Inheritance Tax
The notary will also keep an eye on the inheritance tax for every testament and inheritance contract and advise the parties to exhaust the not insignificant tax exemptions for spouses and children, where necessary. If one takes into account that a surviving spouse has a tax exemption of EUR 500,000.00 (possibly also an additional pension allowance) and children (for mother and father each respectively!) have an exemption of EUR 400,000.00, the last will and testament can be - depending on the particular financial circumstances – designed in such a way that, for middle class circumstances, no tax is required to be paid at all. Business assets are also privileged in terms of valuation, however, the stipulations attached to the privileges should be considered. In particular, the so-called businessman’s last will and testaments are therefore extremely complex in nature and require close coordination between notary and tax consultant.