Special forms of wills provided for by law are useful in extraordinary situations and disasters. Surprisingly, the Civil Code of the Federal Republic of Germany has made provisions for such cases.
Holographic will
In principle, the following applies: as a German citizen, anyone can draw up their last will and testament by their own hand anywhere. The only requirement is that they are of legal testation age. They must write the will by hand. It must be clear from what they write that they are making a will. If the testator is at home and is not allowed to leave the house, they can draw up a stand-alone will.
He should use names correctly and land registry or property designations should also be as exact as possible.
The notary comes to your home
Of course, there is also the option of summoning a notary to your home and having them draw up the will there. This is also valid if quarantine rules are violated in the process.
Mayor's will
If the place of residence is under quarantine, no notary can come either. Then there is the option of having your will drawn up by the mayor, the so-called mayor's will.
However, this requires a risk of death or at least a high probability that death will occur in the next few days. In this case, the mayor can take on the role of the notary.
In addition, two witnesses must be present and remain present throughout.
Ship voyages
If a notary is on board the ship, he may also draw up a notarial will on board a ship.
The holographic will may be created.
You will rarely find a mayor on the ship, but you can create a 3-witness will.
There is also the so-called maritime will. This is a three-witness will, but it is not subject to the requirement that there be a danger of death. This means that it can be drawn up at any time at sea. It is important to note under which flag the ship is sailing. If a German testator is traveling on a German ship, that is, a ship sailing under the German flag, there are no restrictions. However, if the German is traveling on a ship sailing under a foreign flag, the law of the state under whose flag the ship is sailing also applies.
The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.