Unlike under German law, under Austrian inheritance law a person's estate does not automatically pass to the heir or heirs upon the death of the deceased. Instead, the acquisition generally takes place in three stages:<\/p>\n
Initially, the succession takes place upon the death of the testator. The subjective right of inheritance is thereby acquired (\u00a7 536 ABGB); if an heir dies after the inheritance but before the property is transferred (inheritance), his or her right of inheritance is transferred to his or her (legal or voluntary) heirs, cf. \u00a7\u00a7 537, 809 ABGB.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the inheritance does not entitle the heirs to take possession of the estate. Under procedural law, the probate proceedings must first be conducted in court.<\/p>\n
The heir must declare acceptance of the inheritance (declaration of acceptance of inheritance): an express acceptance is required pursuant to Sections 799 et seq. ABGB IS REQUIRED. However, even this does not make the heir the successor to the deceased. This is only effected by the judicial inheritance of the estate in accordance with \u00a7\u00a7 547, 797 I 2 ABGB. The heir only becomes the universal successor of the deceased when the inheritance becomes legally binding. In contrast to the certificate of inheritance in Germany, under Austrian law, the court-ordered inheritance is not merely of confirmatory significance for the acquisition of the inheritance, rather it is a necessary condition. Between the time of inheritance and the probate, the estate forms a separate legal entity with rights and obligations (\u201edormant estate\u201c), \u00a7 546 ABGB.<\/p>\n
To accept the inheritance, the heir must firstly provide sufficient evidence of the reason for his or her appeal and expressly declare that he or she accepts the inheritance. The acceptance or declaration of acceptance of inheritance must also state whether it is limited or unlimited. The declaration of acceptance of inheritance must be made in writing or orally for the record with a handwritten signature (Section 159 III AussStrG).\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is irrevocable and cannot be subsequently changed into a conditional declaration of acceptance of inheritance. According to case law, avoidance on the grounds of error is excluded.<\/p>\n
If no declaration is made, this does not automatically constitute a tacit waiver of succession. However, pursuant to \u00a7 157 II, III Au\u00dfStrG, the person concerned is no longer to be involved in the further proceedings as long as they do not make the declaration.<\/p>\n
The rules on the declaration of acceptance of inheritance apply accordingly to the bequest (\u00a7 805 ABGB); it is therefore also irrevocable in accordance with \u00a7 806 ABGB. However, a challenge due to lack of intent, also due to error, is permitted by case law. As a result of the renunciation, the inheritance is deemed not to have accrued to the renouncing party, which in case of doubt also applies to their descendants (\u00a7 758 II 2 ABGB).<\/p>\n
The inheritance share is only acquired through the inheritance. Prior to this, the heir may not take possession of the inheritance, \u00a7 791 AGBGB. Your specialist inheritance lawyer in D\u00fcsseldorf and Krefeld, Dr Michael Gottschalk, will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anders als nach deutschem Recht geht im \u00f6sterreichischen Erbrecht der Nachlass einer Person nicht schon kraft Gesetzes automatisch mit dem Erbfall auf den oder die Erben \u00fcber. Stattdessen vollzieht sich der Erwerb grds. in drei Stufen: Stufe 1: Der Erbanfall Zun\u00e4chst erfolgt der Erbanfall mit dem Tod Erblassers. Dadurch wird das subjektive Erbrecht erworben (\u00a7\u00a0536\u00a0ABGB); […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":422,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1049","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t