Write your will by hand at home? Or go to the notary? Both forms of inheritance are recognized in Germany.
If a beloved family member dies, relatives are already facing a difficult time in their lives. Things like the funeral need to be arranged, not to mention personal grief. The surviving relatives can't really use the fact that problems arise with the will and the estate at a time like this. That's why you should have already dealt with your own will beforehand. This also includes choosing between a private and a notarial last will.
Private or notarized: advantages and disadvantages of both options for wills
First of all: Both are possible. If you would like to write a will, you can do so either privately or with a notary. According to
Ergo.de,
both forms of will are legally equivalent. Which one is chosen depends on the testator's discretion and needs.
However, both types of wills also have their advantages and disadvantages. A private will, for example, is easy to create or change because it can be easily written at home. However, it is often contestable due to many formal errors made or contains ambiguities that can later lead to disputes between the surviving relatives. In addition, in the case of a private will, most authorities and banks also require a certificate of inheritance, which must be applied for and paid for. In addition, a will kept privately at home can be lost or destroyed more easily than a will deposited with a notary.
A notarial will, on the other hand, costs money to create and make any changes. To do this, it is checked by a specialist who can also advise the testator and stored safely. A certificate of inheritance is no longer necessary if there is a notarized will, so that the surviving dependents are spared these costs.
Private will: What you have to consider for it to be valid
In order for a private will to be valid, certain criteria must be met by the testator.
A private will must be completely handwritten to be valid. The Civil Code (BGB) in § 2247 states, among other things: “The testator can make a will by means of a declaration written and signed by his own hand.” This means: wills that are recorded on a computer, on a typewriter or on film invalid.
A private will must be marked as such. According to the website of the nursing service
Malteser.de
, inheritance lawyer Jan Bittler recommends that a will be given an appropriate heading. "It should have an appropriate heading, such as 'My Will' or 'My Last Will'."
A private will requires a signature from the testator. According to the law, this should contain both first and last names or otherwise be traceable to the deceased, i.e. be recognizable as genuine. If the document consists of several pages, each page requires a signature.
Names should be mentioned in the will. Instead of writing that "my daughter", "my son", "my spouse" or "my carer" inherits something, you should state the names of the heirs with their first and last names in the document to avoid misunderstandings.
According to Erbrechtsinfo.com,
in order to draw up a will, you must
be legally competent under German law. This means that you have to be of legal age and in full possession of your mental powers.
If there is no will: Who inherits according to legal succession
If there is no will or a private will that turns out to be invalid or contestable, legal succession occurs. This divides the surviving dependents into first-order heirs (children, spouses), second-order heirs (parents) and third-order heirs (grandparents).
If a deceased person leaves behind a spouse and children, the partner receives 50 percent of the estate, and the children share the other half of the inheritance equally. If the spouse has also died, the children inherit alone. If the deceased has no children, according to Section 1925 of the Civil Code (BGB), the testator's parents inherit equally. If they also die, the grandparents inherit. If they are already dead, their heirs, i.e. aunts, uncles or siblings, inherit.