The grounds for claiming a right of inheritance open the right to become an heir. The law recognizes three types of grounds:
- Inheritance contract
- Will and testament
- Statutory inheritance law
The inheritance contract and the will and testament are also referred to as testamentary succession.
It should be noted that these grounds for claiming a right of inheritance have different “strengths”. For example, the inheritance contract supersedes the will and the statutory inheritance law, while the will in turn takes precedence over the statutory inheritance law.
The decedent is not limited to only one of these grounds, but can obtain his right from several of these titles (e.g. inheritance contract and statutory law). The same applies, of course, to several persons who may be called to inherit on the basis of different grounds. In such cases one speaks of a mixed succession. Such a mixed succession inevitably results, for example, from an inheritance contract, since this may only cover ¾ of the estate, with the remaining ¼ having to be covered by the will or statutory law.
Inheritance contracts, wills and statutory inheritance law are part of the so-called universal succession. This regulates who becomes the universal successor of the decedent – in other words, who takes his place in terms of property law. Unlike singular succession, which relates only to specific, individual parts of the assets, universal succession relates to the entire assets or a proportionally determined part of them.
