According to a decision by the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg, the testamentary appointment of the life partner as heir can remain valid even if the partner has a new partner (Ref.: 3 W 55/22).
In the statutory order of succession, the unmarried life partner is not recognized under inheritance law. By creating a will, this can be changed and the life partner can be appointed as heir by the testator. Should the relationship end, it could lead to the invalidity of the will, explains the commercial law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte, which also advises its clients on inheritance law.
However, there can also be exceptions, as demonstrated by the decision of the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg on September 26, 2022. In the underlying case, the testator had appointed his daughter and his then life partner as heirs in 2005. Several years later, the testator was moved to a nursing home due to progressive dementia and passed away there. In the meantime, his life partner had married another partner. The testator had not changed the will.
The testator’s daughter declared the contestation of the will. She argued that her father would not have appointed his former life partner as heir and would have changed the will had he known that this partner would enter into a new relationship and get married before his death.
The Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg examined whether the will could be contested due to a motive error by the testator. It concluded that there was no ground for contestation. It could be assumed that the testator believed that the relationship with his life partner would continue when drafting the will. If the partnership is ended, the will could generally also become invalid, according to the court. However, there are exceptions.
Such an exception existed in this case. The relationship did not fail because the partners drifted apart or turned to other partners. Rather, the reason was that the testator’s advancing and severe dementia made it practically impossible to continue the partnership. According to the so-called hypothetical will of the testator, it is assumed that he did not wish to change the will under these circumstances, ruled the court.
Experienced lawyers at MTR Rechtsanwälte provide advice on inheritance law.
