You live abroad and have inherited a house in Germany.

As at: June 2026

The answer first. Even though you live abroad, an inherited house in Germany can be settled in an orderly way — from a distance, with one trusted point of contact on the ground. Which law of succession applies follows the deceased person’s last habitual residence, not their nationality (Art. 21 EU Succession Regulation). You prove your standing as an heir across Europe with the European Certificate of Succession (Art. 62 et seq. EU Succession Regulation). German inheritance tax can apply even to heirs abroad, and foreign inheritance tax is credited (Section 21 ErbStG). None of this calls for a hasty decision.

Since 17 August 2015 the European Succession Regulation (No 650/2012) has applied in almost all EU states. What governs is not where you live today, but the deceased person’s last habitual residence at the date of death (Art. 21 EU Succession Regulation) — their actual centre of life, not their nationality and not the registered address alone. If your father or mother last lived in Germany, German succession law as a rule governs the whole estate, even where the children have long been at home abroad.

The Regulation permits a choice of law: the deceased could choose the law of their home state in their will (Art. 22 EU Succession Regulation). Such a choice overrides the residence rule, but it cannot set aside mandatory tax law. Older wills often contain no express choice; a specialised notary then puts the case in order. For a property, one more thing holds: the land itself is always governed by German property law — and registered in the German land register.

Before a bank, a land registry or a buyer can deal with you, you must show that you are an heir. Inside Germany the certificate of inheritance serves this purpose. Across the border, the calmer route is usually the European Certificate of Succession (ECS): a document created under the Succession Regulation (Art. 62 et seq. EU Succession Regulation) that is recognised in all participating EU states without further authentication. It is applied for in Germany at the probate court — and you can make that application from abroad, represented by a notary or by a trusted, authorised person.

The ECS sets out your standing as an heir and your share, and is enough to correct the land register, release accounts or prepare a later sale. Which documents you assemble for this, and how the apostille and the certified translation fit together, is set out separately under Documents and translations.

Living abroad does not by itself exempt you from German inheritance tax. Germany taxes an inheritance already where the deceased was last resident in Germany, or where the inherited assets — such as a house — are located in Germany. So it may happen that both Germany and your country of residence wish to tax the same inheritance. So that this does not become a double burden, German law provides for a credit for inheritance tax paid abroad (Section 21 ErbStG) — under certain conditions and only to the extent that German tax also falls on the same assets.

How heavy any charge turns out to be, and which allowances apply, depends on the family relationship and the value; that is a matter for a tax adviser with cross-border experience. What matters here is only the reassurance: double taxation is not the normal case, and there is time for the orderly path.

Almost every step can be done from abroad if one person on the ground keeps the threads together. The application for the European Certificate of Succession is made by a notary acting for you; powers of attorney are certified abroad, fitted with an apostille and a certified translation into German, and sent to Germany. The notarial contract needed for a land-register correction or a later sale is recorded by a German notary — recording through a German consulate abroad, or through an authorised representative, is also possible.

So you need not travel to Germany for every appointment, and need not sell in haste merely because the distance is great. A calm sequence makes sense: first establish your standing as an heir, then put the documents in order, then decide without pressure whether to keep, let or sell the house. Our task is to order this sequence with you and to connect you with dependable notaries and translators.

This article provides orientation and does not replace legal or tax advice in the individual case. The certificate of succession and the contracts are prepared by notaries; the tax position is clarified by a tax adviser with cross-border experience — we bring the participants together.