Digital Legacy
24.11.2025
Digital Legacy More and more personal information, contracts, and memories are stored digitally today – from email accounts to social networks and cloud storage. But what happens to this data …
Private Law Rights and Obligations
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Private Law Rights and Obligations Private law rights and obligations in inheritance law govern the legal relationships between heirs, beneficiaries of compulsory portions and legatees. They concern, for example, the …
Public-Law Rights and Obligations
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Public-Law Rights and Obligations in Inheritance Law When a person dies, not only civil law matters such as succession or forced heirship shares need to be clarified. Public-law obligations also …
Deferral of the Compulsory Portion
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Deferral of the Compulsory Portion Compulsory portion claims can quickly put heirs in financial distress, especially if the inherited assets consist primarily of real estate, company shares or agricultural properties. …
Disinheritance
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Disinheritance Disinheritance means that a forced heir loses their claim to the forced share, either entirely or partially. This deprivation occurs exclusively through a testamentary disposition and is only effective …
Reduction of the Compulsory Portion
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Reduction of the Compulsory Portion The reduction of the forced heirship share allows the legal forced heirship share of close relatives such as children or spouses to be reduced by …
Testament Registry
24.11.2025
Definition The testament registry is a central electronic directory in which notaries and lawyers report the establishment and safekeeping of testamentary dispositions. The aim is to ensure access to testaments …
Error in Motive in Inheritance Law
24.11.2025
Error in Motive An error in motive in inheritance law occurs when the testator has made a testamentary disposition based on a specific motive that subsequently proves to be objectively …
No-Contest Clause
24.11.2025
No-Contest Clause A no-contest clause is a testamentary disposition by which the testator explicitly obliges their heir or legatee not to challenge the disposition. Anyone who disregards this loses their …
Condition and Time Limit
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Condition and Time Limit Condition and time limit are legally permissible secondary provisions in a will. They enable the testator to attach the accrual of an inheritance or legacy to …
Interpretation of Testamentary Dispositions
27.05.2026 | Inheritance law
Interpretation of Testamentary Dispositions The interpretation of testamentary dispositions refers to the legal procedure by which the true will of the testator is determined if the testator’s will is unclear, …
Testamentary Capacity
24.11.2025
Testamentary Capacity Anyone wishing to draw up a will must possess testamentary capacity. This capacity is a prerequisite for a last will and testament to be legally effective. Testamentary capacity …
Form of the Last Will and Testament
24.11.2025
Form of the Last Will and Testament Anyone who wants to regulate their estate must comply with certain formal requirements. According to Austrian inheritance law (§§ 577 ff ABGB), a …
Condition in the Last Will and Testament
24.11.2025
Condition in the Last Will and Testament The condition is a possibility to link the last will not only with donations, but also with concrete instructions. A condition can be …
Inheritance Contract
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Inheritance Contract An inheritance contract enables married couples or registered partners to pass on their assets to their partner after death. Eligible Parties An inheritance contract offers married individuals or …
Gift in Case of Death
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Gift in Case of Death Those who wish to create clear arrangements during their lifetime often resort to a will. However, a testamentary disposition is not always the right way. …
Restriction and Revocation
24.11.2025
Restriction to Revocation The last will is an expression of the testator’s highly personal freedom to dispose of their assets after death. However, this freedom can be restricted or revoked …
Federal Government’s Right of Appropriation
24.11.2025
Federal Government’s Right of Appropriation In Austrian inheritance law, the Federal Government’s right of appropriation means that the entire estate automatically passes to the state if there are no legal …
Inheritance Law for Spouses or Registered Partners
24.11.2025
Inheritance Law for Spouses or Registered Partners If a valid marriage or registered partnership exists at the time of death, the surviving partner is entitled to a statutory right of …
Advance Legacy
24.11.2025
Advance Legacy The statutory preferential legacy according to § 745 ABGB entitles the surviving spouse or registered partner to continue living in the shared home and to use the movable …
Legacy
24.11.2025
Legacy A bequest is the allocation of individual items or rights through a testamentary disposition, such as a sum of money, an apartment, or a specific object. In contrast to …
Compulsory Portion Action
24.11.2025
Compulsory Portion Action The compulsory portion action is the legal means to claim the statutory compulsory portion if it is not paid out due to a will or the conduct …
Statute of Limitations in Inheritance Law
24.11.2025
Statute of Limitations Many people believe that an inheritance claim is secured “forever”. In fact, Austrian inheritance law also sets clear deadlines: Those who wait too long risk the definitive …
Small Estate
24.11.2025
Small Estate In Austrian inheritance law, a small estate refers to an estate whose value is so low that a regular probate procedure does not appear necessary. The legislator has …
Court Commissioner
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Court Commissioner When a person dies, they leave behind not only memories but often also a multitude of legal and financial questions. In Austrian probate proceedings, one person plays a …
Declaration of Assets
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Declaration of Assets After a death, heirs are often faced with the question of how to properly record the estate. The declaration of assets and the inventory provide clarity about …
Inventory
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Inventory After a death, heirs are often faced with the question of how to properly record the estate. The inventory and the statement of assets provide clarity about the assets …
Confirmation of Inheritance
24.11.2025 | Inheritance law
Confirmation of Inheritance The confirmation of inheritance is the judicial act by which the assets of a deceased person are definitively transferred to the heirs within the framework of the …
International Inheritance Case According to the EU Succession Regulation
24.11.2025
International Inheritance Case According to the EU Succession Regulation An international inheritance case exists if the estate of a deceased person has a connection to several countries, for example, because …
European Certificate of Inheritance
24.11.2025
The European Succession Regulation created the European Certificate of Succession (ECS) to facilitate the settlement of cross-border inheritance cases within the EU. The European Certificate of Succession Authorities issue the …
