Contract for the Benefit of Third Parties in Case of Death
July 21, 2009 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Scholz
The mother of my fiancé passed away in April this year. She left behind two children (my fiancé and his sister) as legal heirs. No will was left. She left €10,000 on a checking account, intended for funeral expenses. She mentioned during her lifetime that this was meant for her funeral and that whatever is left after should be split equally between the children. The daughter should not receive any more, as she never took care of her mother. Additionally, she left €20,000, which she had invested as a fixed deposit and had named her son and me as beneficiaries (third-party beneficiary contract). My fiancé and I signed this contract as "beneficiaries" on the same day the fixed deposit was set up. The sister has now objected to this contract at the bank and is demanding the €10,000 that was assigned to me as a beneficiary. To my knowledge, she can only object if it was not known to me at the time of death that I was a beneficiary. This contract does not fall under the inheritance. Now she is demanding the disclosure of all assets and bank account statements, even though she has a certificate of inheritance and can handle this herself, setting us a deadline for it. How can we effectively inform her in writing that she can no longer challenge this third-party beneficiary contract and that the estate inventory has already been completed at the probate court. Thank you for your response.
Dear questioner,
since you were informed during the lifetime of the deceased that the testator made a gift to you, as you correctly recognized, a revocation of the gift is not possible. In case of a legal dispute, you can also prove this with the signature you mentioned.
Furthermore, your fiancé's sister is not entitled to general information. As you appear as a co-heir in the certificate of inheritance, you can also request information yourself, but only for and to all co-heirs. This is different, however, if your fiancé has conducted business on behalf of his father. In this case, claims for information can arise under sections 666, 681 of the German Civil Code against your fiancé. This will lead to a comprehensive accountability, in which your fiancé also owes a detailed account of the transactions carried out. He is obliged to provide evidence for the account to be submitted to the sister. If your fiancé had power of attorney over the father's bank accounts, he must also submit all relevant bank documents such as savings books and account statements.
Similar claims exist if your fiancé has solely managed the estate administration. These administrative measures include, for example, sale of real estate or necessary adjustment of business-related matters, insofar as business assets are part of the estate, and the settlement of estate debts.
Regarding the revocation of the gift, you can inform the sister in writing that a revocation is no longer possible. However, you cannot prevent the sister - almost resistant to advice - from trying to take legal steps. But since you can prove your knowledge, you can face this calmly.
As for the request for information, you should clarify whether the mentioned circumstances entitling to information exist on your fiancé's side. If this is not the case, you can once again inform the sister of the legal situation in a simple letter.
I hope to have provided you with a first orientation and remain
Yours sincerely
Andreas Scholz, Attorney
