Life insurance and compulsory share
October 26, 2009 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Hello,
Recently, my father passed away and he left behind an unknown amount of cash assets, as well as a life insurance sum of approximately 20,000EUR with HUK Coburg.
There is a will that states his entire estate goes to his last wife, and I as his only son should receive 10,000EUR from the life insurance.
My mother, his first wife (divorced), claims to be the sole owner of the life insurance sum after our house was sold. My father allegedly transferred it to her. In exchange, he kept the proceeds from the sale of the house.
My questions are:
Do I have a minimum mandatory share of the cash assets that were given to his last wife in the will?
And to what extent am I entitled to access the 10,000EUR from the life insurance? (My mother told me that HUK Coburg has already reviewed the matter and believes the entire amount is ONLY for my mother)
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry!
I would like to address your questions based on the information you have provided as follows:
1.) Am I entitled to a minimum compulsory share of the cash assets given to his last wife through a will?
A compulsory share claim on the cash assets alone would not be possible. The compulsory share claim amounts to half of the statutory inheritance share. The basis for calculation is the total estate value, which is the total assets of the deceased.
As a son, you are also generally entitled to a compulsory share according to § 2303 BGB. It would have to be determined what the statutory inheritance right would be without a will in order to claim half of it.
If you were the only son of the deceased, you would generally inherit half alongside the last wife according to § 1924 BGB. Therefore, your compulsory share would amount to half of the statutory inheritance share, which is one quarter of the estate value.
The compulsory share claim would have to be asserted against the heir, and in this case, it is applicable since you likely could not inherit the life insurance sum, meaning you did not inherit anything according to the will and are restricted to your compulsory share.
2.) To what extent am I entitled to access the €10,000 from the life insurance policy?
This depends on whether your father actually transferred the life insurance policy entirely to your mother, which I cannot conclusively determine from a distance without further knowledge of the insurance contract and circumstances.
If your father validly and completely transferred the life insurance to your mother during his lifetime, he would no longer have had the power to transfer the life insurance or any part of it to you through the will.
In conclusion, I would like to point out the following:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive examination of the circumstances.
Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope that my explanations have been helpful. You are welcome to contact me through the follow-up option on this platform or via my email address for further questions.
I am also available for further legal representation. In case of engagement, the initial consultation fee paid here would be fully credited.
I wish you a pleasant Monday morning and a good start to the week!
Best regards,
Dipl.-jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax 0471/3088316
