How is the compulsory share calculated in Austria? How much are you entitled to?

Author: Mag. Nevena Shotekova-Zöchling, Attorney and insolvency administrator in Vienna · As of September 2026

Who is entitled to the compulsory share?

Children are entitled and, if a child has already died, that child's descendants. The spouse or registered partner is also entitled. Parents, siblings and unmarried partners (Lebensgefährten) have no compulsory share.

The compulsory share is a claim to money, not to specific items. So you cannot demand the apartment, but you can demand its proportionate value.

How the compulsory share is calculated

The basis is the net estate (reiner Nachlass): assets on the date of death less debts and procedural costs. From this, the statutory share of the estate is determined and halved. Alongside children, the spouse inherits one third by law; the children share two thirds.

Worked example: The father leaves a net estate of € 600,000, a wife and two children. In his will he appoints only his wife as sole heir.

Each child can therefore claim € 100,000 from the heir. Lifetime gifts can increase or reduce this amount.

Due date, deferral and interest

The claim arises on death and becomes due one year later (§ 765 ABGB). Until payment you are entitled to statutory interest (§ 778 para 2 ABGB).

The deceased can order in the will a deferral (Stundung) of at most five years after death (§ 766 ABGB). The court can also grant a deferral on application by the heir, for example if the heir's own home or a business would otherwise have to be sold (§ 767 ABGB). In cases particularly deserving of consideration, an extension to a total of at most ten years is possible.

Limitation period and reduction of the compulsory share

The monetary compulsory share must be asserted in court within three years of knowledge of the relevant facts, but no later than 30 years after the death (§ 1487a ABGB). A letter to the heir alone does not interrupt the limitation period.

If you never had, or for a long period did not have, the close relationship typical between family members with the deceased, he or she can reduce the compulsory share to half in the will (Pflichtteilsminderung, § 776 ABGB). This does not apply if the deceased avoided contact without reason or gave justified cause for the breakdown in contact. In the example above, € 50,000 would then remain.

This article gives a general overview of Austrian law and does not replace advice on your individual case.