We’ve all heard of disgruntled relatives disinheriting their heirs or relatives from getting their hands on their money, but one woman takes it to another level: literally shredding the fortune so that her heirs don’t get a penny. It turns out that the Austrian laws on inheritance are different; it’s more difficult to disinherit heirs from your money, regardless of your wishes as to how the money should be distributed.
The Austrian Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) outlines the rules for succession, determining how property and assets are distributed among heirs.When an individual dies without leaving a valid will, the laws of intestate succession come into effect. In Austria, the spouse or registered partner and direct descendants are entitled to a mandatory portion of the estate, referred to as the “compulsory portion.” If a valid Last Will and Testament exists, the deceased person’s wishes regarding the distribution of assets are generally respected. However, Austrian law imposes certain restrictions to protect the rights of heirs. Close relatives, such as spouses and children, are entitled to a reserved portion of the estate, even if disinherited.
Imagine disgruntled relatives bickering over your legacy when you’re gone. Now imagine if you strongly dislike those relatives and don’t want to have anything to do with them. Well, the simple solution would be to cut them from your Will, right? Make sure they don’t inherit a dime and get some payback for the awful way your relatives treated you?
Apparently, it’s not that simple in Austria. Find out why one grandmother cut up her fortune in anger rather than simply disinheriting her grandkids from her Will: Austrian woman shreds her fortune.
It’s not clear if the woman had a Last Will or not, but she went to great lengths to keep her heirs from getting her money, including shredding her bank books. The real kicker is that a bank in Austria is actually replacing the lost funds. Wonder what the relatives/heirs did to get disinherited? Did they not visit her enough? Click on the link above to read more.