Category

Estate Planning

Estate PlanningGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

Adopted in the US? Why Your German Inheritance Is on Hold

How to Access the German Estate of your Adoptive Parent: A Practical Guide The German Inheritance Law Situation if Your Adoptive Parent Owned German Assets You were adopted as a child in the USA (or another non-EU country) many years or even decades ago and you quite naturally think of your adoptive parents as your "real parents". Sadly, one of your adoptive parents has now passed and that parent owned property or has held a…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
October 23, 2026
Conveyancing GermanyEstate PlanningEuropean ProbateGerman ProbateGerman Real Estate LawGerman Tax LawInternational Probate

Why You Should Sell Inherited German Property Within 12 Months from the Date of Death

German Inheritance Tax on Property If you inherit real estate located in Germany, it is generally subject to German inheritance tax (Erbschaftsteuer). Whether you actually have to pay tax in Germany depends on the total value of the estate (Erbmasse) and your familial relationship to the deceased (Verwandtschaftsverhältnis). However, a potential German tax liability always looms. How the German Tax Authorities Value Property The German tax office (Finanzamt) assesses the property through a specialized department…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
October 20, 2026
Estate PlanningGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawInternational Probate

Which German Probate Court to Apply to?

How to find the correct probate registry in cross-border inheritance cases Germany has 638 County Courts (Amtsgerichte), each of which has a probate department (Nachlassgericht). In order to obtain a German grant of probate (Erbschein), the applicant must address the right one, namely the County Court which has local jurisdiction (örtliche Zuständigkeit).  This is the first aspect which any local probate registrar (Rechtspfleger) in Germany checks, because it is an easy way of getting an…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
December 30, 2025
Civil actionCriminal LawEstate PlanningWills and Succession Planning

Bristol Will Writers cheat German beneficiaries out of their £400k inheritance from UK aunt

WDS ASSOCIATES LEGAL SERVICES LTD "LOSES" £1.6 MILLION CLIENT FUNDS Will Writers do not have the best reputation. Already back in 2010, BBC One aired a 30 min report titled "Wills - The Final Rip Off?"  accompanied by this article.  A current case involving the Bristol based "law firm" WDS ASSOCIATES LEGAL SERVICES LTD shows that this bad reputation is not entirely undeserved. That firm, which has earned a large number of horrific client reviews on Google…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
May 22, 2025
Business in GermanyConveyancing GermanyEstate PlanningFamily LawGerman Corporate LawGerman ProbateGerman Real Estate LawGerman Succession & Inheritance LawGerman Tax LawProperty in GermanyWills and Succession Planning

How to transfer German property to your children or grandchildren tax free

Estate planning in Germany by way of a property management partnership (vermögensverwaltende Personengesellschaft, Familiengesellschaft) If you own (or have inherited) property in Germany, it makes sense from a German tax mitigation perspective to transfer some or all of it to your children or grandchildren during your lifetime. In fact, as early on as possible. Because this allows you to take advantage of the high German gift and inheritance tax allowances multiple times. One particularly efficient…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
January 7, 2025
Conveyancing GermanyEstate PlanningGerman ProbateGerman Succession & Inheritance LawWills and Succession Planning

How to mitigate German Gift and Inheritance Tax by way of Niessbrauch (usufruct, life interest, reservation of benefit)

Why German estate planners and tax lawyers love the tool "lifetime gift with a reserved life interest" Any German testator who has offspring and who owns a significant estate and therefore asks their German tax lawyer about estate planning advice on how to transfer the family wealth onto the next generation without paying unneccessary German gift tax or inheritance tax, will, inter alia, be proposed to make use of the standard German estate planning tool…
Bernhard Schmeilzl
October 4, 2024