All in the Family Secret: Unveiling Joint Wills When "We" Becomes "I"
"First Person Singular or Plural"
In the world of estates, what a person has willed and whether they even made a will is usually nobody's business - not even your closest kin - before they kick the bucket. But once death rears its ugly head, the cat gets let out of the bag.
Until then, no one has the guts to peek into someone else's will, not even dear old friends and relatives. It's only after a testator (the fancy lawyer term for someone who made a will) bites the dust that these secret testaments are opened and revealed to the legal heirs and beneficiaries.
But this rule of silence isn't absolute, especially when it comes to joint wills between spouses or partners. If a will is written in the "we" form, only the provisions of the deceased spouse are opened. The surviving spouse's provisions? Well, they're kept in the vault until they too shuffle off this mortal coil.
However, this rule isn't always set in stone, as the Higher Regional Court of Zweibrücken (Az.: 8 W 13/24) pointed out. In a joint will with provisions written in the "we" form, the probate court may choose to lift the veil of secrecy and reveal the entire will if it can't be clearly separated.
The Claws of the Court
You might argue that the survivor didn't give consent to have the entire joint will disclosed. But, in a specific case, a widower asked the probate court to only reveal part of the will, excluding the joint provisions, after his wife's demise. Unfortunately, the probate court had other plans and deemed it necessary to expose the entire will of the couple.
The court had its grounds, though. The will contained expressions like "the survivor of us" and "the longer-lived of us," which indicated that the first deceased's provisions were also supported by the second. As such, the provisions were inseparable, and the entire will had to be revealed.
Source: ntv.de, awi/dpa
The Dirty Details: Probate Court Matters
- Estate Planning
- Inheritance Law
- Wills
- Legal Disputes
- Court Orders
- Estate Administration
Beneath the Surface: Intrigue and Legalese
German law doesn't have specific rules addressing the disclosure of joint wills written in the "we" form. However, there are general principles and regulations regarding wills and estates that may come into play.
- The Art of Willmaking: In Germany, a will can be drawn up by a single individual or by two people jointly, such as spouses or partners. Joint wills are often used to express mutually agreed wishes for the distribution of assets post-mortem.
- Unlocking the Secrets: Will disclosure only becomes relevant after the will is probated, typically during estate administration and for inheritance tax purposes. The probate court is responsible for ensuring the deceased's wishes are properly executed according to the law.
- Joint Willdictionaries: Joint wills may have additional complexities due to their shared nature. For example, a joint will may not be revoked by one party after the death of the other without mutual agreement.
- The Constitution of Will Affairs: The legal framework for wills in Germany primarily revolves around the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB). No specific provisions directly address the disclosure of joint wills in the "we" form, but any disclosure requirements would likely align with the broader framework of estate administration and tax obligations.
The community policy regarding joint wills between spouses or partners may involve the disclosure of the entire joint will, even if only one spouse has passed away, especially when the provisions cannot be clearly separated, as evidenced by expressions like "the survivor of us" or "the longer-lived of us". This disclosure could impact business and finance matters, as vocational training or other assets might be distributed differently than initially planned due to the court's decision.
