This way your children don’t get a cent

By: Julia Löffelholz

It is common for parents to leave part of their wealth to their children as an inheritance. But what if the family is at odds and the children shouldn’t get anything? There are several ways to disinherit them.

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Dispute over heritage

Disinheriting his offspring is not easy. You have to bring that first – and also on paper.

Image: Getty Images

Frankfurt "I disinherit you!" – This sentence is dropped again and again in films. The reason is usually an improper marriage, an allegedly serious betrayal of the family or a dispute with the head of the family. But in reality there are disagreements in families that cause parents to disinherit their children.

However, leaving close relatives completely empty is not that easy, says Ursula Seiler-Schopp from the German Association for Inheritance Law and Succession. In principle, children are entitled to a compulsory portion when their parents die – even if the parents do not mention them in the will.

The division is prescribed by law: the compulsory portion is half of the portion that they are legally entitled to if there is no will. If a widower leaves two children, but only wants to inherit one, the disinherited child receives a compulsory portion of one quarter and the other child the remaining three quarters of the property.

inheritance

What heirs should know

But not only children have the right to a part of the inheritance, but also spouses and parents. In the latter, however, Seiler-Schopp limits: "Parents lose their entitlement if the deceased person has children themselves." Life partners who were not married to the deceased person, on the other hand, would not have the right to a compulsory portion, says the specialist lawyer for inheritance law.

“So that a relative only receives the compulsory portion, you simply have to draw up a will and appoint another person as heir. This means that everyone else is automatically disinherited, ”explains Claus-Henrik Horn, specialist lawyer for inheritance law. However, if the disinherited do not become active themselves afterwards, they do not even receive their compulsory portion.

“The children have to approach the heirs and request a list of the entire estate. They also have to claim their mandatory share, ”he says. The beneficiaries have three years to do this. And: The period begins on January 1 of the year after the death.

Even with a so-called “Berlin will”, a will in which the spouses mutually act as heirs and the children only inherit after the death of the second spouse, the children are entitled to a compulsory portion as soon as they die.

"In this case, a mandatory portion clause is often included in the will. Whoever claims the compulsory portion in the first succession receives only the compulsory portion in the second succession, ”said Horn. In principle, the compulsory portion is always paid out in money. "The person entitled to compulsory participation may not request any objects or memorabilia."

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