John Baum <baumgrenze@yahoo.com>
GEN-DE-L@rootsweb.com
re:
I understand that if a German citizen dies without a will, the
Nachlassgericht appoints an attorney as a Nachlasspfleger to determine
the distribution of any property the deceased owned in Germany.
In the case of an elderly woman with no children and no surviving
spouse, the process involves genealogical research by the
Nachlasspfleger. He must work backwards to the parents and then
outward to brothers and sisters and then forwards to living heirs.
Are the documents regarding the estate which he files with the court
'public documents?' Can one request a copy of his filing? If so, how
is this done? What does one call the document? What does a copy cost?
Thank you very much,
John
Adalbert Goertz responds:
Good question. Off hand I would say: That depends on the time period.
Although for recent times (after WWII) this all is true, there is
a crippling word which is "statute of limitation".
I have seen ads where a Nachlasspfleger asks for info on relatives
of a deceased.
The "statute of limitation" would limit the time period when these
records are "shredded" or discarded. The only records which are
kept indefinitely today are deeds to real estate.
So, chances are that the documents you are looking for may have been
discarded after 30? years. That does not mean that ALL courts
actually discarded these records, but they were not obliged to keep them.
Now, there is some hope that in the deed and mortgage records
(Grund- und Hypothekenakten) the wills and "probates" are attached.
For Prussia this would be true after 1783.
See my discussion on court records on my website below and in the
forthcoming book on East and West Prussia.
So, by all means write to the Amtsgericht where you think these
records may be kept and inquire about Nachlassakten of the person
you have in mind, giving all the details you know of.
Whatever the response to your question may be, let us all know about
it that we may improve our learning curve.