Estate Law
If a person has not drawn up his or her last will or other hereditary declaration, in case of his or her death the statutorily provided legal consequences will apply.
Oftentimes this is not desired, for example because certain legal heirs are to be excluded from the heritage or are supposed to receive a different than the statutorily provided share in the estate. Or certain assets should only be passed on to certain heirs, e.g. a piece of real estate or an enterprise. In all these cases you must draw up a will or enter into an hereditary agreement in which your last will is clearly and unambiguously stated. And it may be necessary that such will or marriage contract is in line with already existing marriage contracts or – if you are an entrepreneur or hold a share holding in a company – with articles of associations or by laws.
Frequently asked questions in this context include:
- Who shall become heir?
- What is to be passed on to which heir?
- Can I exclude certain legal heirs from the heritage in particular assets?
- What happens to claims of heirs who are excluded from the heritage?
- Is there a need to appoint an administrator for the estate?
- How can I proof my position as heir vis-à-vis banks, governmental authorities and courts?
As notary I advise all parties in connection with all hereditary law questions in respect of all possible structures and I notarize in particular:
- will by sole person,
- joint will set up by spouses (gemeinschaftliches Testament),
- will relating to disabled persons,
- will relating to divorced persons,
- unilateral or bilateral marriage contracts,
- inheritance waiver (Erbverzicht),
- waiver of a claim to compulsory share in estate (Pflichtteilsverzicht),
- leaving a legacy (Vermächtnis),
- applications for the issuance of a certificate of inheritance (Erbschein).
If you are spouses and are interested in the setting up of a joint will you may simply fill out the “form joint will” lodged on my homepage and send it back to us by email or to receive first informations via the Online-Information lodged on my homepage. On this basis, we can prepare a first draft without you being required to appear in person in my offices.
Of course you can alternatively also arrange for a personal meeting with me.
Telephone: 06128 – 857 430 (Ms. Christina Sedlak, head of notary office).
Please also take note of the following information regarding the area estate Law, provided by the Federal Notary Chamber.