certificate of inheritance

noun · Erbschein

The Erbschein, § 2353 BGB, is the probate court’s certificate that a person is heir and to what share. It proves a position that already exists rather than creating one, which is the difference from an English grant of probate, and it is not always needed: a notarial will with the record of its opening often does the same work at the land registry and the bank.

Which translation, when

Erbscheinthe certificate: on application the Nachlassgericht certifies who is heir and with what share, § 2353 BGB, and the document works as a legitimation towards banks, land registries and debtors, third parties being protected when they rely on it in good faith; it does not make anyone an heir, it records a succession that took effect at death.

kein grant of probatethe false twin: an English grant appoints or confirms the personal representative who then administers and distributes, whereas the German heirs are already owners and administer themselves, so the Erbschein is the functional neighbour of the grant, not its equivalent; the underlying difference in systems belongs to the estate entry, which holds the vesting rule.

wann er entbehrlich istthe practical point: where the deceased left a notarial will or a contract of inheritance, the certified copy together with the court record of its opening is usually accepted instead, which saves the fees; and for estates with foreign elements the European Certificate of Succession issued under the EU Succession Regulation runs alongside the Erbschein and circulates in the other member states without further formalities.

Why

Certificate of inheritance is the standard rendering of Erbschein, and the caution the entry carries is against the tempting equation with a grant of probate. Under § 2353 BGB the Nachlassgericht certifies, on application, who has become heir and with what share. The document is a legitimation: banks pay on it, the land registry corrects the register on it, and third parties who rely on it in good faith are protected. What it does not do is create the position it records. The heirs became owners of the estate at the moment of death, and the certificate merely documents that, which is why an English grant of probate is a different animal: there a personal representative is appointed or confirmed, collects the estate, pays the debts and distributes what remains, a stage German law does not have, as the estate entry explains. Two practical points belong in any translation. First, the Erbschein is often unnecessary. Where the deceased left a notarial will or a contract of inheritance, the certified copy together with the court record of its opening is usually accepted by banks and land registries in its place, and since the certificate costs fees scaled to the value of the estate, that route matters. Second, cross-border estates have a second instrument: the European Certificate of Succession, issued under the EU Succession Regulation, which proves the position of heirs, legatees, executors and administrators and produces its effects in the other member states without further formalities, so a file with assets in several countries may involve both documents at once.

Typical mistakes

The Erbschein records a succession that already took effect and does not create it, so treating it as constitutive misdescribes German succession.
An English grant of probate installs a personal representative, a stage German law lacks, so equating the two carries a whole administration model into the text.
A notarial will with the record of its opening often replaces the Erbschein, so assuming the certificate is always required overstates what the heirs must obtain.

What matters

Explaining German estate documents to an English-speaking client: the text should keep Erbschein with a short gloss, avoid the equation with a grant of probate, and mention the European Certificate of Succession where assets lie abroad.

Authority

§ 2353 BGB

What the machine misses

Machine output turns certificate of inheritance into Erbschaftsbescheinigung or renders Erbschein as grant of probate, and the German document under § 2353 BGB only certifies who is heir and with what share; the English equation additionally imports a personal representative and an administration stage that German succession does not have.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

a certificate of inheritance	ein Erbschein
to apply for a certificate of inheritance	einen Erbschein beantragen
the probate court	das Nachlassgericht
a European Certificate of Succession	ein Europäisches Nachlasszeugnis

More notes on these sections

estate Nachlass