is not provided, the value is set too low, or the matter drags on for years and every further step requires a new advance payment. That is precisely when Erbfinanz can help. 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, and our fee is agreed on an individual, transparent basis in advance and is only payable if the case is successful.
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Check the list of heirs
When the inventory finally arrives, attention usually turns to the assets. The more expensive items are listed below, under ‘deductions’. There is often a five-figure difference between what an heir would like to deduct and what they are actually allowed to deduct.
It is undisputed that the estate is reduced by the deceased’s debts, the reasonable costs of the funeral—including the headstone and the initial preparation of the grave—as well as the costs of drawing up the inventory and the valuation (Sections 1967, 1968, 2314(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). As a general rule, the value of individual items is determined by their market value on the date of death – that is, the price that could have been obtained on the market – rather than the original purchase price or a tax value. The heir selects the expert; you may only require that they be impartial and competent (Federal Court of Justice, judgement of 29 September 2021, IV ZR 328/20). There is little that can be done later against a person whom the heir has already appointed. It is therefore more effective to agree on a candidate in advance and to use that outcome as a basis for both parties.
What does not reduce the estate
These items crop up time and again in lists, but they do not belong there.
The funeral arrangements end with the maintenance of the grave. It is not a liability of the estate, but arises, at most, from a moral duty on the part of the heir, and this remains the case even if the testator has stipulated it as a condition in their will (Federal Court of Justice, judgement of 26 May 2021, IV ZR 174/20). The situation is different only if the testator himself entered into a grave maintenance contract during his lifetime, in which case it constitutes a liability that he has incurred.
The heir’s inheritance tax is not taken into account. It is the heir’s own tax liability and not a liability of the estate.
Contrary to what is often assumed, legacies and conditions do not reduce the compulsory share; otherwise, the testator would have the power to undermine the entitlement through his or her own provisions. Instead, the heir is entitled to reduce the legacies proportionately so that they do not bear the burden of the statutory share alone (Section 2318 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). For the same reason, the remuneration of an executor is generally not taken into account. This point is not entirely uncontroversial, however, as where it can be shown that the execution of the will also benefits the beneficiary of the statutory share, a partial deduction is sometimes considered possible.
The costs of probate are incurred solely because a will exists and therefore cannot be charged to you (Higher Regional Court of Schleswig, judgement of 6 October 2009, 3 U 98/08). The situation regarding the costs of a certificate of inheritance has not yet been definitively clarified. In most cases, these costs are not regarded as deductible, as the certificate of inheritance serves primarily to establish the heir’s legitimacy; however, in isolated cases, courts have ruled otherwise.
If several children have been disinherited, it is common practice to deduct one child’s statutory share before calculating another’s. This, too, is incorrect. Each claim is calculated on the basis of the same, unreduced estate.
The special case of care
Hardly any other situation is as common or as emotionally charged as this one. A child has looked after their parents for years, has become their sole heir, and is now seeking to offset the cost of that care. Legally, things work differently from what both sides usually assume.
Care costs do not constitute a liability of the estate and are not deducted from it. However, they may have an effect through what is known as ‘equitisation’, which does in fact reduce the siblings’ statutory share (Sections 2057a and 2316 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). For this to apply, three conditions must be met:
- The carer is a descendant, i.e. a child or grandchild. Spouses, siblings and children-in-law are excluded.
- The care was provided over a long period of time.
- No appropriate remuneration was paid or agreed in respect of this.
Care allowance passed on by the care insurance fund does not usually preclude the adjustment, as it rarely covers the costs incurred. However, it is taken into account and thus reduces the amount of the adjustment. Since the 2010 reform of inheritance law, it is no longer relevant whether the carer was in paid employment at the same time. The amount awarded is determined on the basis of equity, i.e. the duration and extent of the care in relation to the value of the estate. There is no set table for this, and it is a matter of dispute.
The calculation itself is straightforward. A father leaves behind two children and an estate worth 200,000 euros. One child has cared for him for years and is the sole heir; the other has been disinherited. Without equalisation, the disinherited child would be entitled to half of the estate as their statutory share; the compulsory portion is half of that, i.e. 50,000 euros. If the care is valued at 40,000 euros, this amount is deducted first. The remaining 160,000 euros is then distributed; the disinherited child would be entitled to 80,000 euros of this, so their statutory share amounts to 40,000 euros.
The rule works both ways. Conversely, if the heir received a gift during the parent’s lifetime that is subject to equalisation – such as a dowry, i.e. what parents give a child to help them start their own life – this may increase their statutory share. It is therefore worth examining the gifts made to the heir as well as any care they have provided.
When a comparison is a good comparison
Most cases involving a compulsory share do not end up in court. This is rarely a sign of weakness and is usually a sensible course of action, as a settlement provides certainty and a predictable outcome, and relieves both parties of the financial risk, which can quickly run into five figures when claims are in the six-figure range.
You should still work it out for yourself, though. Whilst a court-mediated settlement reduces the court’s threefold procedural fee to a single fee, each solicitor is entitled to an additional settlement fee, which generally exceeds this saving. Furthermore, in the absence of an explicit provision regarding costs, each party bears its own legal costs (Section 98 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)). The value of a settlement lies in the fact that it eliminates the risk, not in the fact that it is cheaper.
There is, however, one prerequisite. You need to know what you are comparing. As long as the information is incomplete, you are negotiating over a figure you do not know, and any discount on that figure is based on guesswork. Anyone who needs money in the meantime is therefore often better off with a partial payment on the undisputed portion. This also helps the heir, as it limits the default interest to the remaining amount.
The most important clause is the settlement clause, and it is also the line that is least often read. Wording to the effect that the payment settles all claims arising from the inheritance may, in case of doubt, also cover matters of which you are not yet even aware. If, a year later, a gift comes to light that would have increased the claim, it is thereby settled. Anyone wishing to keep this point open must expressly exclude it, for example by limiting the settlement to the assets listed in the inventory. It is very difficult to renegotiate this later. Essentially, the matter remains open where the heir has deliberately withheld information, as in such cases a challenge to the settlement may be considered.
So, a settlement is a good one when you reach it because you have a clear understanding of the situation, not because you’ve run out of options.
When a swift conclusion is more important than that final one per cent
Sometimes the desire to avoid a dispute dragging on for years outweighs the last euro. In this case, you can sell your claim to a compulsory share to Erbfinanz and receive payment promptly, without having to settle the dispute with the heirs yourself. What happens to the claim afterwards is our concern.
We’ll discuss whether this approach is right for your situation during a no-obligation enquiry.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven’t had any contact for years. Am I still entitled to anything?
Yes. A strained relationship, a breakdown in contact or a disappointment do not deprive you of your statutory share. It can only be forfeited on the few grounds exhaustively listed in the law, such as serious criminal offences against the testator or their next of kin, and the reason must be specified in the will (Sections 2333, 2336 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Anyone who has simply been omitted from the will is disinherited and is therefore entitled to their statutory share, regardless of the nature of the relationship.
The valuation report provided by the heir seems far too low to me. What can I do?
A valuation report is not binding on anyone; it simply provides a basis for negotiation. You may submit your own valuation report in response, and during the proceedings the court will appoint an independent expert. First, check the key details: the reference date, the estimated floor area, the condition of the property, the assumed letting arrangements and any third-party rights taken into account. If the property was actually sold shortly after the inheritance took effect, the price achieved is the strongest indication of its value.
The heir says he can only pay once the house has been sold. Do I have to accept this?
In principle, no. How the heir raises the money is their own business; they may take out a loan, borrow money or sell the property. However, you cannot force a sale, as the property does not belong to you. Only in very exceptional cases may he request a deferral if immediate payment would cause him undue hardship (Section 2331a of the German Civil Code (BGB)). This remains the exception, and your interests must be given due consideration in such circumstances.
What if the heir claims there is nothing left?
Only then will the information provided reveal whether this is correct, including any gifts and account transactions from recent years. If the inventory still reveals specific inconsistencies, you may require the heir to confirm their details in a statutory declaration. If the estate was indeed insolvent on the date of death, there will be nothing left for a compulsory share, as this is calculated on the basis of what remains after debts have been deducted. It is then worth looking into the recipients of gifts, who may in some circumstances be liable themselves.
Is it even worth it for a small estate?
This is a matter of calculation, not a question of principle. Although the costs of the inventory and valuation are borne by the estate, they thereby reduce the basis on which your share is calculated. In the case of a small estate, a notarised inventory may therefore make little financial sense, whilst it is almost always worth the expense if the estate includes a property.
What it all boils down to
The statutory share is determined automatically, without any action on your part. But that’s where the convenience ends. If you want to claim it, you’ll have to gather the figures yourself and keep track of the deadlines.
Those who start early do not wait for a list that may never arrive, but instead, in the meantime, obtain whatever can be obtained without the other party’s involvement. And the list that eventually arrives is a suggestion, not a final account. Only by going through it item by item can one identify what does not belong there.
That initial six months tends to stretch to three or four years, particularly when, on the other hand, nobody has any reason to hurry.
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.