“I disinherit you!” is easier said than done. The hurdles for disinheritance are very high under German inheritance law. This applies at least to heirs who are entitled to a compulsory portion in accordance with the statutory order of succession.

If several persons inherit together, they are jointly entitled to the administration and distribution of the estate, unless the deceased has made a different arrangement. In practice, this often means that the community of heirs also becomes a community of fate in matters of property, which can usually only be ended by the so-called “settlement”.

If the deceased failed to make a testamentary succession arrangement, the estate is distributed in accordance with statutory inheritance law. Inheritance is determined according to a statutory order of precedence based on the degree of kinship to the deceased person.

What happens if someone dies without leaving a will or an inheritance contract? In this case, the statutory succession applies in Germany, which we explain in this article.