Reversing the deterioration or decay of something positively.
Disregarding an Inheritance in Financial Ruin's Suggestion? Worth doubting first. Hidden resources might emerge later on.
Suppose an inheritance owed to you is financially insufficient. Don't disregard it merely on suspicion. It's wise to gather facts beforehand. Should you later find out that you were mistaken about the inheritance's structure, you'll have a stronger case to contest the disregard and reclaim the inheritance. As evidenced by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main's ruling (Case No.: 21 W 146/23)
In a particular instance, a daughter rejected her mother's inheritance after her demise. Nearly a year later, she challenged the rejection and applied for a certificate of inheritance as the sole beneficiary. The cause: She had misjudged the inheritance as insufficient. The daughter had not shared a close relationship with her mother and had no interaction with her since childhood. Her sole information came from the police officer who informed her of her mother's passing.
Higher Regional Court contradicts Lower Regional Court
This officer described the apartment in the red-light district as cluttered and disorganized. Without visiting the apartment herself, the daughter judged that her mother had fallen on hard times and resided in a 'social trouble spot'. It was only through a letter from the estate administrator that she learned about her mother's bank balances in the six-figure range. However, the lower court dismissed the daughter's subsequent request for a certificate of inheritance. The challenge to the inheritance rejection was deemed ineffective. The Higher Regional Court saw it differently.
If someone is mistaken about an inheritance's composition after exhausting all reasonable means to collect information, they can generally contest the rejection of that inheritance. The Higher Regional Court found this to be the case here. The daughter had no way of knowing about the bank balances, which she convincingly proved during the personal hearing. As a result, she can effectively challenge the inheritance rejection and reclaim the inheritance.
Incidentally: The court ruled in favor of the daughter due to her misunderstanding about the estate's composition. A simple misjudgment about the estate's value would not have served as a basis for a challenge.
Despite initially disregarding the inheritance due to its perceived insufficiency, the daughter's later discovery of substantial bank balances in her mother's account opened up the possibility for a contestation. In light of this hereditary wealth, reconsidering the inheritance's disregard became a worthwhile consideration.
