Community of heirs house sale

We accompany you in the sale of your inherited property. The change of generations is often connected with the sale of a property by a community of heirs. The more co-heirs belong to a community of heirs, the more often problematic disputes result. The involvement of an experienced real estate agent, who mediates neutrally between the parties, often helps to prevent disputes from arising in the first place and thus avoids expensive and protracted litigation when selling a house.

Especially when it comes to determining the value, there are very different ideas. A property cannot be divided up in the same way as cash, as the location, condition or even the rent must always be assessed individually.

When selling real estate through a community of heirs, it is first important to clarify the individual interests, wishes and goals precisely, as well as the family background. Then the property must be analysed and its potential defined. In this way, the individual scenarios can be described in concrete terms to those involved, so that the result is a decision that is both emotionally and economically satisfactory.

Under German law, a community of heirs is a group of persons (the so-called co-heirs) who inherit the estate of a deceased person - jointly - in accordance with § 2032 BGB. The opposite of a community of heirs is the sole heir. German inheritance law provides here that the assets or the estate of the deceased become the assets of the community of heirs within the framework of joint and several ties upon the death of the deceased. This means that the individual co-heirs are not owners of individual estate items. There is also no non-material share in estate objects.

This is referred to as a dispute. The basic prerequisite for this so-called settlement is that the estate is ready for division. The focus here is primarily on ensuring that all estate liabilities are satisfied by the community of heirs. This is followed by the dissolution of the community of heirs. Three different ways are available here:

• The sale of the inheritance. The sale can be made to a third party or to a co-heir.
• The distribution of the inheritance among the respective heirs or co-heirs.
• Partitioning or accrual. Here, individual co-heirs are successively paid out.

If there are several heirs in an inheritance case, the so-called universal succession comes into effect. The entire estate therefore passes to the co-heirs and is thus declared as joint property (sections 1922(1), 2032(1)). In this respect, a community of heirs is formed in the form of a community of joint heirs. Within the framework of this community of joint heirs, special assets may be formed which are separated by law from the assets of the others or of the individual heirs. The surrogates of the estate also count as special assets. If real estate is involved and a settlement is not possible or not desired in the short to medium term, it is possible to convert the community of heirs into a partnership.

According to § 2038 (1) of the German Civil Code (BGB), the administration of the estate should in principle be carried out jointly. Each co-heir is obliged to participate in proper administration. However, each co-heir can then take appropriate measures that are necessary for preservation without the participation of the other co-heirs. In practice, the voting majority is also frequently used. In this way, other opinions or co-heirs can be outvoted. According to § 2038, para. 1, sentence 2, subpara. 2, BGB, however, there is also the possibility that an heir may make decisions alone within the framework of so-called emergency administration measures. If such an emergency administration measure occurs, it is not necessary for there to be a unanimous resolution or for a decision to be taken jointly.