Guide

Statutory succession: who inherits how much without a will?

Checked on 05.11.2026

Translated from German. Where anything differs, the German text counts: Deutsche Fassung

Most people leave no will. Then the law decides who inherits and in what share. Almost everything later depends on these shares: who decides, who pays how much, who receives how much.

Relatives: by orders

• First order: the children and their descendants. Children inherit in equal parts. If a child has already died, their children take their place (§ 1924 BGB).
• Second order: the parents and their descendants, that is siblings, nieces and nephews (§ 1925 BGB).
• Third order: the grandparents and their descendants (§ 1926 BGB).

As long as there is a relative of an earlier order, nobody from a later order inherits (§ 1930 BGB). If the deceased had a child, parents and siblings inherit nothing.

The spouse: alongside

The spouse or registered civil partner inherits alongside the relatives (§ 1931 BGB):

• alongside children one quarter,
• alongside parents, siblings or grandparents one half,
• alone, if there are no relatives of the first or second order and no grandparents.

If the spouses lived in the statutory property regime, the community of accrued gains – the case unless something else was agreed before a notary – this share increases by a further quarter (§ 1371(1) BGB).

The most common cases

• Married, two children, no marriage contract: the spouse one half, each child one quarter.
• Widowed, three children: each child one third.
• Married, no children, no marriage contract, the parents alive: the spouse three quarters, the parents together one quarter.
• Married with separation of property, one or two children: spouse and children inherit in equal parts (§ 1931(4) BGB).
• Living together unmarried: the partner inherits nothing by law.
• Nobody there: if there are neither relatives nor a spouse, the state inherits (§ 1936 BGB).

These are the rules for cases without a will. A will or inheritance contract takes precedence; whoever goes away empty-handed through it may have a compulsory share.

What follows from this

If several people inherit, the estate belongs to them together: they are a community of heirs. Nobody owns "the house" or "the account" alone; each owns a share of the whole. Votes, costs and the final division follow these shares.

What helps

• Write down the family tree. Who is alive, who has died, who has children. The probate court asks exactly that for the certificate of inheritance, with documents.
• Record the shares as fractions as soon as they are certain: from the certificate of inheritance or the opened will.
• Clarify early whether there was a marriage contract. It changes the shares.