Inheritance Equality Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on the equality of inheritance law for illegitimate children |
| Short title: | Inheritance Equality Act |
| Abbreviation: | ErbGleichG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Inheritance law |
| Issued on: | December 19, 1997 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2941 ) |
| Entry into force on: | April 1, 1998 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The law for inheritance equality of illegitimate children , shortly inheritance Equality Act , managed to April 1 the difference between legitimate and 1998 illegitimate from a child in the area of inheritance. It was part of the reform of parent law, but most of it came into force 3 months later.
Part of the reform of child rights
Three laws were hidden behind the term child law reform. In addition to the Child Law Reform Act itself, these were the Assistance Act and the Inheritance Law Equality Act. The Federal Council had called the mediation committee on the latter because of a special question ; However, it was overruled by the German Bundestag - this is not a law that requires approval.
Special rules under inheritance law
No participation in community of heirs
The content was about the abolition of the special regulations for illegitimate children. The latter were granted inheritance claims against the father (and his relatives) by the illegitimate law set on July 1, 1970 (before that date, these children were not considered to be related to their father). However, the illegitimate child did not participate in a community of heirs if there was a spouse or legitimate children at the death of the father; In this case, the illegitimate child was entitled to an inheritance claim under the law of obligations in the amount of the statutory share of the inheritance, d. i.e. it had to be paid out in cash by the other heirs (similar to a compulsory portion or a legacy ). By not participating in the community of heirs, the aim was not to involve the supposedly intact family posthumously in disputes over the management of the inheritance with the cuckoo child.
Assertion through youth welfare office
If the father died before the child reached the age of majority , these inheritance claims were asserted by the youth welfare office as the official guardian according to §§ 1706 ff. BGB. Even with this neutral construction, the paternal family should not be exposed to the child and his mother.
Early inheritance compensation
In addition to this special regulation, there was another, the early inheritance compensation (at that time in § 1934d BGB). The illegitimate child (unlike a legitimate child) had the right to be paid in advance by the father between the ages of 21 and 27 , comparable to an inheritance waiver . For this purpose, the illegitimate child was entitled to a severance payment, which was calculated from the maintenance of the last 5 years of full maintenance obligations of the father. The claim could be agreed by a notary or brought before the guardianship court . The idea behind this was to make it easier for the illegitimate child to start an independent life, as it was assumed that equipment , as was common with legitimate children at the time, would not be paid for.
As of April 1, 1998, these special regulations for inheritance cases were abolished without replacement by the Equal Law of Inheritance Law.
Web links
- Legal materials on the Equal Law of Inheritance Law ( BT-Drs. 13/8510 )
- Text of the law in the Federal Law Gazette ( BGBl. I p. 2968 )
literature
- Herlan, Ernst-Günther: Explanations on the law on inheritance equality of illegitimate children , In: Der Amtsvormund, 1998, No. 7/8, p. 71 ff, Heidelberg: German Institute for Guardianship eV;
- Rauscher, Thomas: The inheritance status of children not born in a marriage according to the Inheritance Law Equal Opportunities Act and the Childhood Law Reform Act , ZEV 1998, p. 41 ff
