Our team has been successfully investigating heirs together in Germany and abroad since 2008. We have acquired particular expertise in the area of the former Sudetenland, the former German Eastern territories and Austria.
Every year in Germany, considerable assets are left behind without the potential heirs knowing about their inheritance.
Inheritance investigators search for these unknown legal heirs. If a decedent dies without leaving a will, the succession is often unclear. Due to the dramatic events during the two world wars, immigration and emigration, divorces, children born out of wedlock, etc., heirs are often difficult to locate.
Our work begins when neither the competent probate court nor a guardian of the estate has succeeded in identifying heirs.
We only start our investigations once we have ascertained that there is a valuable estate. If we are successful, we conclude a fee agreement with the heirs we have identified.
In Germany, the status of heir is proven by a certificate of inheritance. It is not sufficient to prove one’s own entitlement to inherit. Rather, the complete family relationships of the deceased must be fully documented to the competent probate court by means of civil status certificates.
We take over these tasks in the case of an assignment. We
- take over the complete clarification and documentation of family connections,
- determine all beneficiaries of the inheritance,
- procure the necessary civil status documents from home and abroad, including over-certification (apostille/legalization) and
- prepare the application for a certificate of inheritance for notarization at the notary public.
You do not have to worry about anything.
Costs
We act at our own economic risk and conclude a fee agreement with the identified heirs in the event of success. Our fee is only due in the event of success and also includes the costs for the necessary civil status documents, for the certificate of inheritance procedure and the subsequent distribution of the estate.
Heirs do not have to make any financial advance payments.
The contingency fee is due only and only upon payment of your inheritance and can be claimed against inheritance tax.
Inheritance determination in case law
The right of inheritance is guaranteed in Article 14 of the Basic Law:
Art. 14, sentence 1:
Property and inheritance rights are guaranteed. The content and limits are determined by the laws.
Precise regulations can be found in ยงยง 1922 to 2385 of the German Civil Code.
The necessity of concluding a fee agreement between the heirs and the heir’s mediator has been established by the highest court:
BGH, judgment of September 23, 1999 (file number III ZR 323/98), NJW 2000, 72 ff.
BGH, decision dated February 23, 2006 (file no.: III ZR 209/05)
“A person who commercially investigates unknown heirs does not have any statutory claims for remuneration against the heirs he has investigated arising from management without a mandate or unjust enrichment. Heirs’ investigators can only claim remuneration if they conclude a remuneration agreement with the heir. Therefore, heir search firms are encouraged to “sell” the results of the searches to the heirs by entering into a remuneration agreement.””
Likewise, courts have addressed the permissible amount of the fee:
- Potsdam Regional Court, judgment dated October 7, 2008 (Case No. 6 O 128/08)
“The court follows the case law of the Federal Court of Justice and the higher courts, according to which a fee of up to 30% of the net inheritance amount is reasonable for heir investigation activities.” - OLG Brandenburg, judgment of May 20, 2008 (file no. 11 U 157/07), ZErb 2008, 278 ff.
As a guide to the reasonableness of the fee of an heir’s mediator, customary practice may be used, whereby a fee of up to 30% of the inheritance is usually agreed.” - Aachen Regional Court, judgment dated December 20, 2007 (Ref.: 9 O 301/07)
“On the effectiveness of a fee agreement between an heir investigator and the heir in the amount of 28% of the estate plus VAT.” - Berlin Appellate Court, Judgment of November 5, 2001 (Case No. 26 U 10301/00)
“On the effectiveness of a fee agreement between heir’s mediator and heir in the amount of 25% of the estate plus VAT.” - Darmstadt Regional Court, judgment of June 29, 2000 (Ref. 13 O 15/99), NJW-RR 2001, 1015 f.
“The contract between an heir’s mediator and an heir found by him for 30% plus VAT of the property accruing to him from the estate is valid.”
