Checklist

Inheritance dispute after a death

The first weeks after a death often decide your later evidentiary position. This checklist guides you through first steps, documents, the community of heirs and your legal options, so that no important point and no deadline is lost.

When a close relative dies and a dispute over the estate looms, a clear head and structure matter. In Austria every estate is settled in a court probate procedure that a notary conducts as a court commissioner. There the heirs, the assets and the debts are established.

Where several people inherit, a community of heirs arises in which important decisions have to be taken jointly. Anyone who gathers their documents early, secures their own rights and documents evidence is in a much stronger position as matters proceed.

This checklist is a guide from us as the team of BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte. It does not replace an assessment of the individual case or legal advice. It helps you to proceed in a structured way in a stressful situation and to consider the points most frequently overlooked in practice.

Work through the points calmly. You can tick off each point; the status is saved on your device. The buttons let you print or reset the list.

What matters legally

In Austria every estate is settled in a court probate procedure. A notary conducts it as a court commissioner on behalf of the district court. With the declaration of acceptance you accept the inheritance. The unconditional declaration leads to liability for estate debts even beyond the value of the estate, while the conditional declaration limits liability in principle to the value of the estate.

Anyone who requests an inventory receives a court list of the assets and liabilities. This creates clarity where assets and debts are disputed or hard to survey. Persons entitled to a compulsory portion can also obtain an inventory in order to clarify the basis for assessing their claim.

Several heirs form a community of heirs and dispose of the estate jointly in principle. Important claims are subject to deadlines. The compulsory portion claim is time-barred after three years under § 1487a ABGB. Whether and which deadline applies in the individual case depends on the circumstances and should be checked in good time.

This checklist is a general guide to the Austrian legal position (as of June 2026) and makes no claim to completeness or legal certainty. It does not replace advice in the individual case and is not a finished legal document. How an estate is to be settled depends on the individual case.

Going deeper

Matching tools and checklists

Inheritance dispute: deadlines and documents

Get an overview of the important deadlines and the documents you need after a death.

Compulsory portion: initial assessment

Clarify roughly whether and to what extent a compulsory portion claim may come into question.

Check compulsory portion and gifts

The checklist with which you prepare your compulsory portion and possible gift add-backs in a structured way.

Your contact

Mag. Bernhard Brandauer

Attorney · BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte, Salzburg

Inheritance matters are handled by Mag. Bernhard Brandauer together with a coordinated team. We examine the will, compulsory portion, gifts and deadlines and tell you clearly where you stand.