The spouse and the registered partner are also among the legal heirs, provided there is a valid marriage or valid partnership at the time of death. It follows that a divorced spouse or partner no longer inherits by operation of law.
Since the spouse inherits alongside the parentels, this naturally also reduces the inheritance rights of the relatives. The share of inheritance depends on the parentel with which the inheritance is to be shared. In the event of a concurrence with the first parentel, the spousereceives one third of the inheritance. In case of concurrence with the second parentel, spouses receive two thirds, but if one parent is already deceased, the spouse additionally receives the share of the parent who has fallen away.
In all other cases, the spouse receives the entire inheritance.
In addition to this general statutory right of succession, the spouse is entitled to further special rights. Thus, as long as the spouse does not remarry, he or she is entitled to maintenance up to the value of the estate against the heirs. However, the spouse’s own assets, income from (reasonable) gainful employment and everything he or she has received from the deceased (e.g. by testamentary disposition) must be taken into account. In addition, the spouse is entitled to the statutory advance bequest – this contains a claim to the movable property belonging to the marital household, insofar as this is necessary for the continuation of the previous living conditions, and also entitles the spouse to continue to live in the marital home.
