Your direct route to payment
Sell your legal share
You are entitled to your statutory share from the date of the opening of the succession. However, it often takes a long time before the money actually appears in your account, as information first needs to be obtained and the value of the assets determined. If you do not wish to wait for this, you can sell your claim to us.
You will receive a fixed purchase price at short notice; we’ll take care of everything else. The amount is less than the full value of the claim. In return, you have peace of mind, and the matter is settled for you.
Fast payout
A few days after the appointment with the notary, the money will be in your account.
Fixed purchase price
Your amount is fixed from the moment the deed is drawn up and will not change.
No cost risk
We shall bear all costs associated with further clarification from the point of sale onwards.
Finalised
You no longer need to worry about deadlines or negotiations.
Initial legal situation
Section 2317(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)
The entitlement is transferable
The compulsory share is not a share of the estate, but a monetary claim against the heirs. The law expressly states that this claim is transferable. Following the death of the testator, you may therefore sell it just like any other claim, without having to ask the heirs for their consent.
Sections 398 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB)
The sale constitutes a transfer
We will have the assignment notarised. This ensures that it is clearly documented for all parties who is entitled to what. Upon signing, the claim, together with the associated rights to information, is transferred to us, as is the full risk of costs and loss arising from enforcement.
Your advantages
What sets the sale of a compulsory share apart
A compulsory share is, initially, merely a claim. Upon sale, this becomes a fixed purchase price, which is finalised at the notary’s appointment and is credited to your account a few days later. Whatever happens to the heirs after that makes no difference to this.
No consent from the heirs is required
Your claim is a monetary claim and belongs solely to you. You can therefore sell it even in the middle of negotiations or legal proceedings, and you do not need to ask anyone’s permission to do so. The heirs will only find out about it once the sale has been finalised.
Everything that comes after the signature is our responsibility
By signing this document, the claim, together with any further proceedings, is transferred to us. Specialist solicitors working with us will then handle the enquiries, valuation and negotiations on our behalf and at our expense.
How the sale of a compulsory portion works
Enquiry
Please describe your situation to us using the online form or contact us directly. A few details regarding the death, your relationship to the deceased and the estate are sufficient. The enquiry is free of charge and without obligation; we will get back to you shortly with an initial assessment.
Quotation and Contract
We will review your documents and assess your claim. You will then receive a specific offer to purchase, stating a fixed amount. If you are happy with the offer, the sale will be formalised at a solicitor’s office. You are under no obligation until you have signed the documents.
Secure your
A few days after the appointment with the notary, the purchase price will be credited to your account. Everything else – including notifying the heirs – will be handled by specialist solicitors working with us, at our expense and risk. This means the matter is completely settled for you.
Sell quickly — or enforce payment in full?
| Criterion | Immediate sale Sell your legal share | Litigation financing Enforce your share |
|---|---|---|
| When will the money arrive? | A few days after the appointment with the notary. | Only once enforcement has been successfully achieved – depending on how the case progresses, after a few months, or later in contentious cases. |
| How much will it be? | A fixed purchase price that is lower than the full value of the claim. It is determined immediately and does not change thereafter. | We will claim the full amount of the claim. If the claim is successful, we will receive a share of the proceeds as agreed in advance. |
| Who bears the costs and the risk? | We. Upon sale, the costs and risk of loss are transferred entirely to us. | As litigation funders, we cover the costs of legal representation, expert reports and court proceedings. |
| Who is this approach suitable for? | If a quick, definitive conclusion is more important to you than that last percentage point. | If you’re looking for the best possible result and have a bit of time to spare. |
| Find out more about enforcing your statutory share Enforce claim |
Is this sale right for your situation?
Selling is one of two options we offer. Whether this is the right choice for you, or whether you’d be better off pursuing your claim through our litigation funding, depends on your case. Please give us a brief outline of your situation. We’ll look into it and give you our honest opinion on which option we think is best for you. The enquiry is free, confidential and comes with no obligation.
Questions & answers on selling your share
The compulsory share guarantees close relatives a minimum share of the value of the estate. It is a purely monetary claim against the heirs, amounting to half the value of the statutory share of the inheritance. It arises when someone has been excluded from the succession by will or inheritance contract. This also applies if a person is simply not mentioned in the will. And anyone who has been included in the will but receives less than their compulsory portion may claim the difference.
As the claim is a monetary claim, you are permitted to sell it following the death of the testator (Section 2317(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB)). You assign it to us and receive a fixed purchase price in return. This does not make you an heir, nor are you disposing of any part of the estate. The only thing being sold is your monetary claim against the heirs.
An example to give an idea of the scale: If a widowed father leaves behind two children and names one of them as his sole heir, the child who has been passed over would have inherited half of the estate had there been no will. Their statutory share amounts to half of that, or a quarter of the value of the estate.
The purchase price represents a discount on the calculated value of your claim. This is the price you pay in return for receiving a fixed sum immediately, whilst the costs and risk of non-payment are transferred entirely to us. We can only provide a realistic figure once we have assessed your case. The following factors are particularly important:
- The value and composition of the estate, in particular property and any encumbrances thereon
- Your statutory share and any supplementary claims arising from gifts
- the extent to which the information can be substantiated by supporting documents
- how far the discussions with the heirs have progressed and how long it is likely to take before payment is made
The offer itself is free of charge and non-binding, and you can take your time to decide whether to accept it.
Following your enquiry, we will get back to you shortly with an initial valuation. How quickly the purchase offer is made depends on how much is known about the estate. Once the deed has been notarised, it will only take a few days for the purchase price to be credited to your account.
The standard procedure, on the other hand, takes time, as it involves first providing information – often in the form of a notarial inventory of the estate – and then determining and negotiating the value of the assets. This is a structured process, but it often takes several months. When the property is sold, your payout no longer depends on this.
No. The claim to a compulsory share is an ordinary monetary claim over which you alone have control. The assignment is valid without the heirs’ consent (Sections 398 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
The heirs will, however, find out about the sale, as they will be informed that the claim now belongs to us. From the moment this notification is issued, it will be clear to all parties involved that payments are to be made to us only. You do not need to explain yourself to the family; any further discussions will be handled by the specialist solicitors working with us.
Yes, this actually happens quite often, particularly if contact with the family had recently become sporadic. In such cases, the law grants the beneficiary a right to information. They may request a full inventory of the estate – drawn up by a solicitor if desired – and a valuation of individual items (Section 2314 of the German Civil Code). These rights are transferred to us upon sale (Section 401 of the German Civil Code), and our specialist solicitors will then assert them.
To draw up the quote, we use the information you provide and our own research to form a picture of the situation and factor in any remaining uncertainty. The more you know, the better the quote is usually likely to be.
Yes. As long as the claim is not time-barred, you can sell at any stage, even whilst negotiations are ongoing or legal proceedings are taking place. Anything that has been achieved up to that point – such as an inventory of the estate or a valuation report – is not a disadvantage. It clarifies the situation and therefore usually improves our offer. We will discuss together how to properly transfer or terminate an existing legal mandate.
If the deceased has gifted assets – for example, by transferring a property to a child several years before their death – a supplementary claim may be added to the compulsory share (Section 2325 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). Gifts made during the ten years immediately preceding the opening of the succession are added to the estate on a pro rata basis for the purposes of calculation: in full for the last year, and reduced by one-tenth for each preceding year. Two special cases are important. If the testator has reserved a right of usufruct or a comprehensive right of residence in respect of the gifted property, case law holds that the ten-year period does not commence at all. And in the case of gifts between spouses, it does not commence before the end of the marriage.
Such supplementary claims are factored into our valuation and are transferred upon sale. Particularly in the case of properties sold at an early stage, a significant proportion of the claim’s value often lies here.
Your details are sufficient for an initial valuation. To provide a specific purchase offer, the following information is particularly helpful:
- the death certificate or details of the inheritance
- proof of kinship, such as a birth certificate
- the will or inheritance contract, together with the minutes of the opening of the will, if available
- everything you know about the estate, such as property, bank accounts or previous gifts
- existing correspondence with the heirs or their solicitors
If anything is missing, that’s no problem. You can request a copy of the probate order from the probate court, and we’ll sort out many other details together during our initial consultation.
Once the payment has been made, your role is complete. Any further claims will be handled by specialist solicitors working on our behalf and at our expense. We will contact you no more than once with a brief enquiry regarding matters that only you would know, such as previous gifts.
In any event, the purchase price remains yours, even if the heirs end up paying less than expected. When the sale takes place, your sole responsibility is to ensure that the information you have provided is correct and that the claim truly belongs to you – in other words, that it has not already been assigned and that no notarised waiver exists. We bear the risk for everything that happens thereafter.
The compulsory share is subject to inheritance tax as soon as it is claimed. The same tax-free allowances apply as for heirs – for children, for example, 400,000 euros – so that often no tax is payable at all. However, the exact tax implications of a sale depend on the individual circumstances. It is best to consult a tax adviser directly on this matter. Nevertheless, please feel free to raise the issue during our initial consultation: we can often recommend a suitable expert from our network if required.
Requirements for the sale of the compulsory portion:
- Entitlement to a compulsory portion: Children are entitled to a compulsory share; if they are not present, their grandchildren are entitled. Spouses and registered civil partners are also entitled. The testator’s parents are only entitled if there are no descendants. Siblings, nieces and nephews are never entitled to a compulsory share.
- Disinheritance or insufficient financial support: The claim arises if you have been excluded from the succession by will or inheritance contract, including where you have simply been omitted. Anyone who receives less than their statutory share may claim the difference and may also sell this residual claim (Section 2305 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
- Inheritance case occurred: A sale may only take place after the testator’s death. Agreements made during the testator’s lifetime concerning the future statutory share are, in principle, void (Section 311b(4) of the German Civil Code (BGB)).
- No limitation period: The claim becomes time-barred three years after the end of the year in which you became aware of the inheritance and the disinheritance, but no later than thirty years after the inheritance took place. A time-barred claim can no longer be considered for the purposes of a purchase.
Exceptions and restrictions:
- Waiver of compulsory portion: If a waiver of the statutory share was notarised during the person’s lifetime, there is no entitlement that could be sold.
- Withdrawal of compulsory portion: The testator may only deprive a person of their statutory share in a limited number of cases, which are exhaustively set out in law (Section 2333 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). This is rare, but when it does occur, the entitlement is thereby forfeited.
- Over-indebted estate: The compulsory share is calculated on the basis of the value of the estate after deduction of debts. If nothing remains, the claim is of no financial value.
- Rendering: Anyone who renounces an inheritance generally also forfeits their statutory share. Exceptions apply, in particular, to spouses under the community of accrued gains regime and to heirs whose share of the inheritance is subject to restrictions or encumbrances (Section 2306 of the German Civil Code (BGB)). A specialist solicitor will assess whether such a case applies.
