Inheritance Law2026-11-13

A Gifted House: Does My Compulsory Portion Count the Value at the Date of Death or the Date of the Gift?

For a gifted house, the starting point is the value at the date of death — but if the value on the day of the gift was lower, only that lower figure counts. How the comparison works, when the ten-year clock starts, and which figures you are entitled to demand.

You know that the gift has eaten into your compulsory portion — and you know that the house is worth many times today what it was worth back then. The recipient is counting on the old value; you are counting on today’s. More often than not, the larger part of your claim turns on this single question, which is why I will answer it here all the way to the bottom.

In brief

For a property, the starting point is the value at the time of the inheritance — that is, the date of death. If the value at the time of the gift was lower, only that lower value is taken (§ 2325 Abs. 2 BGB, the so-called lowest-value principle). So it is the smaller of the two figures that counts — though the earlier value is converted to today’s price level for the comparison, since otherwise inflation alone would decide the outcome. Only then comes the tapering of one tenth for each year since the gift (§ 2325 Abs. 3 BGB).

How I can help you

I enforce your right to information and valuation against the heir (§ 2314 BGB) — and the cost of the valuation falls on the estate.
I obtain the Land Register extract and the notarial deed and pinpoint the day on which the gift was completed in law. The ten-year period turns on that.
I weigh the two valuation-date figures against each other, adjust the earlier value for purchasing power, and count out the tapering years.
I value any reserved usufruct (Nießbrauch) or right of residence and check whether the period has even begun to run.
I pursue the supplementary claim against the heir and, where the estate does not suffice, the claim against the recipient of the gift (§ 2329 BGB).
I protect against limitation before it can strip you of the claim.

The valuation-date comparison: two figures, the smaller one wins

§ 2325 Abs. 2 BGB distinguishes between two kinds of gift. A consumable item — money, for instance — is taken at its value at the time of the gift. Any other asset, and so also a house or a flat, is taken at its value at the time of the inheritance; if the value at the time of the gift was lower, only that figure is brought into account.

In practice this means: the recipient does not profit from any increase in value, but equally you bear no risk from any later fall. The calculation has four steps:

Establish the market value of the property at the date of death.
Establish the market value on the day of the gift, including the encumbrances existing at that time.
Convert the figure from step 2 to the price level in the year of death. The statute does not expressly require this conversion; it follows from the fact that two non-comparable monetary figures would otherwise be set against each other, and in practice it is carried out using a consumer price index.
Take the smaller of the two figures — that is the starting value for the supplementary calculation.

The order matters: first the valuation-date figure is fixed, then the tapering is applied. Anyone who does it the other way round will, as a rule, arrive at the wrong amount.

The ten-year period and the tapering

§ 2325 Abs. 3 BGB takes the gift into account in full in the first year before the inheritance, and one tenth less in each further year. Once ten years lie between the transfer and the inheritance, the gift is left out of account altogether. A gift made seven years and some months ago falls into the eighth year and is therefore still taken into account at three tenths.

There is one exception that catches many people out: where the gift was made to a spouse, the period does not begin before the marriage is dissolved. If the deceased transferred the house to their spouse and the marriage lasted until death, the passage of time is of no help to the recipient — the gift counts in full.

When is the house treated as “transferred”? The day that matters

The period runs from the transfer, not from the signature at the notary’s office. For land, § 873 Abs. 1 BGB requires, for the transfer of ownership, both the agreement and the registration of the change of right in the Land Register. As long as registration is lacking, ownership has not passed. § 518 BGB requires notarial recording for the promise of a gift, and allows the defect of form to be cured only once the promised performance has actually been rendered.

From this follows a lever that is often overlooked in practice. Where months or even years lie between the notarial appointment and registration in the Land Register, the tapering step can shift by a whole tenth. And if registration never took place, the property never left the deceased in law — in which case this is not about a supplement under § 2325 BGB at all; rather, the asset belongs to the estate itself, which is to be valued under § 2311 BGB according to its composition and value at the time of the inheritance. The full present-day value then feeds into the compulsory-portion calculation.

Where the donor reserved a usufruct or a comprehensive right of residence, there is a further question to examine: whether they have, in economic terms, actually parted with the asset at all. This is decided on the circumstances of the individual case and is one of the most common points of dispute there is — it cannot be answered in a blanket way, in either direction.

Which figures you are entitled to demand

Without reliable figures, any calculation is guesswork. If you are entitled to a compulsory portion and are not an heir, the heir owes you, under § 2314 Abs. 1 BGB, information about the composition of the estate. You can require that you be present when the inventory is taken, that the value of the estate assets be ascertained, and that the inventory be drawn up by the competent authority or a notary. Under § 2314 Abs. 2 BGB, these costs fall on the estate, not on you.

For the gifted property you additionally need the date of completion. The route to that runs through the Land Register; as a person entitled to a compulsory portion you can, as a rule, show the legitimate interest required for inspection.

A typical case

The father transfers his detached house to his son in spring 2019, reserving no rights for himself; the transfer is registered in May 2019. In November 2026 he dies. Under the will, the son is the sole heir; the daughter is entitled to a compulsory portion. There are no further descendants and no spouse.

I have chosen the figures freely here, purely to show the method. At the date of death the house is worth €600,000; in May 2019 it was worth €400,000, which converts to roughly €480,000 at 2026 price levels. Under the lowest-value principle the lower figure governs, so €480,000. Seven years and six months lie between registration and the inheritance, so the gift falls into the eighth year and is taken into account at three tenths: €144,000 feeds into the supplementary calculation. The daughter’s statutory share would be one half, making her compulsory-portion quota one quarter — so the gift yields €36,000, on top of her compulsory portion in the remaining estate. Had the father lived half a year longer, it would have been only two tenths.

Common mistakes

Citing only today’s market value and overlooking the tapering — or, the other way round, seeing only the tapering and failing to carry out the valuation-date comparison.
Taking the date of the notarial deed as the start of the period instead of checking the day of registration in the Land Register.
Comparing the old purchase price, unconverted, with today’s value, and so setting the lowest value too low.
Relying on an estate agent’s estimate or a standard land value instead of using the right to a valuation, the cost of which the estate bears.
Negotiating with the recipient for months without keeping limitation in view. The compulsory-portion claim is subject to a three-year limitation period; for the claim against the recipient, the period runs under § 2332 Abs. 1 BGB from the inheritance, regardless of when you learned of the gift.
Assuming that your own earlier waiver, or some agreement from back then, is of no consequence. What you or the recipient signed in the past may change the calculation considerably and belongs on the table before any letter is sent.

Frequently asked questions

Does the date-of-death value still apply if the recipient has renovated the house?

What is compared is the value of the gifted asset, not the value of the recipient’s own work. If, after the transfer, they invested substantially from their own funds, then in the individual case what is attributable to that outlay has to be stripped out — what was given was the house in its condition at the time. This is a regular point of dispute and stands or falls on the evidence of the scope and the financing of the work.

My father reserved a right of residence for himself — does the ten-year period run all the same?

There is no blanket answer. What matters is whether the donor has, in economic terms, genuinely given the property out of their hands, or whether, through the reserved right, they essentially continue to use it as before. The more far-reaching the reserved right, the closer the question comes of whether a transfer in the sense of the statute has even taken place — and that is examined by reference to the particular contract and the actual use.

What can I do if there is nothing left in the estate?

In so far as the heir is not obliged to make up the compulsory portion, you can, under § 2329 Abs. 1 BGB, require the recipient to hand over the gift, in accordance with the rules on the surrender of an unjust enrichment. Under § 2329 Abs. 2 BGB the recipient can avert that surrender by paying the shortfall — and in practice this usually ends in a payment, not in the house being transferred back.

Who pays for the valuation report?

The costs of the valuation, which you can demand under § 2314 Abs. 1 BGB, fall on the estate under § 2314 Abs. 2 BGB. An additional report of your own, commissioned independently of that, you bear yourself at first; whether it is worth it depends on how far apart the figures are.

Does the date-of-death value apply to gifted money as well?

No. For a consumable item — and money is one — it is the value at the time of the gift that governs, under § 2325 Abs. 2 Satz 1 BGB; here, in practice, purchasing power is adjusted, but no movement in value is tracked. If, however, the money was given earmarked for the purchase of a property, one has to look closely at what was actually given.

Your next step

The whole calculation stands or falls on two dates and two figures: the day of registration in the Land Register and the date of death, the market value then and the market value now. All four you can obtain, and for the valuations the estate pays. If you send me the date of death, the will or certificate of inheritance, the notarial deed and a Land Register extract, I will tell you which valuation date yields the higher amount in your case, which tapering step applies, and how much time you have left before limitation sets in. For further questions on the compulsory portion, wills and estates, see Inheritance law.

What this will cost you I tell you in advance, at the first consultation — under the RVG or by agreement — and I will check for you whether legal expenses insurance will step in. I work throughout Germany; we can hold the conversation by video or telephone. What you tell me is covered by my duty of confidentiality, even if it does not lead to an engagement.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for an examination of your individual case.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for legal advice in an individual case. Last updated: 2026-11-13.

Christian Czirnich, Rechtsanwalt (attorney at law), Kirchseeon near Munich

Tell me which property was gifted and when – I will take a look.

I read every message myself and usually reply on the next working day. What you write to me is covered by legal professional privilege from the first word, even if no engagement comes about. The initial assessment is free of charge.