Erbengemeinschaft: Erbenauseinandersetzung und Erbteilungsklage

A community of heirs is a group of people who jointly inherit the estate of a deceased person.

If a deceased person has been inherited by several people, they together form what is known as a community of heirs.

The law does not allocate different items to each individual. Instead, the estate belongs to the heirs jointly. All heirs are entitled to their share of the deceased's assets, i.e. the entirety of the estate. This also means that, in principle, no co-heir can dispose of an item alone. In principle, the cooperation of all heirs is required.

If the estate is to be divided, the heirs must agree on the division. Each co-heir can, in principle, request what is known as "co-heir distribution".

If no agreement can be reached, the co-heirs can apply to the locally competent probate court for mediation in the division of the estate. However, any co-heir can cause this procedure to fail by filing an objection.

Irrespective of this, the joint division of the estate can also be pursued in court - known as an action for division of the estate - by submitting an estate distribution plan. The estate distribution plan must provide for the settlement of the community of heirs in accordance with the statutory provisions or in accordance with the testator's last will and testament. The ordinary civil courts, rather than the probate courts, are generally responsible for such an action for the distribution of an estate.

General information on courts and judicial authorities can also be found on the website of the state government of Schleswig-Holstein.

• In the case of inheritance disputes, to the competent probate court (local court),
• in the case of an action for the distribution of an estate, to the competent ordinary civil court (local, regional or higher regional court).