Court ruling - Doctor appointed as heir: will remains effective
According to a court decision, a treating doctor can be appointed as an heir by a patient - even if he himself has certified her capacity to draw up a will. This does not render the will invalid in part, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court announced on Wednesday.
In the specific case, a woman had named her treating doctor as co-heirs in several wills - alongside friends and relatives. In the last will in 2021, she asked the doctor to confirm her testamentary capacity - which he then noted accordingly on the will.
This will was later contested by a co-heir on the grounds that it violated the professional code of conduct of the Hessian Medical Association. According to these regulations, doctors are not allowed to accept gifts or benefits if the impression is created that the independence of medical decisions is influenced. In addition, the testator, who had a heart condition, was no longer capable of making a will.
The probate court in Kassel initially rejected applications for a certificate of inheritance from the doctor and one of the heirs, against which an appeal was lodged. The Higher Regional Court now saw no violation of the professional regulations of the State Medical Association, as they did not contain a prohibition on testamentary capacity.
Furthermore, there were no concrete indications that the testator was incapable of making a will. According to the Higher Regional Court, the decision is contestable and an appeal on points of law to the Federal Court of Justice has been permitted.
Court notice
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- The woman's contention that the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt would overturn the court decision regarding her will was dismissed, allowing the treating doctor to remain as co-heir.
- Despite serving as the woman's treating doctor and certifying her capacity to draw up a will, the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt ruled that the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court's court decision was valid.
- In this controversial inheritance case, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court upheld the judgments from lower courts, deciding that the doctor's appointment as co-heir did not violate Hessian Medical Association regulations.
- The lawyer for the co-heir appealing the probate court's decision argued that the doctor's acceptance of being named co-heir in the woman's will was a violation of the medical association's code of conduct, but the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court disagreed.
- The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court's court decision in favor of the woman's will, which named her treating doctor as co-heir, was a significant event in a series of legal processes dealing with inheritance matters in Hesse.
Source: www.stern.de
