Reimbursement of costs by heirs
Reimbursement of costs by heirs refers to the obligation of the heirs, regulated in Section 102 of Book XII of the Social Code, to reimburse the social assistance costs paid to the testator.
The entitlement arises with the death of the beneficiary or his or her spouse. In principle, all benefits paid in the ten years prior to the inheritance must be reimbursed; There is an allowance of three times the basic amount according to § 85 SGB XII (currently since January 1, 2018 2,496 euros = 6 times the basic standard rate). This does not apply to the beneficiary himself if he is the heir of his deceased spouse.
The right to reimbursement of the social welfare institution is legally part of the estate liabilities ; the heir is liable for the value of the estate at the time of the inheritance. The claim expires after three years.
The creation of the entitlement requires that social assistance benefits have been lawfully granted. If the social welfare provider has provided benefits in a materially illegal manner, the heirs are not obliged to reimburse costs; only a reimbursement according to § 50 SGB X would be conceivable, whereby the protection of trust according to § 45 SGB X must be observed. A purely formal error is irrelevant.
A claim cannot be made in the following cases:
- The value of the estate is less than the tax allowance
- The value of the estate is less than 15,340 euros, the testator was a relative or the spouse of the heir and he cared for the testator in the same household
- if there is particular hardship. A particular hardship exists, for example, if the estate would also represent safe assets for the heirs in the sense of social assistance or if the heir did not care for the deceased in the same household but in the immediate vicinity. The fact that the estate was part of the personal property for the testator does not matter, nor does the fact that a donation during his lifetime could have circumvented the reimbursement of costs.
There is also no reimbursement of costs by heirs for benefits under Chapter 4 ( basic security in old age and reduced earning capacity ).