If you want to ensure that your disposition of property upon death (e.g. your will) is found and opened in the event of inheritance, you can place it in special official safekeeping. This also protects your disposition of property upon death from forgery or loss.

If your disposition of property upon death is notarized by a notary (notarial deed), this person will arrange for special official safekeeping.

In the case of privately written (handwritten) wills, you can hand them in personally for special official safekeeping at the local court.

Notaries and custodian courts register dispositions of property upon death electronically in the Central Register of Wills. The Central Register of Wills contains safekeeping information on wills, inheritance contracts and other documents relevant to succession. In the event of death, the competent probate court and the depositary are automatically informed of the death and the entry. Probate courts can also check the register of wills to see whether a disposition of property upon death is in official safekeeping.

The contents of dispositions of property upon death are not shown in the register of wills, but are kept locked away at the local court.

You do not have to take any special action to register in the register of wills. The depositaries are legally obliged to register. However, this does not apply to private wills that are not kept officially. These cannot be recorded in the Central Register of Wills.