You won’t find the term ‘staged claim’ in any statute book. It originates from the practice of inheritance law and refers to something very specific, namely the way in which a compulsory share is claimed out of court if the heir does not pay of their own accord. This is not done by simply demanding a specific sum, but in three successive stages: first, a request for information about the estate; second, its valuation; and third, payment.
At this point, many of those affected wonder why they cannot simply claim what is rightfully theirs. The reason is simple: they do not know. The heir has the bank statements, the keys and the full picture; you have a copy of the will, and anyone who suggests a specific sum in these circumstances is merely guessing. The phased demand resolves this problem, as it sets the process in motion without you having to commit to anything, whilst still putting the heir in default.
Key points at a glance
- A ‘staged demand’ is a term used in practice, not a legal term. It refers to an out-of-court demand made in three stages, modelled on a staged action, which achieves the same result in court (Section 254 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
- You do not need to specify an amount in order to put the heir in default. According to case law, an unspecified demand for payment is sufficient, provided that it corresponds to what could be claimed in a staged action (Federal Court of Justice, judgement of 6 May 1981, IVa ZR 170/80).
- Disclosure and valuation are two separate claims under Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB); the statutory declaration is added subject to additional conditions set out in Section 260(2) of the BGB. All three are usually asserted in a single letter, but they do not necessarily become time-barred at the same time.
- Once payment is in arrears, the heir is liable to pay interest at a rate of five percentage points above the base rate (Section 288(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). In the case of larger estates, this results in significant financial pressure.
- A reminder does not suspend the limitation period. The limitation period continues to run whilst you are waiting for the estate inventory.
Why order is key to success
The compulsory share is purely a monetary claim against the heirs. It amounts to half of what the statutory share of the estate would be worth (Section 2303 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). It can only be calculated once two things have been established, namely what assets were in existence on the date of death and what their value was. The heir alone has control over both.
Anyone who skips this step and demands a sum straight away runs two risks. If you set the figure too low, the heir will generally only be in default for that amount, and in the negotiations you will be judged by your own figure. If you set the amount too high, there is more at stake than just an unfavourable costs ratio in the proceedings. A significantly inflated claim can render the demand letter invalid altogether if the heir cannot determine from it what they are actually supposed to pay. In that case, no default occurs, and no interest accrues.
The solution has long been clear. As far back as 1981, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that an unspecified demand for payment is sufficient to put the heir in default, provided that it corresponds to what could lawfully be claimed in a staged action. Anyone who therefore demands information, a valuation and payment of the resulting amount, and sets deadlines for this, does not need to specify a sum and will nevertheless not lose any time.
Stage one: information about the estate
The legal basis for this is Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB). If you have been disinherited – that is, if you have not yourself become an heir – the heir is obliged to provide you with information regarding the contents of the estate as at the date of death, together with a properly organised inventory. This includes property, bank accounts, securities, vehicles, jewellery and cash, as well as any debts, as the statutory share is calculated on the basis of what remains. You may also request to be consulted whilst the inventory is being drawn up.
The testator’s gifts must also be listed, as it is only from these that a claim to a supplementary compulsory portion can be identified – that is, a supplement for assets that were already given away during the testator’s lifetime. This covers gifts made during the ten years immediately preceding the opening of the succession, the weighting of which decreases by one-tenth for each year further back in time. In the case of gifts to a spouse, however, this ten-year period only begins upon the dissolution of the marriage; in such cases, therefore, older transfers are also taken into account (Section 2325 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
There is no statutory time limit for providing the information. In practice, four to six weeks is considered reasonable for a private directory, whilst a notarial directory usually takes several months.
An expectation is regularly dashed at this stage. You do not have a general right to request supporting documents; you are therefore not entitled to ask to see bank statements, sales contracts or invoices, as Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) requires an inventory of assets and not a full account of expenditure. The situation is different if a company or a shareholding forms part of the estate. In that case, the obligations to provide information are more extensive, as the value could otherwise not be assessed at all.
What a notarial inventory offers in addition
You may request that a notary draw up the inventory from the outset, without having to wait for a private inventory to be drawn up first. The notary then does not merely certify what the heir tells them, but must independently ascertain the contents of the estate and take responsibility for them. The costs are borne by the estate (Section 2314(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
However, this duty is not unlimited. In 2024, the Federal Court of Justice clarified that a notary is not required to investigate in every conceivable direction without concrete evidence in order to trace further assets (decision of 7 March 2024, I ZB 40/23). The mere assumption that there must be further accounts is not sufficient for this purpose.
In practice, there’s more to it than it sounds. You must inform the notary of any observations you have made, and do so as specifically as possible. The bank where an account is suspected to exist. The house that was transferred shortly before the person’s death. The life insurance policy that was once mentioned. The notary can only follow up on the leads of which he is aware.
If there are still doubts as to whether the information is complete
If the inventory appears to be incomplete, you may require the heir to affirm their details in a statutory declaration, i.e. to formally declare that, to the best of their knowledge, they are complete (Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) in conjunction with Section 260(2) BGB). This requires evidence of a lack of due care. Mere suspicion is not sufficient, but specific inconsistencies are.
The consequences are significant, as making a false statutory declaration is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine (Section 156 of the German Criminal Code). Heirs who have previously made generous estimates often recalculate their figures at this stage. However, this is subject to the condition that the declaration is made before the competent local court; an informal statement to the other party or their solicitor is not sufficient for this purpose. If a notarial inventory is available, the declaration covers its entire content and not just the heir’s own details (Federal Court of Justice, judgment of 1 December 2021, IV ZR 189/20).
There is, however, one cost involved. Unlike in the case of the inventory and the valuation, the costs of the inspection are borne by the person requesting the insurance (Section 261(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
Stage two: the value of the estate
An inventory tells you what is there. That does not, however, determine what it is worth, and it is precisely this that is the subject of dispute in most cases. The decisive factor is the market value on the date of death – that is, the price that could be realised on the market (Section 2311 of the German Civil Code [BGB]) – not the original purchase price, nor the value stated in a tax assessment notice.
That is why Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) provides for a second, separate claim. You may request that the value of individual items be determined – in the case of property, this is usually done by means of an expert’s report – and these costs are also borne by the estate. However, this is not entirely free of charge for you, as any expenditure incurred by the estate reduces the basis on which your share is calculated.
In this regard, three points are regularly misunderstood. The appraiser is appointed by the heir, and you cannot demand a specific person or a publicly appointed and sworn expert, but only an impartial and competent one (Federal Court of Justice, judgement of 29 September 2021, IV ZR 328/20). The valuation report is not binding on anyone; it provides a basis for negotiation and enables you to assess your litigation risk. Furthermore, the claim remains valid even if the heir has since sold the property.
It is important to expressly request a valuation. This is a separate claim from the right to information, and a claim for information alone does not suspend the limitation period for the valuation claim (according to the Munich Higher Regional Court, judgement of 8 March 2017, 20 U 3806/16). Anyone who omits this from their letter therefore risks this very claim becoming time-barred whilst the dispute over the disclosure is still ongoing.
Stage three: payment and interest pressure
The right to a compulsory share arises upon the opening of the succession (Section 2317(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, is immediately due (Section 271 BGB). The heir may withhold payment, particularly at the outset, namely during the first three months following acceptance of the inheritance, if they invoke this right (Section 2014 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). According to the prevailing view, this does not affect the right to information. In addition, in very limited exceptional cases, the heir may request a deferral if immediate payment would, for example, force them to give up the family home in which they live (Section 2331a of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Such cases are rare, and your interests must be given due consideration in this regard.
Even so, hardly anyone pays of their own accord. For interest to accrue, the heir must be in default, and this generally requires a reminder – that is, a specific demand for payment (Section 286(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). The rule familiar from invoices, whereby default automatically occurs thirty days after receipt, does not apply here, as it only applies to claims for payment arising from contracts. Without a reminder, the heir is only in default in exceptional cases, for example if they seriously and definitively refuse to pay, and the requirements for this are high. Someone who disputes the amount or stalls is not, in this sense, yet refusing to pay.
If the debt has fallen into arrears, the heir is liable to pay five percentage points above the base rate (Section 288(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB)), not the nine percentage points commonly applied in commercial transactions and reserved for claims for remuneration. The base rate changes on 1 January and 1 July; the Deutsche Bundesbank announces it on each occasion. In the second half of 2026, it stands at 1.52 per cent, meaning the interest on arrears is 6.52 per cent per annum. For a claim of 120,000 euros, this amounts to around 7,800 euros per year or just over 650 euros per month.
This figure is the real crux of the staged reminder, as any delay up to that point is free of charge for the heir, but is no longer so thereafter. Experience shows that setting out in writing exactly how much each additional month will cost is more effective than adopting a forceful tone.
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Why a tiered reminder system fails in practice
The sum quoted too early and the omitted valuation are listed above. Two further errors cost at least as much.
One concerns the deadline and proof of receipt. A demand without a deadline does not exert any effective pressure; a deadline of three days appears implausible; and, depending on the level of the matter, two to six weeks is the usual timeframe. Furthermore, you must be able to prove that the letter was received if the heir disputes this, and a registered letter only confirms that it was sent, not its contents. A safer option is to use a courier who reads the letter, delivers it and can later attest to this.
The other is the most expensive. A reminder does not suspend the limitation period, nor does waiting for an inventory of the estate. The statutory share is generally subject to a limitation period of three years from 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)). The limitation period is suspended by serious negotiations (Section 203 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and by legal action under Section 204 of the German Civil Code (BGB), i.e. by bringing a claim or applying for a payment order, and even by applying for legal aid. In addition, the heir may declare that they will not invoke the limitation period. Whilst this does not legally suspend the limitation period, it has a similar practical effect and is therefore usually recorded in writing.
A second limitation period runs in parallel and expires more quickly. If the estate is insufficient to cover a supplementary compulsory share and the claim is therefore directed against the person to whom the gift was made, it becomes time-barred exactly three years after the date of death, regardless of when you became aware of the gift (Sections 2329, 2332 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Anyone who waits patiently for the estate inventory in such cases may, under certain circumstances, lose precisely the claim that matters most.
If the staged reminder is unsuccessful
If no action is taken once the deadline has passed, the staged claim follows the same procedure in court (Section 254 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)). In such proceedings, the request for information, an affidavit where applicable, and payment are dealt with in succession, and here too you do not need to specify an amount at the outset. The claim also suspends the limitation period for the as yet unquantified claim for payment (Section 204(1)(1) of the German Civil Code (BGB); see also the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), judgement of 22 March 2006, IV ZR 93/05). The decisive date is the date of service, which, however, has retroactive effect to the date of receipt by the court if service takes place shortly thereafter (Section 167 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)). Shortly before the turn of the year, therefore, the date on which the claim is received is what counts. As regards court costs, the bands are not added together; the higher claim is decisive, which is usually the payment (§ 44 GKG).
Once a judgement has been handed down obliging the heir to provide information, it is enforced by means of a penalty payment – that is, a sum set by the court intended to compel the heir to act (Section 888 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The excuse that the notary has no available appointments is regularly put forward in such cases. In 2025, the Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that a penalty payment is waived if, up to the time of the court’s decision, the heir has done everything that could reasonably be expected to find a notary willing to cooperate (order of 8 October 2025, 33 W 1013/25 e). A penalty payment is, after all, a means of compulsion and not a punishment for past actions. It applies to the heir who takes no action, not to the one who acts belatedly.
In practice, this approach rarely fails on legal grounds but often because of the cost. Court costs and lawyers’ fees are payable in advance, expert reports incur additional costs, and the losing party must also bear the other party’s costs (Section 91 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)). With six-figure claims, the risk can quickly amount to five-figure sums. Legal expenses insurance does not usually cover inheritance matters, and legal aid is only available to those on low incomes and with limited assets, and does not cover the risk of having to pay the other party’s costs.
If the payment is blocked or delayed
Normally, the statutory share is claimed and paid out to the heirs in the usual way. Things become difficult if no information is provided, the value is set too low, or the matter drags on for years and every further step requires new advance payments. 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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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to specify a specific amount in the reminder?
No. According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, even a demand for payment that does not specify an amount can put the heir in default (judgement of 6 May 1981, IVa ZR 170/80). As long as information and valuation are still pending, any payment would be inadvisable in any case, and anyone who offers too little is bound by that amount.
How long does the heir have to take to provide the information?
There is no statutory time limit. In practice, four to six weeks is considered a reasonable timeframe for a private inventory of the estate, whilst a notarial inventory often takes several months. You do not therefore have to put up with inaction over long periods simply because the law does not specify a figure.
Will I be able to see my bank statements and receipts?
Not usually. Section 2314 of the German Civil Code (BGB) provides you with an inventory of the estate’s assets, but not a statement of accounts with supporting documents. Furthermore, the obligations are particularly extensive if a business forms part of the estate. In practice, the procedure involves drawing up a notarial inventory, as the notary assesses the documents themselves, and, if doubts remain, providing an affidavit.
Does a reminder halt the limitation period?
No, and that is one of the most costly misconceptions in the law on compulsory shares. Neither a letter of claim nor a request for information will suspend the limitation period. To do so, serious negotiations are required, or legal action such as bringing a claim, applying for a payment order or applying for legal aid, or a declaration by the heir that they will not invoke the limitation period.
Can I request a partial payment in advance?
The entire claim becomes due upon the opening of the succession; it is therefore generally possible to claim a partial amount. The matter is more delicate in court, as the Higher Regional Courts take differing views on whether a quantified partial claim is admissible alongside an ongoing staged claim. The most practical approach is therefore usually an amicable partial payment on the undisputed portion, which also benefits the heir as it limits the interest on the remaining amount.
What should I do if the heir doesn’t respond at all?
Silence does not constitute fulfilment and does not alter the due date or the fact that payment is in arrears. Once the set deadline has passed, legal action remains an option, usually in the form of a staged claim, which also suspends the limitation period. Before taking this step, it is worth checking whether you have proof that your letters were received, as this is often more crucial to the outcome of a dispute than the content itself.
What matters in the end
The term ‘staged demand’ does not appear in any legislation, but each of its three stages does. Requests for information, valuation and payment are separate claims, and their sequence is not a mere formality, but the very reason why a compulsory share can be enforced at all without knowing in advance how much it amounts to.
Such a letter therefore rarely has any effect because of the tone in which it is written. Its impact lies in what it verifiably states and in a glance at the calendar, because the limitation period will not wait until the estate inventory finally arrives.
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.