Inheritance Law and Inheritance: What to Do?

Questioner

In 2013 my German grandfather passed away in Germany. My father passed away in 2008. I have had no contact with either of them since my birth in 1978. After my grandfather passed away I was approached by the bank in Germany to arrange the settlement of the estate for 22% of the estate. Because I have no contact with this side of the family I agreed to this. A German bank was asked by the Nachlassgericht (the court in Germany) to carry out the heirs' investigation. The investigation showed that I am the sole heir. In the meantime, last January I went with an employee of the bank to the Consulate in Amsterdam to sign the Erbscheinsantrag (request for the issuance of a deed of inheritance) and a power of attorney for the bank. The bank filed the Erbscheinsantrag with the court. It is now the end of May and the Erbschein has not yet been issued. The bank is not taking any further action at this time. Should I be worried or is this normal? What can I do?

Lawyer

Until an Erbschein is issued, it can unfortunately take a while. I would advise you to contact the court and ask if they indeed have all the important documents.

Questioner

Is there no legal period within which the court must make a decision?

Lawyer

Unfortunately, there is no term. However, if no decision is made over a very long period, you can consider a Verzögerungsrüge. However, this seems too early to me. A Verzögerungsrüge is in principle a complaint about the long duration of a procedure.

Lawyer

I disagree with this answer. After 4 months a decision would have been made. So I advise calling the Rechtspfleger and asking if he is missing anything or when a decision will be made. If he is not available/does not answer/the Erbschein is not sent in the short term, I will submit an “Untätigkeitsrüge” to the director of the Amtsgericht. This is not an official procedure – but he must explain to his boss why so much time is needed. There is simply a quick response…

Questioner

Thank you both for your response. According to the bank employee, filing an objection is pointless because the procedure has not been running long enough. According to the employee, 6 months is not unusual and the local court will certainly state that everything “seine Ordnung haben muss”, in other words “it simply takes time and this is normal. So for now it looks like I still have to be patient