Guide

Gifts during lifetime: when siblings must account for them

Checked on 05.11.2026

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

One received €50,000 for her house, another the car, the third nothing. After the parents' death the question is whether that counts in the division. The law's answer surprises many: only in certain cases.

What generally applies

Accounting (Ausgleichung) concerns only descendants, that is children and grandchildren, who inherit as statutory heirs or are appointed by will to what they would receive by law (§§ 2050, 2052 BGB). To be accounted for are:

• Settlements (Ausstattung) – what a child received for marriage or to set up an independent livelihood – unless the parents provided otherwise (§ 2050(1) BGB),
• allowances towards income and costs of vocational training, insofar as they exceeded what matched the parents' financial circumstances (§ 2050(2) BGB),
• other gifts only if the parents ordered accounting when making the gift (§ 2050(3) BGB).

The third point is where most expectations fail: an ordinary gift, given without anything further being said, is not accounted for among siblings. A later order in the will is something else and works differently.

How it is calculated

• The value of all gifts to be accounted for is added to the estate, insofar as it goes to the descendants.
• Each child's share is calculated from that; the child who already received something has the value credited against their share (§ 2055(1) BGB).
• What counts is the value at the time of the gift (§ 2055(2) BGB).
• Nobody has to pay back. If a child received more than they would get in the division, they are not obliged to pay out the excess (§ 2056 BGB). They then receive nothing more from the estate.

What is something else

• Supplement to the compulsory share. Whoever was disinherited can count gifts from the last ten years towards their compulsory share, even without an order. More in Compulsory share.
• Care and work. Whoever cared for the parents or worked in the business can claim an adjustment in the other direction. More in One heir does all the work.
• Loans. If a child received money as a loan, they owe the estate repayment. Whether it was a gift or a loan is shown by what was agreed at the time.

What helps

• Look for papers from back then: transfers, letters, notarial contracts, the parents' notes. What was said or written at the time decides.
• A shared list: who received what and when, with which proof. Including what you disagree about – marked as open.
• Information. Co-heirs who are descendants owe each other information about gifts that may have to be accounted for (§ 2057 BGB).

Whether a particular gift must be accounted for, and at what value, is for a lawyer to assess.