Last Updated on July 1, 2021 by LawEuro
German Civil Code (BGB) German law
Division 9
Purchase of an inheritance
Section 2371
Form
A contract by which an heir sells the inheritance which has devolved upon him must be notarially recorded.
Section 2372
Advantages due to purchaser
The advantages which ensue from the lapse of a legacy or a testamentary burden, or from the duty of a co-heir to adjust advancements, are owed to the purchaser.
Section 2373
Parts remaining for the seller
A share of the inheritance that devolves upon the seller after the completion of the sale, by subsequent succession or as a result of a person ceasing to be a co-heir, and a preferential legacy given to the seller are, in case of doubt, not to be deemed included in the sale. The same applies to family papers and family pictures.
Section 2374
Duty to return
The seller is obliged to deliver to the purchaser the objects of the inheritance existing at the time of the sale, including what he acquired before the sale by reason of a right belonging to the inheritance or as compensation for the destruction, damage or deprivation of an object of the inheritance, or by a legal transaction that related to the inheritance.
Section 2375
Duty to compensate
(1) If before the sale the seller consumed, gratuitously alienated or gratuitously encumbered an object of the inheritance, he is obliged to compensate the purchaser for the value of the object consumed or alienated, or, in the event of encumbrance, for any decrease in value. The duty to compensate does not arise if, at the time of the purchase, the purchaser knew of the consumption or gratuitous disposition.
(2) Apart from this, the purchaser may not claim compensation for deterioration, destruction or impossibility of delivery of an object of the estate occurring for any other reason.
Section 2376
Liability of the seller
(1) The liability of the seller for legal defects is limited to his having a right of succession, to it not being limited by the right of a subsequent heir or by the appointment of an executor, to there being no legacies, testamentary burdens, compulsory share burdens, duties to adjust advancements or directions concerning the partitioning of the estate and for there being no unlimited liability towards all the creditors of the estate or individual creditors of the estate.
(2) The seller is not liable for material defects in an object belonging to the inheritance unless he has fraudulently failed to disclosed a defect or has assumed a guarantee for the characteristics of the object.
Section 2377
Restoration of extinguished legal relationships
The legal relationships extinguished as a result of the devolution of an inheritance by the merger of a right with an obligation or of a right with a charge are, in the relationship between the purchaser and the seller, deemed not to have been extinguished. If necessary, such a legal relationship is to be reinstated.
Section 2378
Obligations of the estate
(1) The purchaser is obliged in relation to the seller to perform the obligations of the estate, unless the seller is responsible under section 2376 for their not existing.
(2) If the seller performed an obligation of the estate before the sale, he may demand reimbursement from the purchaser.
Section 2379
Emoluments and charges prior to the sale
The emoluments for the period before the sale remain with the seller. He bears the charges for that period, including the interest on the obligations of the estate. However, all charges payable from the inheritance and all extraordinary charges that are to be regarded as imposed on the original value of the objects of the inheritance are borne by the purchaser.
Section 2380
Passing of the risk, emoluments and charges after the sale
From the completion of the purchase on, the purchaser bears the risk of accidental destruction and of an accidental deterioration of the objects of the inheritance. From this date on, the emoluments are due to him and he bears the charges.
Section 2381
Reimbursement of outlays and expenses
(1) The purchaser must reimburse to the seller the necessary outlays that the seller made on the inheritance before the sale.
(2) For other outlays incurred before the sale, the purchaser must effect reimbursement to the extent that the value of the inheritance is increased by them at the time of the sale.
Section 2382
Liability of the purchaser in relation to the creditors of the estate
(1) From the completion of the purchase on, the purchaser is liable to the creditors of the estate, notwithstanding the continuation of the liability of the seller. This also applies to the obligations for whose performance the purchaser is not obliged in relation to the seller under sections 2378 and 2379.
(2) The liability of the purchaser in relation to the creditors may not be excluded or restricted by agreement between the purchaser and the seller.
Section 2383
Scope of liability of the purchaser
(1) The provisions concerning the limitation of the liability of an heir apply to the liability of the purchaser. He has unlimited liability to the extent that the seller, at the time of the sale, has unlimited liability. If the liability of the purchaser is restricted to the inheritance, his claims arising from the purchase are deemed to be part of the inheritance.
(2) The filing of the inventory by the seller or the purchaser also benefits the other party, unless the latter has unlimited liability.
Section 2384
The duty of notification of the seller towards the creditors of the estate, right of inspection
(1) The seller is obliged to the creditors of the estate to notify the probate court of the sale of the inheritance and the name of the purchaser without undue delay. Notification by the purchaser replaces notification by the seller.
(2) The probate court must allow any person who can credibly establish a legal interest to inspect the notification.
Section 2385
Application to similar contracts
(1) The provisions on the purchase of an inheritance apply with the necessary modifications to the purchase of an inheritance acquired by the seller contractually, and to other contracts whose purpose is the alienation of an inheritance which has devolved on the alienor or which has been acquired by him in another way.
(2) In the case of a donation, the giver is not obliged to compensate for any objects of the estate that were consumed or alienated gratuitously before the donation was made, nor for any charge upon such objects created gratuitously before the donation. The obligation specified in section 2376 concerning the warranty for legal defects does not affect the giver; if the giver has fraudulently concealed a defect, he is obliged to compensate the recipient of the gift for the damage arising from it.
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