Compulsory portion claim among siblings?
June 16, 2010 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Scholz
My wife and I cared for my seriously ill brother until his death for several years. In return, he transferred his single-family house to us in a notarial contract. In his will, my wife and I were named as sole heirs. My brother's will was presented to the competent local court, examined, and sealed. A certified copy of the will was sent to my sister by the court.
Now, exactly three years after my brother's passing, my sister is claiming a compulsory share of my brother's estate and demanding disclosure of all documents relating to my brother's financial matters from the last 10 years.
Please provide some more detailed information.
Dear inquirer,
The sister's concern is that she wants to know the value of the single-family house to be added to the estate of the brother, so that she can then assert her right to a compulsory portion supplement. Because the law provides that gifts made by the deceased within the last ten years before his death must be added to the estate with the corresponding amount (the value of the gift is to be added with one-tenth less each year according to the new version of inheritance law, § 2325 para. 3 BGB).
Legally, you are also obligated to provide the requested information to the sister.
However, in your case, it will not come to pass that you will have to make a payment to the sister to supplement a compulsory portion due to the previous gift from the brother to you, as § 2330 BGB states that the provisions regarding the compulsory portion supplement do not apply if a moral obligation was met through the gift. According to consistent case law and legal literature, a gift for years of care constitutes a "mandatory gift," for which the recipient cannot be held liable. To secure evidence, you should therefore collect and keep everything that shows your care services. When providing information, you can also immediately point out that you have provided care services to the brother for years and that the single-family house was transferred to you for this reason.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Scholz, Attorney
