INHERITANCE LAW
Estate administration: support for heirs
When a relative dies, the first deadlines start running while you are still occupied with something else entirely: the bank freezes the account, the probate court sends post, the tax office expects a notification. I am Dr Hanna Schmidt, attorney at law at DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL in Cologne. I put the estate in order with you: who the heirs are, the deadlines, assets and liabilities, liability, the division.
Estate administration: what happens legally on death
On death the assets pass as a whole to the heir or the heirs (section 1922 German Civil Code). There is no intermediate state and no declaration by which one first becomes an heir: you are one, until you disclaim.
Along with the assets, the debts pass too, as do current contracts, tenancies and the deceased's tax obligations (section 45 German Fiscal Code). That is exactly where the time pressure of the first weeks comes from, because the decision whether to accept or disclaim presupposes knowledge of the estate, and at the start nobody has it.
Disclaiming or accepting: six weeks
The period for disclaiming is six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code). It does not begin on the date of death, but when you learn of the inheritance and of the grounds on which you were called to it, and where succession is by will at the earliest when the probate court notifies the disposition.
It is six months where the deceased's last residence was exclusively abroad or you are abroad when the period begins (section 1944(3)). The disclaimer is declared to the probate court, either recorded by the court or in publicly certified form (section 1945), that is, through a notary.
Anyone who disclaims passes the inheritance on to the next in line, frequently to their own children. With an over-indebted estate the disclaimer therefore has to be made for minor children as well. Partial disclaiming is not possible.
The certificate of inheritance: dispensable more often than heirs assume
A certificate of inheritance is a document issued by the probate court confirming your right of inheritance. It is applied for at the probate court (section 2353 German Civil Code), so for Cologne estates at the Cologne Local Court. It is regularly needed where succession is by law or under a handwritten will, when a property has to be transferred in the land register or a bank rightly insists on the certificate.
But it is not always necessary. Where there is a notarial will or a contract of inheritance, the document together with the probate court's record of its opening is sufficient, including before the land registry (section 35(1) German Land Register Code). Before every application I therefore check whether it is actually needed. Nobody refunds the fees for an avoidable application.
The schedule of the estate is the basis for everything else
A reliable schedule records assets and liabilities as at the date of death: accounts and securities portfolios with balances, property with land register details, shareholdings, vehicles, household contents of value and outstanding receivables. Against that: loans, unpaid invoices, care home and funeral costs, tax debts. Gifts made in the last ten years belong there too, because they matter for the supplementary compulsory share and for inheritance tax.
A person entitled to a compulsory share can demand information and a schedule from the heir, and on request also a valuation, the cost of which is borne by the estate. They can require a notary to draw up the schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Anyone who schedules sloppily hands the other side the argument that the schedule is unusable, and will end up doing the whole thing twice.
Limiting liability for the estate's debts
As an heir you are liable for the estate's liabilities (section 1967 German Civil Code), initially with your own assets as well. The statute gives you tools to limit that liability to the estate, but they only work if reached for in time.
In the first three months after acceptance you can refuse to settle estate liabilities, at the latest until the inventory is drawn up (section 2014). Where the position is unclear or the estate is over-indebted, court-supervised estate administration and estate insolvency proceedings come into question. Both separate the estate from your own assets (section 1975).
Be careful with the inventory deadline: if the probate court sets a period for drawing up the inventory on a creditor's application and you let it lapse, you are liable without limit (section 1994).
A community of heirs is built on acting together
Several heirs form a community of heirs. They can only dispose of estate assets jointly (section 2040 German Civil Code). Administration is likewise joint, although measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority of votes according to the size of the shares (section 2038). Each co-heir can dispose of their share in the estate as a whole, by notarially recorded transaction (section 2033).
Externally the co-heirs are liable together. As long as the estate has not been divided, every co-heir can refer creditors to the estate; after the division that becomes more difficult. From this follows the order: first clarify the assets and liabilities, then divide. Every co-heir can demand the division (section 2042). The orderly route is a division agreement.
Accounts, the land register and the tax office
In practice the administration begins with the banks. Without a power of attorney that continues to apply, the account becomes an estate account: any transaction requires proof of succession, and where there are several heirs the institutions as a rule demand joint instructions. Request a statement of all accounts and securities portfolios as at the date of death early on, because those balances are the basis for the tax notification and for the division.
If the estate includes a property, the land register has to be corrected. If the correction is applied for within two years of the death, it remains free of charge (no. 14110 of the schedule to the German Court and Notary Costs Act). The acquisition has to be notified to the tax office within three months (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act). I leave the tax calculation to your tax adviser; I am not a tax adviser.
Where heirs lose money in the administration
01
The deadline for disclaiming runs out in the background
Six weeks are short when account balances are unclear and documents are missing. Anyone who lets the period lapse has accepted (section 1943 German Civil Code) and afterwards only argues about limiting liability. Where over-indebtedness is suspected, calculating the deadline belongs at the very start of the sorting work.
02
Dealing with estate assets before the position is clear
The flat is cleared, the car sold, the savings account closed. Such steps can be treated as acceptance of the inheritance and block the chance to disclaim. Within a community of heirs they are additionally ineffective (section 2040 German Civil Code). So clarify matters before you clear anything.
03
The schedule of assets stays incomplete
If secondary accounts, charges or gifts are missing, the division is negotiated on a false basis, and anyone entitled to a compulsory share can force a valuation and a notarial schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Later corrections cost trust, which is in short supply in a community of heirs anyway.
04
Tax is thought about too late
The three-month period for notifying the tax office (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act) runs alongside everything else. If the estate is distributed before the order of magnitude of the tax is known, the liquidity for the assessment is missing later.
How I proceed
01
Establishing who the heirs are and the deadlines
Which disposition upon death exists, who has been called to the inheritance, when did the period for disclaiming begin? The result: who is an heir, with what share, and by when a decision has to be made.
02
Recording the estate
I write to banks, insurers, property managers and contractual partners, collect balances as at the date of death, obtain land register extracts and review current contracts. In parallel the liabilities are recorded, including funeral costs, outstanding care home fees and current loans.
03
Securing your position on liability
If the estate looks shaky, I reach for the tools: the three-month defence, an inventory, and in a serious case court-supervised estate administration, with the figures carrying the decision. I will also tell you when disclaiming is the more honest route.
04
Division
The aim is a division agreement that everyone signs: allocation of the assets, equalisation of value, release from liabilities, how open tax questions are handled. Only once that has visibly failed do we go into proceedings.
A typical situation
01
Who the heirs are is not settled
The estate consists of two accounts, a securities portfolio, the tenancy agreement for the flat in which the deceased last lived, and household contents. There is a handwritten will, undated, and one of the people named died before the deceased. Two deadlines are running at the same time: six weeks for disclaiming, three months for notifying the tax office.
02
The way through is the order of steps
First who the heirs are and when the period began are established, then the balances at the date of death and the liabilities go on the table. The rent continues to be paid out of the estate, but whoever clears the flat and distributes the household contents may have accepted by doing so. So an interim arrangement with the landlord is sought first.
YOUR QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
No. What decides is not the death itself but the form of the disposition and the office that wants to see proof. Rule of thumb: with a notarial will or a contract of inheritance it is usually dispensable; with statutory succession and with a handwritten will you need it. That is why, before any application, I ask the offices involved which proof they specifically require.
Six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code), or six months where there is a foreign element. More important than the number is when the period starts, because that depends on your knowledge and not on the date of death. With a will the period runs at the earliest from notification by the probate court. The form is just as strict (section 1945): to the probate court or to a notary; informal post has no effect.
A single co-heir cannot prevent the division permanently. Every co-heir can demand it (section 2042 German Civil Code). Measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority according to the size of the shares (section 2038), whereas disposals of individual estate assets need everyone (section 2040). If everything stays blocked, an action for division of the estate and a partition auction are the means that end the deadlock.
I bill by time; my hourly rate is 280 euros plus 19% VAT. You receive the fee agreement before we start, and the statutory fees under the German Lawyers' Fees Act (RVG) form the minimum. The initial consultation is also billed by time. After that first conversation I tell you what effort I expect. Court and notary costs and the cost of valuations are charged separately.
Billing through legal expenses insurance is possible, but it rarely covers the whole effort. As a rule the insurer only pays the statutory fees under the RVG; you bear the difference to my hourly fee yourself. In inheritance matters many policies only cover advice. Clarify this with your insurer before instructing me and have the confirmation given in writing.
Administering an estate in an orderly way
Bring what you have: the death certificate, the will, post from the probate court, bank documents. In the initial consultation we clarify your position as an heir, the deadlines that are running and the next steps. Appointments at Jakordenstrasse 8 in Cologne, by video or phone on request.
INHERITANCE LAW
Estate administration: support for heirs
When a relative dies, the first deadlines start running while you are still occupied with something else entirely: the bank freezes the account, the probate court sends post, the tax office expects a notification. I am Dr Hanna Schmidt, attorney at law at DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL in Cologne. I put the estate in order with you: who the heirs are, the deadlines, assets and liabilities, liability, the division.
Estate administration: what happens legally on death
On death the assets pass as a whole to the heir or the heirs (section 1922 German Civil Code). There is no intermediate state and no declaration by which one first becomes an heir: you are one, until you disclaim.
Along with the assets, the debts pass too, as do current contracts, tenancies and the deceased's tax obligations (section 45 German Fiscal Code). That is exactly where the time pressure of the first weeks comes from, because the decision whether to accept or disclaim presupposes knowledge of the estate, and at the start nobody has it.
Disclaiming or accepting: six weeks
The period for disclaiming is six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code). It does not begin on the date of death, but when you learn of the inheritance and of the grounds on which you were called to it, and where succession is by will at the earliest when the probate court notifies the disposition.
It is six months where the deceased's last residence was exclusively abroad or you are abroad when the period begins (section 1944(3)). The disclaimer is declared to the probate court, either recorded by the court or in publicly certified form (section 1945), that is, through a notary.
Anyone who disclaims passes the inheritance on to the next in line, frequently to their own children. With an over-indebted estate the disclaimer therefore has to be made for minor children as well. Partial disclaiming is not possible.
The certificate of inheritance: dispensable more often than heirs assume
A certificate of inheritance is a document issued by the probate court confirming your right of inheritance. It is applied for at the probate court (section 2353 German Civil Code), so for Cologne estates at the Cologne Local Court. It is regularly needed where succession is by law or under a handwritten will, when a property has to be transferred in the land register or a bank rightly insists on the certificate.
But it is not always necessary. Where there is a notarial will or a contract of inheritance, the document together with the probate court's record of its opening is sufficient, including before the land registry (section 35(1) German Land Register Code). Before every application I therefore check whether it is actually needed. Nobody refunds the fees for an avoidable application.
The schedule of the estate is the basis for everything else
A reliable schedule records assets and liabilities as at the date of death: accounts and securities portfolios with balances, property with land register details, shareholdings, vehicles, household contents of value and outstanding receivables. Against that: loans, unpaid invoices, care home and funeral costs, tax debts. Gifts made in the last ten years belong there too, because they matter for the supplementary compulsory share and for inheritance tax.
A person entitled to a compulsory share can demand information and a schedule from the heir, and on request also a valuation, the cost of which is borne by the estate. They can require a notary to draw up the schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Anyone who schedules sloppily hands the other side the argument that the schedule is unusable, and will end up doing the whole thing twice.
Limiting liability for the estate's debts
As an heir you are liable for the estate's liabilities (section 1967 German Civil Code), initially with your own assets as well. The statute gives you tools to limit that liability to the estate, but they only work if reached for in time.
In the first three months after acceptance you can refuse to settle estate liabilities, at the latest until the inventory is drawn up (section 2014). Where the position is unclear or the estate is over-indebted, court-supervised estate administration and estate insolvency proceedings come into question. Both separate the estate from your own assets (section 1975).
Be careful with the inventory deadline: if the probate court sets a period for drawing up the inventory on a creditor's application and you let it lapse, you are liable without limit (section 1994).
A community of heirs is built on acting together
Several heirs form a community of heirs. They can only dispose of estate assets jointly (section 2040 German Civil Code). Administration is likewise joint, although measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority of votes according to the size of the shares (section 2038). Each co-heir can dispose of their share in the estate as a whole, by notarially recorded transaction (section 2033).
Externally the co-heirs are liable together. As long as the estate has not been divided, every co-heir can refer creditors to the estate; after the division that becomes more difficult. From this follows the order: first clarify the assets and liabilities, then divide. Every co-heir can demand the division (section 2042). The orderly route is a division agreement.
Accounts, the land register and the tax office
In practice the administration begins with the banks. Without a power of attorney that continues to apply, the account becomes an estate account: any transaction requires proof of succession, and where there are several heirs the institutions as a rule demand joint instructions. Request a statement of all accounts and securities portfolios as at the date of death early on, because those balances are the basis for the tax notification and for the division.
If the estate includes a property, the land register has to be corrected. If the correction is applied for within two years of the death, it remains free of charge (no. 14110 of the schedule to the German Court and Notary Costs Act). The acquisition has to be notified to the tax office within three months (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act). I leave the tax calculation to your tax adviser; I am not a tax adviser.
Where heirs lose money in the administration
01
The deadline for disclaiming runs out in the background
Six weeks are short when account balances are unclear and documents are missing. Anyone who lets the period lapse has accepted (section 1943 German Civil Code) and afterwards only argues about limiting liability. Where over-indebtedness is suspected, calculating the deadline belongs at the very start of the sorting work.
02
Dealing with estate assets before the position is clear
The flat is cleared, the car sold, the savings account closed. Such steps can be treated as acceptance of the inheritance and block the chance to disclaim. Within a community of heirs they are additionally ineffective (section 2040 German Civil Code). So clarify matters before you clear anything.
03
The schedule of assets stays incomplete
If secondary accounts, charges or gifts are missing, the division is negotiated on a false basis, and anyone entitled to a compulsory share can force a valuation and a notarial schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Later corrections cost trust, which is in short supply in a community of heirs anyway.
04
Tax is thought about too late
The three-month period for notifying the tax office (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act) runs alongside everything else. If the estate is distributed before the order of magnitude of the tax is known, the liquidity for the assessment is missing later.
How I proceed
01
Establishing who the heirs are and the deadlines
Which disposition upon death exists, who has been called to the inheritance, when did the period for disclaiming begin? The result: who is an heir, with what share, and by when a decision has to be made.
02
Recording the estate
I write to banks, insurers, property managers and contractual partners, collect balances as at the date of death, obtain land register extracts and review current contracts. In parallel the liabilities are recorded, including funeral costs, outstanding care home fees and current loans.
03
Securing your position on liability
If the estate looks shaky, I reach for the tools: the three-month defence, an inventory, and in a serious case court-supervised estate administration, with the figures carrying the decision. I will also tell you when disclaiming is the more honest route.
04
Division
The aim is a division agreement that everyone signs: allocation of the assets, equalisation of value, release from liabilities, how open tax questions are handled. Only once that has visibly failed do we go into proceedings.
A typical situation
01
Who the heirs are is not settled
The estate consists of two accounts, a securities portfolio, the tenancy agreement for the flat in which the deceased last lived, and household contents. There is a handwritten will, undated, and one of the people named died before the deceased. Two deadlines are running at the same time: six weeks for disclaiming, three months for notifying the tax office.
02
The way through is the order of steps
First who the heirs are and when the period began are established, then the balances at the date of death and the liabilities go on the table. The rent continues to be paid out of the estate, but whoever clears the flat and distributes the household contents may have accepted by doing so. So an interim arrangement with the landlord is sought first.
YOUR QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
No. What decides is not the death itself but the form of the disposition and the office that wants to see proof. Rule of thumb: with a notarial will or a contract of inheritance it is usually dispensable; with statutory succession and with a handwritten will you need it. That is why, before any application, I ask the offices involved which proof they specifically require.
Six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code), or six months where there is a foreign element. More important than the number is when the period starts, because that depends on your knowledge and not on the date of death. With a will the period runs at the earliest from notification by the probate court. The form is just as strict (section 1945): to the probate court or to a notary; informal post has no effect.
A single co-heir cannot prevent the division permanently. Every co-heir can demand it (section 2042 German Civil Code). Measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority according to the size of the shares (section 2038), whereas disposals of individual estate assets need everyone (section 2040). If everything stays blocked, an action for division of the estate and a partition auction are the means that end the deadlock.
I bill by time; my hourly rate is 280 euros plus 19% VAT. You receive the fee agreement before we start, and the statutory fees under the German Lawyers' Fees Act (RVG) form the minimum. The initial consultation is also billed by time. After that first conversation I tell you what effort I expect. Court and notary costs and the cost of valuations are charged separately.
Billing through legal expenses insurance is possible, but it rarely covers the whole effort. As a rule the insurer only pays the statutory fees under the RVG; you bear the difference to my hourly fee yourself. In inheritance matters many policies only cover advice. Clarify this with your insurer before instructing me and have the confirmation given in writing.
Administering an estate in an orderly way
Bring what you have: the death certificate, the will, post from the probate court, bank documents. In the initial consultation we clarify your position as an heir, the deadlines that are running and the next steps. Appointments at Jakordenstrasse 8 in Cologne, by video or phone on request.
INHERITANCE LAW
Estate administration: support for heirs
When a relative dies, the first deadlines start running while you are still occupied with something else entirely: the bank freezes the account, the probate court sends post, the tax office expects a notification. I am Dr Hanna Schmidt, attorney at law at DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL in Cologne. I put the estate in order with you: who the heirs are, the deadlines, assets and liabilities, liability, the division.
Estate administration: what happens legally on death
On death the assets pass as a whole to the heir or the heirs (section 1922 German Civil Code). There is no intermediate state and no declaration by which one first becomes an heir: you are one, until you disclaim.
Along with the assets, the debts pass too, as do current contracts, tenancies and the deceased's tax obligations (section 45 German Fiscal Code). That is exactly where the time pressure of the first weeks comes from, because the decision whether to accept or disclaim presupposes knowledge of the estate, and at the start nobody has it.
Disclaiming or accepting: six weeks
The period for disclaiming is six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code). It does not begin on the date of death, but when you learn of the inheritance and of the grounds on which you were called to it, and where succession is by will at the earliest when the probate court notifies the disposition.
It is six months where the deceased's last residence was exclusively abroad or you are abroad when the period begins (section 1944(3)). The disclaimer is declared to the probate court, either recorded by the court or in publicly certified form (section 1945), that is, through a notary.
Anyone who disclaims passes the inheritance on to the next in line, frequently to their own children. With an over-indebted estate the disclaimer therefore has to be made for minor children as well. Partial disclaiming is not possible.
The certificate of inheritance: dispensable more often than heirs assume
A certificate of inheritance is a document issued by the probate court confirming your right of inheritance. It is applied for at the probate court (section 2353 German Civil Code), so for Cologne estates at the Cologne Local Court. It is regularly needed where succession is by law or under a handwritten will, when a property has to be transferred in the land register or a bank rightly insists on the certificate.
But it is not always necessary. Where there is a notarial will or a contract of inheritance, the document together with the probate court's record of its opening is sufficient, including before the land registry (section 35(1) German Land Register Code). Before every application I therefore check whether it is actually needed. Nobody refunds the fees for an avoidable application.
The schedule of the estate is the basis for everything else
A reliable schedule records assets and liabilities as at the date of death: accounts and securities portfolios with balances, property with land register details, shareholdings, vehicles, household contents of value and outstanding receivables. Against that: loans, unpaid invoices, care home and funeral costs, tax debts. Gifts made in the last ten years belong there too, because they matter for the supplementary compulsory share and for inheritance tax.
A person entitled to a compulsory share can demand information and a schedule from the heir, and on request also a valuation, the cost of which is borne by the estate. They can require a notary to draw up the schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Anyone who schedules sloppily hands the other side the argument that the schedule is unusable, and will end up doing the whole thing twice.
Limiting liability for the estate's debts
As an heir you are liable for the estate's liabilities (section 1967 German Civil Code), initially with your own assets as well. The statute gives you tools to limit that liability to the estate, but they only work if reached for in time.
In the first three months after acceptance you can refuse to settle estate liabilities, at the latest until the inventory is drawn up (section 2014). Where the position is unclear or the estate is over-indebted, court-supervised estate administration and estate insolvency proceedings come into question. Both separate the estate from your own assets (section 1975).
Be careful with the inventory deadline: if the probate court sets a period for drawing up the inventory on a creditor's application and you let it lapse, you are liable without limit (section 1994).
A community of heirs is built on acting together
Several heirs form a community of heirs. They can only dispose of estate assets jointly (section 2040 German Civil Code). Administration is likewise joint, although measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority of votes according to the size of the shares (section 2038). Each co-heir can dispose of their share in the estate as a whole, by notarially recorded transaction (section 2033).
Externally the co-heirs are liable together. As long as the estate has not been divided, every co-heir can refer creditors to the estate; after the division that becomes more difficult. From this follows the order: first clarify the assets and liabilities, then divide. Every co-heir can demand the division (section 2042). The orderly route is a division agreement.
Accounts, the land register and the tax office
In practice the administration begins with the banks. Without a power of attorney that continues to apply, the account becomes an estate account: any transaction requires proof of succession, and where there are several heirs the institutions as a rule demand joint instructions. Request a statement of all accounts and securities portfolios as at the date of death early on, because those balances are the basis for the tax notification and for the division.
If the estate includes a property, the land register has to be corrected. If the correction is applied for within two years of the death, it remains free of charge (no. 14110 of the schedule to the German Court and Notary Costs Act). The acquisition has to be notified to the tax office within three months (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act). I leave the tax calculation to your tax adviser; I am not a tax adviser.
Where heirs lose money in the administration
01
The deadline for disclaiming runs out in the background
Six weeks are short when account balances are unclear and documents are missing. Anyone who lets the period lapse has accepted (section 1943 German Civil Code) and afterwards only argues about limiting liability. Where over-indebtedness is suspected, calculating the deadline belongs at the very start of the sorting work.
02
Dealing with estate assets before the position is clear
The flat is cleared, the car sold, the savings account closed. Such steps can be treated as acceptance of the inheritance and block the chance to disclaim. Within a community of heirs they are additionally ineffective (section 2040 German Civil Code). So clarify matters before you clear anything.
03
The schedule of assets stays incomplete
If secondary accounts, charges or gifts are missing, the division is negotiated on a false basis, and anyone entitled to a compulsory share can force a valuation and a notarial schedule (section 2314 German Civil Code). Later corrections cost trust, which is in short supply in a community of heirs anyway.
04
Tax is thought about too late
The three-month period for notifying the tax office (section 30 German Inheritance Tax Act) runs alongside everything else. If the estate is distributed before the order of magnitude of the tax is known, the liquidity for the assessment is missing later.
How I proceed
01
Establishing who the heirs are and the deadlines
Which disposition upon death exists, who has been called to the inheritance, when did the period for disclaiming begin? The result: who is an heir, with what share, and by when a decision has to be made.
02
Recording the estate
I write to banks, insurers, property managers and contractual partners, collect balances as at the date of death, obtain land register extracts and review current contracts. In parallel the liabilities are recorded, including funeral costs, outstanding care home fees and current loans.
03
Securing your position on liability
If the estate looks shaky, I reach for the tools: the three-month defence, an inventory, and in a serious case court-supervised estate administration, with the figures carrying the decision. I will also tell you when disclaiming is the more honest route.
04
Division
The aim is a division agreement that everyone signs: allocation of the assets, equalisation of value, release from liabilities, how open tax questions are handled. Only once that has visibly failed do we go into proceedings.
A typical situation
01
Who the heirs are is not settled
The estate consists of two accounts, a securities portfolio, the tenancy agreement for the flat in which the deceased last lived, and household contents. There is a handwritten will, undated, and one of the people named died before the deceased. Two deadlines are running at the same time: six weeks for disclaiming, three months for notifying the tax office.
02
The way through is the order of steps
First who the heirs are and when the period began are established, then the balances at the date of death and the liabilities go on the table. The rent continues to be paid out of the estate, but whoever clears the flat and distributes the household contents may have accepted by doing so. So an interim arrangement with the landlord is sought first.
YOUR QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
No. What decides is not the death itself but the form of the disposition and the office that wants to see proof. Rule of thumb: with a notarial will or a contract of inheritance it is usually dispensable; with statutory succession and with a handwritten will you need it. That is why, before any application, I ask the offices involved which proof they specifically require.
Six weeks (section 1944 German Civil Code), or six months where there is a foreign element. More important than the number is when the period starts, because that depends on your knowledge and not on the date of death. With a will the period runs at the earliest from notification by the probate court. The form is just as strict (section 1945): to the probate court or to a notary; informal post has no effect.
A single co-heir cannot prevent the division permanently. Every co-heir can demand it (section 2042 German Civil Code). Measures of proper administration can be resolved by a majority according to the size of the shares (section 2038), whereas disposals of individual estate assets need everyone (section 2040). If everything stays blocked, an action for division of the estate and a partition auction are the means that end the deadlock.
I bill by time; my hourly rate is 280 euros plus 19% VAT. You receive the fee agreement before we start, and the statutory fees under the German Lawyers' Fees Act (RVG) form the minimum. The initial consultation is also billed by time. After that first conversation I tell you what effort I expect. Court and notary costs and the cost of valuations are charged separately.
Billing through legal expenses insurance is possible, but it rarely covers the whole effort. As a rule the insurer only pays the statutory fees under the RVG; you bear the difference to my hourly fee yourself. In inheritance matters many policies only cover advice. Clarify this with your insurer before instructing me and have the confirmation given in writing.
Administering an estate in an orderly way
Bring what you have: the death certificate, the will, post from the probate court, bank documents. In the initial consultation we clarify your position as an heir, the deadlines that are running and the next steps. Appointments at Jakordenstrasse 8 in Cologne, by video or phone on request.