Notary Sonja Reiff advises (married) couples with children to include a so-called mandatory penalty clause in their wills in order to safeguard themselves for old age. The background to this is that (married) couples often opt for the so-called Berlin will. In this case, the spouses appoint each other as heirs. If they have children, they do not inherit until both parents have died. However, in the case of a Berlin will, the children can already claim their compulsory share if one parent dies.
If they do so, this can lead to financial difficulties for the longer-living parent, for example, if the asset is an owner-occupied property. In this case, the mother or father will have difficulty providing the compulsory portion in cash. She or he will have to encumber the property, sell it or look for a new place to live in old age. Some (married) couples would like to avoid such a situation in order to secure the spouse first.
This is where the compulsory portion penalty clause can come into play: In the will or inheritance contract, it is stipulated that the children will only become the final heirs of their parents if they renounce their inheritance. The clause increases the likelihood that the children will not claim their compulsory portion on the death of the first parent. Interested parties can find the detailed article at: https://www.selzer-reiff.de/fachbeitraege-publikationen/erbe-testament-pflichtteilsstrafklausel-wie-kann-verhindert-werden-dass-ein-enterbtes-kind-seinen-pflichtteil-geltend-macht/
Source: https://www.selzer-reiff.de/
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