Welcome
Inheritance matters
General information
Under German law, the estate of a deceased person passes directly and automatically to the heir or heirs.
Proof of who has become an heir is provided by the certificate of inheritance, which is issued by the competent probate court in Germany at the request of one or more co-heirs. The jurisdiction of the probate court is usually determined by the last place of residence of the deceased. By applying for a certificate of inheritance, the heir indicates that they have accepted the inheritance. In some cases, however, such as when the estate is overindebted, it may be advisable to renounce the inheritance after the deceased.
Application for a certificate of inheritance
As a rule, the application for a certificate of inheritance includes, among other things, an affidavit and must therefore be certified by the competent probate court or a notary in Germany.
Outside Germany, an affidavit can only be taken by a consular officer authorized to do so at a German consulate general or embassy. In Nigeria, depending on your place of residence, the affidavit can be taken at the German Embassy in Abuja or the German Consulate General in Lagos.
In order to prepare the application for a certificate of inheritance, this questionnaire must be completed as fully as possible and the documents listed therein must be provided.
Please note that the Nigerian documents from which the applicant's right to inheritance is derived (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) must be subject to document verification.
This process usually takes 8 months and may take longer in individual cases.
The following additional documents must be submitted by the applicant for the document verification:
- Completely filled out questionnaire
- Full name, address and email address
- If baptized: Certificate of Baptism or date and address of the church **
- Old school documents and names, addresses and periods of visited primary school *
- Old school documents and names, addresses and periods of visited secondary schools **
- Further old documents containing the name
- Birth certificate of hospital or address of hospital **
- In case the birth has been registered: certificate of registration
- Declaration of Age, deposed by a competent person (generally a parent) * Declaration of Age should be deposed by your PARENT(S) OLDER SIBLINGS, FAMILY HEAD, UNCLES, AUNTS (Family members older than you) In this case, they must state their source of knowledge.
Annotations:
* If necessary with illiterate jurat
** A description of how to get there is necessary if the address in Nigeria is located outside a large town
Only after the documents have been verified can the Consulate General finally prepare the application for a certificate of inheritance and subsequently certify it.
Please note that additional fees apply for both the application and issuance of a certificate of inheritance and for the verification of documents.
If you wish to apply for a certificate of inheritance, please contact us in advance by email and send us the completed questionnaire and scans of the documents listed in the questionnaire.
After notarization, the application must be sent by you or by the embassy or consulate general to the competent probate court in Germany, together with certified copies of the required civil status documents. Please note that probate courts regularly require translations of foreign-language documents and wills, even if these are not initially required for notarization at the embassy. The probate court will charge an additional fee for issuing the certificate of inheritance or executor's certificate.
Please note that the German Embassy or Consulate General can only assist you in preparing and certifying the application for a certificate of inheritance. Even if the application for a certificate of inheritance is sent by the diplomatic mission to the competent probate court, you (or your representative) must take care of the subsequent proceedings yourself. The Embassy cannot provide individual legal advice or representation in probate proceedings. For this, you may need to consult a lawyer.
Renunciation of inheritance
To do this, the heir must declare to the probate court within a certain period of time that they renounce the inheritance. Anyone who does not renounce the inheritance within the deadline becomes an heir.
Under German law, an inheritance can be renounced within 6 weeks, or within 6 months if residing outside Germany, after becoming aware of the inheritance by making a declaration to the German probate court. The declaration must be made in a form that is at least officially certified. Parents acting as legal guardians of their minor children must both declare the renunciation of inheritance for their child. The declaration of renunciation can be made before the consular officer of the competent German mission abroad. After the signature has been certified, the declaration of renunciation must then be sent by you to the competent probate court in Germany.
Fees
An overview of the relevant fees can be found here.