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German Probate

German LawGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance Law

Cause of Death is Confidential Information in Germany

How to prove to an insurer that a decedent did not commit suicide As so many other things in Germany (e.g. land registry information), the question of how and from what a person has died, is considered strictly confidential and will not be disclosed to the public. Not even to the next of kin or the spouse! Therefore, in contrast to the UK and most states in the U.S., a German death certificate (Sterbeurkunde, see…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
June 14, 2022
German ProbateGerman Real Estate LawGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

How to obtain probate and administer an estate in Germany

Download your free guide to German probate and estate administration If an inheritance includes German assets or if the last will names a person resident in Germany, it is important to understand the different requirements and effects of UK and German inheritance law and probate proceedings. The basics of German succession laws and intestacy rules as well as German inheritance tax are explained in the brochure “German Probate”, which is available for download here. To…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
June 13, 2022
German ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

Bereavement in Germany: Information and Assistance

What to do if a relative dies in Germany When a relative dies abroad, the very different European probate procedures, foreign succession laws and the language barrier cause additional distress in already very difficult times. The law office Graf & Partners specialises in UK-German bereavement matters since 2003 and is ready to guide you through the legal, tax and practical problems of an international inheritance situation. EU Succession Regulation If the deceased had his/her "habitual…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
April 24, 2022
German ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

Typical Pitfalls of UK-German Probate Case

What English will and probate solicitors should know If an English testator owns assets in Germany, or if they decide to gift all or part or their estate to someone resident in Germany, a “standard” English will does not adequately cover all the client’s needs. Foreign IHT consequences, for example, are often completely ignored, as is the fact that German law does neither know the concept of “personal representative”, nor does it recognise trusts. Standard…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
April 5, 2022
Business in GermanyCivil actionGerman Corporate LawGerman Labor LawGerman LawGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance Law

Less Cricket. More Baseball!

GrafLegal creates US-German Legal Desk Too much cricket, not enough baseball! That's essentially what our marketing people told us after finding that 65% of all posts on our various law blogs deal with UK-German legal issues, only 35% with USA related topics. We may just have gone a bit too much Downton Abbey on everyone. Enough of that, let's balance the scales! The German law firm for US-German legal matters To start off our US…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
March 29, 2022
Civil actionEuropean ProbateGerman ProbateGoing to court

Experts on Contentious Probate in Germany

How to challenge a German Last Will and Testament  German Probate Courts routinely issue a German Grant of Probate (Erbschein) to the applicant without any pro-active investigation into the question whether the testator did possess legal capacity or not. In other words, if nobody comes forward to challenge the validity of the last will, the German court will issue the Erbschein even if the German testator had suffered from severe dementia at the time the…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
October 29, 2021
Business in GermanyGerman LawGerman ProbateLitigation in Germany

German Desk at London Law Firm

Experts in Anglo-German Law The German law office Graf & Partners provides legal advice on German civil and commercial law matters for English speaking clients since 2003. The Bavaria based lawyer team around co-founder and managing partner Bernhard Schmeilzl specialises in German-British civil litigation, commercial and corporate law, international probate cases and estate planning. German Civil Litigation Experts With more than 20 years of courtroom experience under his belt, Bernhard is a renowned German civil…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
July 9, 2021
European ProbateGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawGoing to court

How to Dissolve a German Community of Heirs

What to do if co-heirs in Germany cannot agree on how to distribute the estate Under German law, as well as in most other EU jurisdictions, there is no personal representative (executor or administratror) who takes possession of and deals with the estate. Instead, the "heir" (Erbe) is the immediate and direct successor of the deceased. This principle of automatic and direct succession is called "unmittelbare Gesamtrechtsnachfolge". This is all swell if there is only…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
April 13, 2021
German LawGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawLitigation in Germany

The German Elective Share

Children and surviving Spouse cannot be entirely disinherited under German Law Germany, like many other European countries (e.g. France, Spain, Austria etc), has mandatory succession laws to stop a person from leaving their spouse and/or their children penniless. These "forced heirship" laws in most European countries reflect public policy that a testator shall not be allowed to leave these close family members (spouse and offspring) destitute by making little or no provision for them in…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
December 23, 2020