Jens Michaelis - Notar | Rechtsanwalt

Last will / inheritance contract

a) legal succession

If the succession has not been regulated by a last will, the legal succession applies as a substitute.
If you have children, only your children and your spouse are entitled to inherit according to the legal succession. In case of inheritance, they form a community of heirs according to certain inheritance quotas (depending on the matrimonial property regime in which you live).

If you are married but do not have any children of your own, the surviving spouse will not inherit you alone - as is often wrongly assumed - but together with your parents or, if they are no longer alive, together with your siblings and possibly their children.

If you are not married and have no children, then your parents or, if they are no longer alive, your siblings and their children inherit. As far as these should not live anymore, then accordingly the more distant relatives.

b) voluntary succession

In a last will and testamentary disposition on death (= will or inheritance contract) you can determine - in contrast to the legal succession - who is to receive your assets after your death and at what rate. The heir appointed by you will, in principle, assume all legal positions that you yourself hold by way of universal succession in the event of your death. Therefore, you do not have to assign individual assets to an heir, but you only have to name him/her as a person as heir. He/she will then automatically become the owner of all your assets upon your death. If you appoint several heirs, this majority of heirs forms a community of heirs.

A distinction must be made between heirs and legatees, who are only assigned one or more individual assets in the event of death. An heir can also be appointed as legatee if he is to receive a single asset in addition to his quota share of the total estate.

In a will, you can also make precise instructions as to how a community of heirs is to be divided, appoint an executor of the will, regulate successions for several deaths and much more.

If you already have concrete ideas about who is to be bequeathed in the will and how, then you can already send us the following information in advance by e-mail:

- the personal details of the heirs (all first names and surnames, addresses, birthdays),

- information on how you wish to distribute your estate among the heirs

- Information on possible legal heirs and heirs entitled to a compulsory portion (children, spouses, parents and siblings), as far as they are not already among the heirs

- approximate details of your assets to be distributed (value)

Then, if necessary, a draft will can already be prepared on the basis of this information - without a preliminary meeting - and sent to you in advance for review. Questions can be clarified on the basis of the draft by e-mail or telephone and finally at the later notarization appointment.

If you do not yet have any more detailed ideas or specific questions about the succession or the regulation options in a will, you can also arrange a preliminary meeting in which the succession and the recommended regulation options in a will are discussed. In this case, however, you should also consider in advance how you want your assets to be distributed in the event of your death. The concrete legal implementation will then be discussed at the meeting. The notarization of the will will then take place in a further appointment (after a draft has been sent).

Note: The notary's activity is subject to fees. The fees are based on the Court and Notary Costs Act (GNotKG) and are the same for all notaries. The issuance of a notarization order is associated with costs (for the preparation of the draft), even if the notarization does not take place later.

On the A 100 take exit 20-Tempfelhofer Damm, then head north on the B96 (Tempelhofer Damm/Mehringdamm) until you reach Mehringdamm (on the left approx. 100 m before the Mehringdamm/Gneisenaustr. intersection).

Take the subway to U-Bhf Mehringdamm (U6/U7), then walk south on Mehringdamm to Mehringdamm 50 (approx. 300 m).

Alternatively, you can reach us by bus M19 (station U-Mehringdamm) or by bus 140 (station Yorckstr./Großbeerenstr.).

Directions PDF

Mehringdamm 50 | 10961 Berlin

Tel.: 030 68 83 65 89 | Fax.: 030 7889 7245

notar[at]j-michaelis[dot]de (notary issues)

ra[at]j-michaelis[dot]de (lawyer issues)