German notary names himself heir to woman's €1.2m estate, gets suspended term

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A will is supposed to be the last clear voice of the person who wrote it. It tells the world where the money should go, who should receive the house and what the writer wanted to be remembered for.

When that voice gets bent by someone else’s hand, the damage goes well beyond the paperwork. And that’s exactly what happened in Braunfels, a small town in the Lahn-Dill district, where a notary decided to rewrite a deceased woman’s wishes, according to prosecutors, as reported by Hessenschau. An 88-year-old woman turned to her notary for help with her will, but he instead carried out a fraud. On Tuesday, 3 November, the Limburg Regional Court sentenced the former notary to a two-year suspended prison sentence for forgery and fraud.

The court found that the notary had attempted to fraudulently obtain the deceased woman’s inheritance.

A will that was never written

In February 2023, the woman, then 88, asked the notary to draw up her will. She wanted her assets to go to a monastery in the Rheingau, a church community in Braunfels and her neighbours. According to the indictment, the notary drew up an inheritance contract instead, one that could not be contested later. He then altered the document so that he, rather than the monastery or the parish, was named the sole heir.

Unaware of the fraud, the woman signed it.Her estate was worth more than €75,000, and she also owned a property valued at €250,000. Together, these assets were worth close to €1.2 million. The former notary had planned to take around €900,000 along with a detached house, the court said. The money was never paid out to him. The woman has since died.

The trial and verdict

The defendant is a 49-year-old lawyer who had worked as a notary. He holds a doctorate and, at the time of the trial, was still working at a law firm alongside his second wife, who is also a lawyer.

When the Limburg Regional Court opened the case, the former notary declined to address the charges and said he would first speak about his personal history. He had already commented on the allegations during the investigation, a court spokesman said.On Tuesday, the court sentenced the notary to two years in prison, suspended, for forgery and fraud. While the man argued that he had acted out of financial need, the judges rejected this argument. His defence had said he was under heavy pressure because of his divorce. The court pointed to the facts: he paid no significant alimony to his ex-wife and owned five properties, two of which he rented out. In the court’s view, he had acted out of greed and with considerable criminal intent.He confessed in court and apologised in his final statement. Whether that apology carries weight with the woman’s family is a question the court did not address.