In short: A will lets you decide who inherits what; without one, statutory succession applies. Close relatives often have a protected minimum share, and tax allowances by relationship set how much passes tax-free.
Talking about your own estate feels uncomfortable, yet leaving things unsettled hands the decisions to the law and invites conflict. A few clear choices give your family peace of mind.
Get an overview: list what makes up your estate – property, accounts, investments, debts – and the people closest to you.
Write a will if the default legal succession does not fit your situation. Rules differ by country; have it drawn up or witnessed correctly so it holds.
Check the tax allowances: how much can be inherited or gifted tax-free usually depends on the relationship, and gifting early can reduce tax.
Talk openly: explain your decisions while you are alive, so no one is surprised later or feels passed over.
What matters
The most common mistake is assuming the spouse simply gets everything – under statutory succession they often receive only a part, with the rest going to children or parents. A second pitfall is tax: inheritance and gift tax apply only above certain allowances, which vary sharply by relationship (children far more than distant relatives or non-relatives). In Germany these gift allowances renew roughly every ten years, which is why early, staggered gifting can be an effective planning tool – the specifics differ by country. Yet most disputes are caused not by taxes but by uncertainty and the feeling of being passed over. Talking openly while you are alive and putting things in writing removes the hardest conflicts before they start. This is general education, not legal or tax advice – exact allowances and rules can change, so for larger estates or complicated situations, consult a notary or tax adviser.
ExampleIn Germany a child has a gift-tax allowance of roughly €400,000 per parent (as of 2026); if one parent gifts €380,000, it stays tax-free – and after about ten years the allowance is available again.
Keep your assets and net worth in view so you know what you actually have to pass on – privately, with Kontoo.
In depth
Reuse allowances every ten years
At the next level, an “allowance” becomes a timing tool: gift-tax allowances reset every ten years, counted from the date of each individual gift. By transferring early and in stages, you can pass on the same sum tax-free more than once — a child has roughly 400,000 € per parent, so around 800,000 € from both parents combined within each ten-year window. A classic advanced mistake is the “last-minute gift”: if the giver dies within those ten years, earlier gifts are added back to the estate and the allowance counts only once. Clean documentation matters too — date, amount, proof of transfer — because the tax office measures the ten-year clock precisely from the day of the gift. Anyone planning seriously therefore starts thinking in decades, not at age 70.
Give the home, keep living there
With an owner-occupied home, two wishes collide: hand it over, yet keep living in it. A usufruct right (Nießbrauch) solves this — legal ownership passes to the child, while the parents retain a lifelong right to live in and use the property. The clever part is the tax value: the capitalised value of the usufruct is deducted from the market value, so a property worth around 600,000 € with a usufruct value of about 200,000 € counts toward the allowance at only around 400,000 €; that capitalised value depends heavily on age and statistical life expectancy. A special case is the family home between spouses: it can even be transferred during life entirely tax-free and without touching any allowance. Caution applies to a later sale, since a registered usufruct makes the property harder to sell. Such arrangements belong in a notarised deed and should be calculated in advance — the figures above are orders of magnitude under current valuation rules.
Factor in the forced share
The forced share (Pflichtteil) is probably the most underrated trap in estate planning: disinherited close relatives — children, spouses, and often parents — are entitled to half of their statutory share, and as an immediately payable cash claim, not a share of assets. That can force heirs to sell the inherited house just to pay it out. The advanced lever is the supplementary forced-share claim: gifts made in the ten years before death are added back, with the credit shrinking by one tenth for each full year (the “melt-down model”). Gifts between spouses, however, often do not even start that clock as long as the marriage lasts. To avoid conflict, consider a notarised waiver of the forced share during life — usually in exchange for a settlement — rather than hoping no one will assert their claim.
Checklist
Estate and close relatives written down
Will drafted, or statutory succession chosen on purpose
Tax allowances by relationship checked
Decisions discussed openly with family
Common myths
Myth: Without a will, my spouse automatically gets everything.
Reality: No – without a will, statutory succession applies, and the spouse usually shares with children or parents.
Myth: Anyone left out of a will gets nothing at all.
Reality: In Germany and many other countries, close relatives have a mandatory share and can claim a minimum portion in cash.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really need a will?
Not strictly, if the default legal succession already matches your wishes. In every other case – blended families, unmarried partners, specific bequests – a will makes clear who gets what.
What is a mandatory share?
In many countries, including Germany, close relatives such as children or spouses are entitled to a minimum portion even if a will leaves them out. In Germany it is generally half of the statutory share, paid in cash.
