The spouse's right of inheritance exists alongside the general statutory succession and significantly influences the inheritance shares of the remaining heirs.
The spouse's right of inheritance depends in part on the matrimonial property regime in which the spouses lived. If they lived under the statutory matrimonial property regime of community of accrued gains, the spouse inherits a quarter in addition to the heirs of the first order and half in addition to the parents. In addition, the inheritance share is increased in accordance with the provisions on the dissolution of the statutory matrimonial property regime - the inheritance share is increased by a quarter across the board. This means that, in effect, the spouse inherits half of the estate alongside the deceased's children and three quarters alongside the deceased's parents.
In addition, the surviving spouse has a claim to the household items (not belonging to his or her inheritance share) alongside relatives of the second order or grandparents as legal heirs, provided they are not accessories to a property. The same applies to wedding gifts. If the surviving spouse is a legal heir alongside relatives of the first order, he or she is only entitled to these items on condition that he or she needs them to run an appropriate household.