If someone dies in your country and has no family, what happens to their money and their assets (house, car etc.)?

15 comments

1. Family members after 6th degree aren’t considered part of the family for inheritance matter according to the law, so the assets will go to the government

2. The notary notifies everyone (especially banks, offices and checks registers for assets) and notifies possible heirs, state gets the money and assets if no heir exists.

3. If you do not have any heirs and have not designated any heirs or if existing heirs reject the inheritance, then the Federal Republic of Germany inherits, we call this Fiskalerbschaft.

   Fun fact: The Federal Republic also assumes debts of the deceased, but only if the respective assets of the inheritance are greater than the corresponding debts.

4. I’m not familiar with the details, but if no family can be found and there is no will, the money will go to the state. At least part of it is used to fund projects by children and youth organizations.

5. >If there are no heirs, that is, if the person has never had any children, then it is instead his parents. If they are also deceased, they are instead siblings or, if the siblings are deceased, nephews (Chapter 2, Section 2 ÄB). Ultimately, the deceased’s grandparents inherit and if they are deceased, aunts, uncles, aunts and uncles. Cousins ​​are not something according to the legal inheritance order (Chapter 2, Section 3 ÄB)If none of these relatives are alive, the inheritance goes to the General Inheritance Fund (Chapter 5, Section 1 ÄB).

   ​

   >The General Inheritance Fund was established in 1928 when the Riksdag decided that cousins ​​and more distant relatives would no longer inherit. Inheritance from it without family wings and without a will would not go to the state either. Instead, the legacy would go to public benefit. To make this possible, the General Heritage Fund was established, where recipients of money from the fund would be children and young people. Later, this also applied to the group of people with disabilities. A fourth target group, consisting of all older people (from 65 years), was added in 2021. The fund was world-unique when it was created and is still so today!

6. If there is nobody left in the family up to the 6th degree (that would be the child of your parent’s cousins, or the great grand children of your uncle…), or if they all refuse to inherit, then everything goes to the state.

7. Like others mentioned only relatives up to the 6th degree can inherit. If no heirs can be found the inheritance goes to a special fund. It stays there for 20 years, during which time any heirs can come forward. If after those 20 years no heirs have come forward the money will go to the government.

8. Here in Belgium, if someone dies.

   The inheritance goes first to the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, … and so on. If nobody is found then it’s the parents, sisters and brothers of the deceased. And then the children of sisters and brothers of the deceased after that the grandchildren, … and so on. If you still don’t have found someone. You go up and look at the grandparents and then great-grandparents.
   After that your uncle or aunt can get the inheritance.

   But now if your are married or “wettelijk samenwoonde” (living together for the law) and is still alive. This person get “vruchtgebruik” (usufruct) of the home and “huisraad” (home counsel).

   But if nobody claim the inheritance, the government keep it for 10 years. (The government pays first your debt and what is left it keeps.) After the 10 year and there is still nobody. The government keeps it and nobody can claim it anymore after the 10 year mark.

9. Muncipality where this person lived gets it. I remember some city (Lublin i guess) was selling old Trabant recently because they inherited the garage and found it inside.

10. If there is no will, the order of inheritance is:

    * children
    * parents
    * siblings
    * nephews and nieces
    * grandparents
    * uncles and aunts

    Spouses don’t technically inherit, but get the share entitled to them, i.e. half of the couple’s combined assets on the basis of their marital right. However, if there are no other heirs, the spouse gets everything. Cousins don’t inherit. If there are no heirs, no spouse, and no will, the inheritance goes to the state. Every now and then there are news articles about the state inheriting considerable estates.

11. [removed]

12. If there are no surviving heirs or relatives, the estate goes to the Crown.

13. I guess you mean with no will, aside of no family, isn’t it? Then the Catalan government gets the inheritance.

    Here, even if you have written a will, a 25% of the total value of your belongings has to go, evenly, to your descendants (evenly among the first generation, and then evenly among the descendants of each of the members of the second generation if the member of the first generation is dead or declared uninheritable). This 25% is called «la llegítima», the legitimate. If there are no descendants, then it will go to the direct ascendants of the decesed (ie, the father and/or the mother).

    If you do not have a will, then you give the inheritance in this order:

    * If there are descendants who are alive and not declared uninheritable by a judge, to them.
    * If there are no descendants, but there is a partner, to the partner (no need to be married)
    * No descendants and no partner but there are parents, the parents.
    * No descendants, no partner and no parents, ascendants.
    * No descendants, no partner, no parents, no acendants? then relatives up to first cousins (siblings, nephews, uncles and first cousins)
    * If nothing else works? The Catalan Government gets the inheritancs.

    Aside of everything, the surviving parner has the right to, during one year, live in the common house and use everything in it, even if it was inherited by someone else. Also this partner has the right to get fed at the same level as before with the patrimony during one year. If this partner has no economical resources to cover their necessities can ask for the «quarta vidual» (widow’s quarter), it is, claim after a 25% of the inheritance to keep a level of life similar to the one before the death.

14. OP had an antique neighbor he is considering marriage too.

15. It goes to the state, but sometimes people die and no one cares, so the car just sits there rusting and the body mummifies in the flat.