After the death

When a person dies, in addition to many organizational matters, there are also a number of legal matters that need to be considered and clarified. After a death, there are numerous legal issues that cannot be postponed and must be addressed despite the exceptional emotional situation in order to avoid legal and financial disadvantages as much as possible.

Death certificate / “death certificate”

The death of a person is confirmed by the treating doctors in a death certificate. This death certificate must be presented to the registry office at your last place of residence. Ideally you should include the death certificate

• Family register
• Certificate of descent and, if applicable,
• Marriage certificate

of the deceased person. This step is important for heirs because you can also apply for a death certificate through the registry office.

Tip: As a rule, the undertaker is already there to help on a regular basis and provides support with these formal matters immediately after death.

Will and probate

If there are wills of the deceased – regardless of whether they are individual wills or joint wills – they must be submitted to the probate court immediately. This applies to wills that have not already been filed with the probate court.

Even supposedly invalid, outdated or crossed out wills must be submitted here without exception so that the probate court can get a complete overview of the inheritance situation. Because you are committing a criminal offense if you do not submit wills, you should definitely fulfill this obligation.

Acceptance of inheritance

It should be noted that an inheritance is not formally accepted: an heir automatically accepts the inheritance upon expiry of the renunciation period or by outwardly behaving like an heir. Such conclusive or “implied” behavior is, for example, transferring the testator’s account assets or taking possession of estate items such as a house, a car, etc.

Danger! In principle, once an inheritance has been accepted, it can no longer be refused. It is therefore important to exercise caution here so as not to unintentionally end up in the position of heir, even though you may want to refuse the inheritance!

Once the decision has been made to accept an inheritance, the question arises as to how to proceed.

If there is no will and legal succession applies, or if there is a handwritten will, a certificate of inheritance must usually be applied for. Without such a certificate of inheritance, heirs often find their hands tied, especially when it comes to having public registers such as the land register corrected or accessing financial assets at banks.

The certificate of inheritance is issued upon application by the responsible probate court as part of a certificate of inheritance procedure.

Renunciation of inheritance

An important decision must be made relatively soon after you find out that you have inherited: Should you accept the inheritance or reject it? This decision is important because heirs assume 100% of the legal status of the testator, with all positive and negative consequences such as debts.

In this respect, heirs should first consider whether they want to accept the inheritance or not. This depends on many factors, which can be both legal and economic. Since an heir is generally liable for all of the testator’s liabilities, rejection of the inheritance is usually the method of choice, especially in the case of obviously over-indebted estates.

Important! The issue of renunciation of inheritance can become important not only in the case of over-indebted estates. Even if a testator has “encumbered” the estate through a last will and testament, for example with legacies, division orders or an execution of a will, renunciation of the inheritance can be the economically best way.

In individual cases, a so-called “tactical rejection” may be necessary in order to secure one’s own claim to a compulsory share – a complex and time-critical undertaking that should under no circumstances be undertaken without legal support!

Important facts about rejecting the inheritance:

The 6-week renunciation period generally begins with knowledge of one’s own heir status and cannot be extended.

If testamentary dispositions exist (wills, joint wills or inheritance contracts), the period does not begin before the probate court announces the opening.

Estate administration etc.

However, there is no alternative to rejecting the inheritance. There are also ways to limit the liability of the estate. Such liability-limiting measures include, for example, estate administration or estate insolvency. Which step is the right one should be clarified with professional legal support, as general statements are not possible.

Settlement of the estate

Ultimately, heirs have to settle the estate. If there are several heirs and they form a community of heirs, it generally makes sense to separate them (dissolution of the community of heirs). However, it is possible to continue the community of heirs. However, it should be clarified in detail in each individual case whether continuing is the right solution from an economic and personal perspective.

For example, this is required

• Correction of all estate liabilities,
• fulfillment of legacies,
• Filing the inheritance tax return and
• Division of the estate according to the testator’s instructions or legal provisions

If the testator has ordered the will to be executed by an executor, these tasks generally fall to him if winding up execution is ordered.

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