Once the inheritance has occurred, we support you in the actual settlement (securing the estate) and the legal proceedings. The heir needs a document with which he can show in Germany or in Europe that he is the heir or co-heir after the testator.
This document is called the certificate of inheritance, or European Certificate of Succession.
The certificate of inheritance is required for
- Land register, description of the property
- Banks, closing of accounts
- Leases, termination of co-leases
We help you to get the certificate of inheritance.
1. introduction
According to § 2353 BGB, the certificate of inheritance is a certificate issued by the competent probate court, which
the heir, or the heiress
whose law of succession indicates
and
the size of his inheritance.
In Germany there are different types of inheritance certificates, including
a certificate of inheritance for a sole heir,
a partial certificate of inheritance, which a co-heir applies for only with regard to his share of the inheritance,
a Community certificate of inheritance for all joint heirs with an inheritance quota,
a Community certificate of inheritance for all joint heirs without inheritance quotas,
a certificate of inheritance for pre and post succession,
a certificate of inheritance with and without execution of a will.
The certificate of inheritance is regulated in §§ 2353 ff. BGB.
A certificate of inheritance can become incorrect due to the appearance of other wills.
The certificate of inheritance is not a certificate of inheritance that must be valid forever.
The certificate of inheritance is necessary for the registration in the land register, i.e. if a property exists.
According to § 2365 BGB, it is assumed that the person who has been designated as heir or co-heir in the certificate of inheritance and submits it is also the heir.
2. initiation of the inheritance certificate procedure
How do you get a certificate of inheritance?
The probate proceedings are to be initiated at the probate court where the testator had his last residence, so if the testator had his residence in Munich, the Amtsgericht München, probate court is competent.
The person who wants to apply for a certificate of inheritance must therefore know the last residence of the deceased and then identify the competent probate court.
The law firm of Eulberg and Ott-Eulberg will take care of this for you.
Once the competent probate court has been identified, an application must be made there.
The application for a certificate of inheritance is made by means of an application before the probate court or through a notarial application.
If you are a foreign heir, we will support you by either sending the template to the consulate nearest to you (e.g. USA etc.) or to your notary’s office (Switzerland, France, Holland, Austria etc.) for notarisation. You then only need to make an appointment.
If you request an appointment with the probate court, this must be agreed with the probate court beforehand.
If the application has been made correctly and the necessary documents, such as will and birth and death certificates, have been submitted, the probate court will issue a certificate of inheritance.
We take care of the application for birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates, both in Germany and abroad.