I have been disinherited. Can I do anything?
Your co-pilot in inheritance law
Mag. Nevena Shotekova-Zöchling
Attorney in Vienna · 16 years of legal practice · Inheritance law
Disappointment is not a ground for disinheritance.
A life that turned out differently than planned
The daughter gets pregnant. Then she drops out of school. Then she marries a man her mother barely knows.
For the mother, her world collapses. This is not the life she had imagined for her daughter. Despair turns into anger, and anger turns into a will: the daughter is disinherited. The reasons given are long: gross ingratitude, an “offensive way of life”, and much more.
After the mother’s death, the daughter comes to us.
Disappointment is not a ground for disinheritance.
We go through the reasons one by one. “Gross ingratitude” is not on the list of grounds for disinheritance. An “offensive way of life” used to be – but was removed from the law in 2017. So the mother had partly relied on grounds that no longer even exist. And what remained was not a crime and not a breach of family duties – but a path in life the mother had wished to be different.
We won the compulsory share for the daughter.
The lesson: parents may wish for a different life for their children. That does not allow them to disinherit them.
The grounds for disinheritance at a glance
Since 2017, a child (or another person entitled to a compulsory share) can only be disinherited if they (section 770 of the Austrian Civil Code, ABGB):
- committed an intentional crime against the deceased punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment,
- committed such a crime against the deceased’s spouse, cohabiting partner or close relatives,
- deliberately tried to frustrate the deceased’s last will,
- caused the deceased severe emotional suffering in a reprehensible manner,
- grossly neglected their family law duties – for example by failing to pay maintenance for years – or
- was sentenced to life imprisonment or twenty years’ imprisonment for one or more intentional crimes.
What is not enough
- Lifestyle, choice of partner, marriage, religion, profession, dropping out of school or university
- Disappointment, quarrels, everyday ingratitude
- Dislike of the child’s partner
- Lack of contact – at most this can halve the compulsory share, and only if the parents did not cause it themselves (section 776 ABGB)
Who has to prove what?
Not you. Whoever relies on the disinheritance – that is, the heirs – must prove the ground. It is not enough that it is written in the will. Any doubt goes against the heirs.
Two more cases from our practice
- Disinherited because of her partnership – two sisters, one will, and why the lack of contact did not help the parents.
- Disinherited because of the daughter-in-law – how a grandchild received their share despite pretextual reasons.
What you should do now
- Obtain the will and have the grounds for disinheritance checked. Which of the six grounds is claimed? Is it one at all?
- Register your compulsory share in the probate proceedings and request an inventory.
- Think of gifts: what others received during the deceased’s lifetime can increase your compulsory share.
- Observe deadlines: compulsory share claims generally become time-barred three years after you learn of them.
Disinherited? Have it checked whether it holds.
Initial assessment within 48 hours on working days; the first consultation is free of charge.
Have the disinheritance checked+43 1 34 601 71