SUPPLEMENTARY CLAIMS CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF INHERITANCE IN GERMAN LAW

Abstract

The inherited estate or  individual items comprising the estate may, for various reasons, come into possession of unauthorised persons. In such circumstances, the true heir could claim the return of inheritance items via singular claims, or  make a claim under the protection of inheritance to surrender the estate or  its individual items. However, as a rule, the restitution of assets does not compensate for the entire damage suffered by the heir.

The scope of and conditions for such mutual settlements are regulated specifically in different legal orders. In German law, the issue of the protection of inheritance and the related mutual settlements is subject to extensive regulations, which make both the scope and type of mutual obligations dependent on the good or  bad faith of the possessor of the estate, and even on the manner in which they have come into possession of inheritance items. This paper presents normative solutions related to the protection of inheritance and related supplementary claims in German law.