─ Hello, dear journalists and lawyers of the column “I have the right”!
I have a question. I have been living in Germany for almost 15 years. 12 years ago I took a chance and bought a house. Some of the money was helped by my parents, I took a mortgage for 25 years and I am pulling it myself. Everything seems to work out. I have enough for life, I pay for the house. The son is finishing his studies. Live separately. But he helps me a lot. And I would like that the house, for which still the grandparents paid, went to him, and not to the children of my husband (later).
If it is impossible to legally agree on this, then what option is not to get married, but to live as a couple?
Irina Z., Ludwigsburg.
─ Dear Irina!
To marry or not is up to you, of course. For the rest, of course, this issue can be regulated by legal means. The children of the future spouse, if you do not adopt them, will not be your heirs. They can get something from the property only through a spouse, only he is the heir of the first stage along with your son.
The inheritance shares depend on the property regime in the marriage. However, there are two main options. The spouses live in the legal regime (Zugewinngemeinschaft), if they do not define the property regime in the marriage contract. Or the spouses can agree on a separate property regime.
In the first case, the spouse, after the death of the partner, receives according to the law ¼ of the property as an inheritance share plus a lump-sum ¼ as the so-called Zugewinnausgleich, division of property. The rest (½ remains) is divided between the children. In the case, like yours, with one child, the spouse and the child will receive ½ of the inheritance.
In a separate regime of property, the spouse receives an equal share with the children. If there are two children, respectively, each of the heirs will receive 1/3. If there is only one child, the surviving spouse and child will receive, again, ½ of the inheritance.
The situation will change if you will bequeath all your property to a child. Then he will get everything. At the same time, the spouse may demand the so-called obligatory part of the inheritance, which is half of the legal one. The obligatory part is obtained not by property, but is required from the heirs in monetary terms.
And here there is a difference depending on whether the property regime is legal or the regime of separate property. In the first case, the spouse will receive half of ¼ plus ¼ as Zugewinnausgleich, that is, 1/8 plus 1/4, for a total of 3/8 of the property. In the second case, with separate property, half of ½, that is, ¼ of the property.
As a result, it is most beneficial for you if you want the house to be transferred to your son, to negotiate a separate property regime with your spouse and to bequeath all your property to the child. Then the child will be forced to pay the surviving spouse ¼ of the value of the inherited property, and only if the spouse makes a claim to pay him the mandatory part at all.
Man proposes and God disposes. It is impossible to predict everything. Statistically, you should outlive your spouse. And if he has his own property, then the inheritance of his son will only grow after you inherit something from your spouse. Whether it is worth trying to reduce the inherited part of the spouse in this situation is an open question. Everything needs to be decided according to the circumstances of each specific case. And since we are talking about large sums, the circumstances of this particular case should be discussed with a lawyer before taking any steps.
Maxim BRITANOV, attorney.
Fachanwalt für Familienrecht, Fachanwalt für Migrationsrecht,
Lawyer the Bureau Factory rights
Britanow & Dr. Hirsch
Tel .: +49 (0) 69 26 49 22420
www.lawfactory-frankfurt.de