Right disinherit: whoever was in prison can go empty-handed

Correctly disinherited Your children don’t get a cent

It is only occasionally possible to let the children go completely empty. "The children must have behaved very blatantly to do this," says Horn. According to the law, children can be left empty-handed if the beneficiary seeks the deceased’s or someone close to him or her life, is guilty of a crime or a serious willful misconduct against the testator, has maliciously violated his legal maintenance obligation or has committed an intentional criminal offense has been legally sentenced to prison for at least one year without parole.

Then it applies that the participation of the person entitled to the compulsory part of the estate is unreasonable for the testator. “There is a malicious violation of the maintenance obligation if a father never paid his son maintenance. If the son dies, he may be able to withdraw the compulsory portion from his father, ”explains Seiler-Schopp.

Loss of millions for the tax authorities: Many tax assessments from heirs are wrong

Almost half of the inheritance tax assessments are apparently incorrect. The State Audit Office of North Rhine-Westphalia comes to this conclusion. It may even be only half the story.

In principle, the will must state in detail why a potential heir is deprived of the compulsory portion. "It is not enough to write in the will: ‘I am withdrawing the compulsory portion because of this act,’" says Horn. "The deed must be described and it must be explained why it is unreasonable for the child to get something from the inheritance."

In this case, unacceptability means that the crime has brought the testator into an unbearable situation – for example, if the son raped a child and the parents were outlawed for this by the entire village. Horn adds: "If the father has committed crimes with the son, he cannot say that the son’s actions have put him in an unbearable situation."

Relatives of the testator and his spouse or registered partner are considered legal heirs. However, illegitimate partners are not entitled to inheritance.

In order to regulate this, the law divides the relatives into different "orders". If there are first-order relatives, only these inherit – subject to the spouse or partner’s right to inherit. The principle therefore applies that relatives of a higher order exclude those of the following order from the inheritance.

This group includes the descendants of the deceased, that is, their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. Physical and adopted children are just as equal as marital and non-marital. But heir is always only the descendant who is closest to the testator. So as long as a child of the testator is still alive, a grandson cannot become his heir. As long as the grandson is alive, not the great grandson and so on.

This group includes the deceased’s parents and – if they are no longer alive – their descendants. In other words: the testator’s siblings and their descendants, such as his nieces and nephews. However, members of the second order only inherit if there are no heirs of the first order (or their turn).

The testator’s grandparents and their descendants are to be mentioned here – i.e. his aunts and uncles or the cousins.

Great-grandparents of the testator and their descendants belong to the fourth order. In the fourth order, only the person who is closest to the deceased inherits. The closest relative therefore excludes the distant relatives. If there are several relatives close by, everyone gets the same part.

It depends on wherein Property regime that Pair lived and how many other heirs there are.

Another possibility to release a relative from the compulsory portion: agree a waiver of the compulsory portion with the beneficiary during his lifetime. "Waiver of compulsory shares occurs particularly in family businesses if only one of the children is to inherit the company or the company is transferred to a foundation," says Horn.

If it is not possible to let the child go completely empty, the compulsory portion can at least be minimized – for example, by giving the testator some of his or her assets before the death to the person he would like to see as an heir.

However, caution is advised here: "In principle, gifts are still part of the hereditary mass for ten years," says Seiler-Schopp. "Every year a tenth is written off." A gift of 100,000 euros is therefore still fully inherited in the first year, but only 90,000 euros in the second year. So it would be 10,000 euros less every year.

Wrong tax bill >: Heirs face additional payments

In NRW every second decision about inheritance tax is said to be incorrect. Many heirs paid too little tax. But you shouldn’t be happy too soon: you may have committed tax evasion.

If it is too late for a gift, parents can also invest their money abroad in order to withhold it from unloved children. “In order to keep the compulsory portion small, you can put your fortune in real estate in Florida. Then US law applies, which does not provide for a mandatory portion for children of legal age, ”says Horn.

In the film must about these legal subtleties are usually not considered. Because until the end credits, the disputes usually resolve in good will and there is a happy ending. In reality, too, the parents mostly don’t seem to go to extremes. "In practice, it is almost never the case that a relative is deprived of relatives," says Horn.

Correctly disinherited Your children don’t get a cent

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