Probate - Application for a certificate of inheritance

The settlement of the estate is the sole responsibility of the heirs. The probate court does not act here - not even in an intermediary capacity.

If necessary, contact a member of the legal advisory professions.

The certificate of inheritance is a certificate of who has become the heir. It therefore depends on whether the person (e.g. the bank or savings bank) requires proof of inheritance. In many cases, if one or more wills/ inheritance contracts exist, it is sufficient for the heir to prove that he or she is the heir by submitting certified copies of the wills/ inheritance contracts and the opening minutes.

If real estate is part of the estate, a notarized will or certificate of inheritance is required in all cases.

The probate court attempts to limit the number of copies in circulation. If a certificate of inheritance that has been issued proves to be false, for example, due to a will that is subsequently discovered, it must be withdrawn. If it is not possible to obtain all the copies, the certificate of inheritance must be declared invalid. The costs of this will be charged to the heirs.

A community of heirs is a community of heirs for the entirety. Therefore, only all heirs can act jointly and dispose of the estate.

An apostille is often required to use a certificate of inheritance abroad. If
the certificate of inheritance was issued by a local court in the Federal State of Bremen, please contact the President of the Regional Court
Bremen at
and submit a copy of the certificate of inheritance.

The probate court cannot provide any information on this.

Therefore, please contact a member of the legal advisory professions or a tax advisor.

Burial is a matter for the relatives.

If no relatives are known, the burial is carried out by the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The probate court has no influence on the burial and does not commission it. The probate court is also not notified of a burial that has taken place.

If relatives need access to the apartment in order to settle the estate and if the apartment keys are kept with the probate court, the keys can (only) be handed over to the potential heirs.

If there are several heirs, all of them must agree to the keys being handed over to one of the heirs. For this purpose, it is sufficient to submit a written declaration of consent.

An appointment must be made in advance to hand over the keys. This will clarify which further evidence must be submitted for the handover in the individual case.

You may notify the appropriate probate court in writing of your tenant's passing and inquire if there are any known heirs.

For this purpose, please be sure to submit a copy of the lease agreement as proof of your legitimate interest. Otherwise, no information can be provided to you.

If no heirs are known to the probate court, it will check whether special estate protection measures need to be taken. For this purpose, information on any existing assets of the deceased is also required. It therefore helps to speed up the proceedings if the request is accompanied by information on the bank at which the deceased maintained the account from which the rent payments were made.

With regard to questions about what rights and obligations you now have as a landlord, please contact a member of the legal advisory professions. The probate court cannot give you any information on this.

Information on the proceedings can only be provided to persons who have a legitimate interest. As a prospective buyer, you unfortunately do not belong to this group of persons, so that no information about possible heirs can be provided to you.

If you can prove your legitimate interest, you can obtain information about possible heirs of the deceased. Please make your request in writing only, providing proof (copy of invoice, statement of claim, contract documents).

If you want to know how to assert your claim against the heirs or the estate, you must seek legal advice. The local court is not authorized to provide legal advice.

If there was no contact with the deceased, information from the civil register can be obtained to confirm the death. An inquiry at the probate court is also possible.