Dissolution of an Inheritance Community

After a probate procedure, heirs generally become co-owners of a property, which may be a piece of land, a house, or an apartment. For an individual heir to use their inheritance, rent, sell, or mortgage the property independently and without the consent of the others, they must be the owner of the entire property.

The co-owners can therefore try to amicably divide the property into parcels or the house into floors or apartments, so that each co-owner’s share in the property forms a complete unit.

However, if the amicable division does not occur, the co-owners can initiate an uncontested procedure to dissolve the inheritance community.

In this uncontested procedure, the court will dissolve the inheritance community through a division in kind, a payout, or a so-called “civil division.”

The division (geometric) of a piece of land in kind is carried out when the land can be divided into smaller parcels, so that each co-owner receives one of the newly created parcels according to their share of ownership.

The division of a residential building in kind is carried out when it can be divided into floors or multiple independently usable units (for example, each having its own entrance from the street, its own sanitary facilities, and a kitchen).

Another option is a dissolution by payout, where one co-owner receives the entire property and compensates the other co-owners according to their shares.

Co-owners who own at least 9/10 of the property have the right to pay out the other co-owners.

If the court determines that a division in kind is impossible, a procedure for a so-called “civil division” is initiated, meaning an auction for the purpose of dissolving the community. In this case, the property is sold through a forced auction or another appropriate method, and the proceeds are divided according to the co-ownership shares.

After the tax office or a court expert has determined the market value of the disputed property, the court will schedule a forced auction.

In the first court auction, the price of the property can fall to 2/3 of the appraised value, and in the second court auction, it can even fall to 1/3 of the appraised value.