Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.text.tex > #193300

Off topic - Will in Germany (Was: LaTeX template for Last Will and Testament?)

Show all headers | View raw

Dr Engelbert Buxbaum wrote:

> In article <10ua9tj$14ilq$1@dont-email.me>, 
> heller@deepsoft.com says...
>> 
>> Does anyone know of a template (or style file or class file) for something
>> like a Last Will and Testament? 
> 
> Under German law, a will has to be hand-
> written, so LaTeX is of no use. The exception 
> is when the will is errected in front of a 
> notary, but they will then use their own 
> template. 
> 
> The laws of your country may, of course, be 
> different. And really complicated it gets for 
> expats.

In addition to the statutory regulations for emergency wills, the German
legislator fundamentally provides two options for establishing a legally
valid will:

Section 2247 of the German Civil Code (§ 2247 BGB) specifies the formal
requirements that a so-called 'holographic will' must satisfy in order
to be legally valid. One of these requirements indeed is the holographic
will to be written by the own hand of the testator.

However, the fact that formal requirements are prescribed for this type
of establishment does not preclude other methods of establishing a will.

The other fundamental option of establishment of a will is the so-called
'notarial will'. German law also provides formal requirements for the
legal validity of a notarial will. These are specified in Section 2232
of the German Civil Code (§ 2232 BGB), which in German language reads as
follows:

| § 2232 Öffentliches Testament
|
| Zur Niederschrift eines Notars wird ein Testament errichtet, indem der
| Erblasser dem Notar seinen letzten Willen erklärt oder ihm eine
| Schrift mit der Erklärung übergibt, dass die Schrift seinen letzten
| Willen enthalte. Der Erblasser kann die Schrift offen oder
| verschlossen übergeben; sie braucht nicht von ihm geschrieben zu sein.

Translation into English language: German Civil Code, Section 2232:

| Public will
|
| A will recorded by a notary is made by the testator declaring their
| last will to the notary or handing the notary a document with the
| statement that the document contains their last will. The testator can
| hand over the document either unsealed or sealed; it need not have
| been written by them.

So, of course, with public wills, instead of writing with their own
hand, testators in Germany may create documents/instruments that are
written on paper stating their last wills using software and templates
according to their preferences.
These instruments constitute legally valid wills, as long as they are
accompanied by the statement that they represent the will of the
testator, and are handed over by the testator to the notary. With public
wills it is the actual act of the testator themselves handing over the
instrument to the notary and providing to the notary the statement that
the instrument holds the last will of the testator and the notary
recording both the handing-over of the instrument and the testator's
making of the statement that the instrument states their will and the
testator approving that record by their signature and the notary
officially authenticating that record by their signature that
constitutes the legally valid establishment of the will.

Sincerely

Ulrich

Back to comp.text.tex | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Find similar

Thread

LaTeX template for Last Will and Testament? Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2026-05-16 17:35 +0000
  Re: LaTeX template for Last Will and Testament? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-05-17 10:06 +0000
  Re: LaTeX template for Last Will and Testament? Dr Engelbert Buxbaum <engelbert_buxbaum@hotmail.com> - 2026-05-18 10:38 +0200
    Off topic - Will in Germany (Was: LaTeX template for Last Will and Testament?) Ulrich D i e z <ud.usenetcorrespondence@web.de> - 2026-05-18 21:37 +0200

csiph-web