A Drawing up a will in the correct form – even if you do it yourself – isn’t actually that difficult in the end, as long as you know, what to look out for.
Nevertheless, this is a recurring source of dispute, which shows just how important it is to be well-informed or to seek legal advice and get help.
According to Section 2247(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB) The specification of the date (day, month and year), just like the specification of the place, is merely optional. If this information is missing, the will therefore remains valid in principle.
However, things become difficult in cases where the exact date is crucial – for example, because the testator became incapable of making a will from a certain point in time, or because there are several (conflicting) wills and the later will must be determined.
The Higher Regional Court of Schleswig (dated 16 July 2015, 3 Wx 53/15) had to deal with such a case last year, in which it was ultimately impossible to determine the date on which the will was drawn up – the date could not be fully deciphered. The Higher Regional Court of Schleswig concluded that a will with an unclear date is invalid if it remains possible that it was drawn up before another will containing complete date details. The Higher Regional Court of Schleswig based its ruling on Section 2247(5), first sentence, of the German Civil Code (BGB), which it interpreted broadly to mean that this provision covers not only missing information regarding the date but also imprecise information regarding the date.
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