A Guide for Families to the German will: why German assets usually need one; the forms German law recognises and the one most Americans should avoid; the joint spousal will and the binding effect that surprises families; registration and custody; and how the German document is kept consistent with the American plan.
A revocable trust and a pour-over will answer the American problem, which is probate. They do not answer the German problem, which is that German land and German bank accounts cannot usefully sit in a trust and that somebody must be able to prove entitlement to a German institution.
A German will is the ordinary answer. It operates alongside the American plan rather than instead of it, and its job is narrow: to govern the German assets and to make them releasable.
The mistake this page exists to prevent is either extreme: assuming the American documents cover Germany, or replacing them with a German will that revokes them. A German will drafted without reference to the American plan can revoke it by general words, and an American will drafted without reference to Germany leaves the German assets to a slow and uncertain process.
The two documents have to be written as a pair, each expressly limited to its own estate.
(1) German land and German bank accounts cannot usefully be held in an American revocable trust; a will that a German court and notary can work with is what releases them.
(2) German law recognises a will written and signed entirely by hand, and a will executed before a notary. A notarial will is generally the better instrument because it avoids the certificate of inheritance.
(3) A typed and witnessed American-style will is not a valid German handwritten will.
(4) The joint spousal will familiar in Germany can bind the survivor, which is rarely what an American couple intends.
(5) Appointing an executor is optional under German law and comparatively rare, but in an estate with heirs abroad it avoids a community of heirs in which every decision needs every signature.
(6) A notarial will, or one deposited with a court, is recorded in the central register of wills, so the probate court is notified automatically on death.
Part I. What the German will is for
Its function is to make the German assets releasable and to say who takes them. German banks and the land register act on a certificate of inheritance or on a notarial will together with the probate court’s record of its opening. A will executed before a German notary therefore does double duty: it disposes of the assets and it supplies the proof, removing the months a certificate takes.
It also allows an executor to be appointed. Appointment is optional under German law and uncommon, but where the heirs live in the United States it is often worth making, because the alternative is a community of heirs in which no one owns any particular asset and every disposal requires unanimity.
Part II. The forms, and the one to avoid
German law recognises a will written and signed entirely in the testator’s own hand, and a will executed before a notary. An American-style typed will signed before witnesses is not a valid German handwritten will, and whether it is otherwise effective turns on the conflict rules rather than on German form.
The joint spousal will, in which a couple make mutual dispositions in one document, is familiar in Germany and carries a consequence American couples rarely intend: the dispositions can become binding on the survivor, who is then unable to change them after the first death. Where flexibility matters, separate wills are usually the better structure.
| Form | Validity in Germany | Effect on the certificate of inheritance |
|---|---|---|
| Handwritten will, written and signed throughout by the testator | Valid | A certificate of inheritance is generally still required |
| Notarial will executed before a German notary | Valid | Generally replaces the certificate when produced with the record of its opening |
| Typed will signed before witnesses, American form | Not a valid German handwritten will | Not accepted in place of a certificate |
| Joint spousal will | Valid | May bind the survivor, which is seldom intended |
Part III. Keeping the two documents consistent
Each document should be expressly confined to its own estate: the German will to the assets situated in Germany, the American will and trust to the rest. Without that limitation a later German will can revoke the American instruments by general revocation words, which is a familiar and expensive accident.
The choice of succession law belongs in the picture as well. For a testator habitually resident in Germany, German succession law governs the worldwide estate unless the will expressly chooses the law of a state of nationality, and that choice and the German will should be drafted together rather than at different times by different advisers.
Custody matters too. A notarial will, or a handwritten will deposited with a German court, is recorded in the central register of wills kept by the Federal Chamber of Notaries, and the registry office notifies the register on every death, so the probate court is told automatically that a will exists and where it is. A will kept at home in the United States is in no register and may never be found.
Part IV. Practical steps
- Limit each will expressly to its own estate. The German will governs the German assets; the American documents govern the rest. General revocation words in either are the common accident.
- Prefer the notarial form for the German will. It supplies the proof a bank and the land register need, and it removes the months a certificate of inheritance takes.
- Decide on an executor deliberately. Where the heirs are in the United States, an appointment avoids a community of heirs requiring unanimous signatures for every step.
- Treat a joint spousal will with caution. Its binding effect on the survivor is rarely what an American couple intends.
- Put the will into official custody. Registration means the probate court is notified automatically on death, which a will in a drawer at home is not.
Conclusion
A German will is not a substitute for the American plan and not an optional extra alongside it. It is the instrument that makes German assets releasable and that allows an executor to act, and its value depends on being drafted as one half of a pair, each half expressly confined to its own estate.
Sections 2231, 2232 and 2247 of the German Civil Code (notarial and handwritten wills); sections 2265 and following (joint spousal wills); section 2197 (appointment of an executor); section 2259 (duty to deliver a will); section 31(5) ErbStG (executor’s duty to file the inheritance tax return); Articles 21 and 22 of Regulation (EU) No 650/2012; the central register of wills maintained by the Federal Chamber of Notaries. Statuses are stated as of September 2026.
- 13 October 2026: page created.
- Testament, the German will
- Handschriftliches Testament, the handwritten will
- Berliner Testament, the joint spousal will
- Testamentsvollstrecker, the German executor
- Zentrales Testamentsregister, the central register of wills
- Ablieferungspflicht, the duty to deliver a will
- Rechtswahl, the choice of law
- Living trust
- Choosing the law that governs the succession
- The German certificate of inheritance for heirs living in the United States
- American trusts confronted with German law
Contact
A family with assets on both sides usually needs two documents that know about each other. Ashford International Law PC advises families and their advisers on drafting the German will alongside the existing American plan; confining each instrument to its own estate so neither revokes the other; advising on the notarial form, executorship and the joint spousal will; the express choice of succession law; arranging official custody and registration in Germany, alongside the family’s existing advisers or leading the United States side end to end.
The firm is led by attorney Caroline Esche Ashford, PhD, JD. A graduate of Columbia University Law School, her practice focuses on international estate planning and the cross-border taxation and administration of estates and trusts, including German wills drafted alongside American estate plans. Dr. Ashford is also licensed to practice law in Germany. She advises in French and German as well as English.
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This guide is intended for general educational purposes and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. The matters described, German will forms, the joint spousal will, the appointment of an executor under German law, the central register of wills, and the interaction of a German will with an American estate plan, depend on the specific facts, assets, countries and states concerned and on the law in effect at the relevant time, and they change. Statuses and figures are stated as of September 2026 and must be confirmed before any decision. Nothing here is advice on any particular estate or transaction. A family in this situation should obtain advice from qualified counsel in each relevant country promptly, and before either document is signed.
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