Marital Home in Inheritance Law
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Marital Home in Inheritance Law After the death of a spouse, the question often arises as to whether the surviving spouse may remain in the previous home. Austrian inheritance law …
Claim to Maintain Housing
24.11.2025
Claim to Maintain Housing The claim to maintain housing under § 97 ABGB derives directly from the marital duty of assistance. It ensures that the spouse who is dependent on …
Costs of a Conflict Curator
24.11.2025
Costs of a Conflict Curator The costs of a conflict curator arise in probate proceedings whenever a legal representative, such as a parent, is not permitted to represent a minor …
Costs of an Expert Witness in Inheritance Law
24.11.2025
Costs of an Expert Witness The costs of an expert witness arise in probate proceedings when a court-appointed expert witness must determine the value of the estate. Such a valuation …
Court Fees
24.11.2025
Court Fees Court fees are costs incurred during legal proceedings and payable to the state. They serve to compensate for the administrative effort incurred by the court in processing a …
Real Estate Income Tax in the Event of Inheritance
24.11.2025
Real Estate Income Tax The real estate income tax (ImmoESt) has been levied since 2012 on profits from the sale of land. The ImmoESt only applies to transactions involving acquisition …
Gift Tax
24.11.2025
Gift Tax For decades, the gift tax in Austria was an instrument of taxation when assets were transferred gratuitously from one person to another. It was intended to ensure that …
Foundation upon Death
24.11.2025
Foundation upon Death A foundation upon death is a special form of asset succession. In their will, the testator stipulates that part or all of their assets are to be …
Subsequent Heir
24.11.2025
Subsequent Heir A subsequent heir is a person designated by the testator who inherits only after another heir. Succession typically occurs upon the death of the preliminary heir, unless otherwise …
Substitute Heir
24.11.2025
Substitute Heir A substitute heir is a person designated by the deceased who inherits if the originally appointed or legal heir does not receive the inheritance. This may be the …
Court Commissioner’s Fees
23.02.2026 | Inheritance law
Court Commissioner’s Fees The court commissioner’s fees are those costs incurred in the estate proceedings for the official acts of the notary as court commissioner. The notary acts on behalf …
Acquisition of Inheritance
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Acquisition of Inheritance The acquisition of an inheritance signifies the legally effective transfer of the estate to the heirs. Until the judicial transfer of inheritance, heirs may not dispose of …
Order of Heirs
24.11.2025
Order of Heirs The order of heirs describes the legally and testamentarily established sequence in which individuals inherit a deceased person’s assets. The deceased’s last will, as stipulated in a …
Lifetime Gift
24.11.2025
Lifetime Gift A lifetime gift refers to the gratuitous transfer of assets, such as money, real estate, valuables, or rights, from one person to another during their lifetime. The purpose …
Inheritance tax
27.12.2025 | Inheritance law
No inheritance tax in Austria since 2008 The inheritance tax (and simultaneously the gift tax) was abolished in Austria in 2008 because the Constitutional Court declared the inheritance tax to …
Adult Representation
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Adult Representation Adult representation is a legally regulated protective instrument for adults who, due to a mental illness or similar impairment, are no longer able to manage their own affairs …
Housing and Inheritance Law
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Housing and Inheritance Law Housing and inheritance law often come together directly in practice as soon as a property or right of residence is part of an estate. Inheritance law …
Power of Attorney
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Power of Attorney A power of attorney is a written declaration by which you appoint a person you trust in advance to represent you in personal, financial and health matters …
Living Will
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Living Will An advance healthcare directive is a written declaration of intent in which you specify in advance which medical treatments you reject in certain situations. It becomes effective if …
Right of Succession to a Farm
24.11.2025
Right of Succession to a Farm The Law of Succession for Agricultural Holdings prevents a farm from being economically broken up during inheritance division. Instead, it provides for the takeover …
Estate
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
The Estate In Austrian law, the estate continues the legal position of the deceased after their death. It encompasses all assets, meaning rights (assets) and liabilities (debts) of a deceased …
Estate Proceedings
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
What is an Estate? Probate proceedings are judicial proceedings that are carried out after a death by a notary appointed by the competent district court. The notaries acting in this …
Inheritance Law Proceedings
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Inheritance Law Proceedings The inheritance law proceedings under Austrian law serve to judicially clarify which of several prospective heirs has the “best right of inheritance”. It is only applied if …
Choice of Law
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Choice of Law The choice of law in inheritance matters allows for the binding determination, in a will, inheritance contract, or a separate declaration, of which national inheritance law shall …
Inheritance Law
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Inheritance Law Inheritance law regulates what happens to a person’s assets after their death. It determines who receives the estate, what rights and obligations pass to the heirs, and how …
Partition of Inheritance
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Partition of Inheritance When several persons enter an estate as heirs, they initially form a community of heirs. This arises automatically upon acceptance of the inheritance and continues without further …
Real Estate Transfer Tax in Inheritance Law
24.11.2025
Real Estate Transfer Tax in Inheritance Law If a property is transferred by inheritance, the question often arises as to whether real estate transfer tax is payable. The answer is …
Segregation of the Estate
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Segregation of the Estate When a person dies and creditor claims remain outstanding, the question often arises as to how these can be effectively enforced. This question becomes particularly relevant …
Assignment in Lieu of Payment
24.11.2025
Assignment in Lieu of Payment The court orders the assignment in lieu of payment if certain creditors, upon request, receive the existing assets of an over-indebted estate in order to …
Supplementary Probate Proceedings
24.11.2025
Supplementary Probate Proceedings The supplementary probate proceedings supplement the already completed estate proceedings. It begins as soon as further assets or new debts of the deceased become known subsequently. The …
