Schenkung bereits vollzogen?: Pflichtteilsergänzung: Welcher Immobilienwert angesetzt wird

Have you heard about an embezzled estate? This refers to a situation where an heir gifts a significant portion of their wealth during their lifetime, leaving little for their beneficiaries at the time of death. However, beneficiaries may have the right to partial addition claims against the givers. The amount of these claims depends on the mandatory share percentage, the value of the gift, and the timing of the gift.

The higher the mandatory share percentage, the lower the claims. But when is the value of the gift actually determined - especially if it's an immovable asset that could have appreciated until the heir's death? For such non-consumable items, the so-called lowest value principle applies. If the asset was worth less at the time of the gift, this value is taken into account, not the value at the time of inheritance.

Failure to execute the gift can nullify the lowest value approach. But crucially, the gift must have actually taken place. That was the ruling of the Oberlandesgericht München (case number 33 U 2177/25e), as pointed out by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Erbrecht des Deutschen Anwaltvereins. In one specific case, a woman was the sole heir to her mother.

However, the mother had already given her granddaughter a multi-family house during her lifetime, with a notarized deed. The problem was that the transfer of ownership was not recorded in the property register until the mother's death. The heir demanded that the value of the property be calculated at the time of inheritance, not the time of the gift, for her partial addition claim.

And rightly so, the court ruled. Because the law only recognizes two valuation points - that of the gift and that of the inheritance - the former cannot be applied here. The valuation must be made at the time of the inheritance.