A will is a document that gives you control over the assets you leave behind upon your death. At Paragraf Advokaterne, we know how important it is to have a will drawn up – and to have it done correctly. Even if you think you won't need it until far in the future.
To be able to create a will, you must:
The will must be drawn up by a notary, or in front of witnesses. In very special cases, an emergency will can also be considered valid. When you order a will from us, you will receive both a notarized will, a witnessed will and an emergency will with full instructions on what you need to do to make it valid.
There are many reasons why you should make a will. But remember that if you don't make one, the inheritance law determines who will inherit and how much each person will receive. And it's not always a completely fair distribution.
At Paragraf Advokaterne, we have extensive experience in creating wills, and together we will find your needs.
There can be many reasons for making a will - here are some of them:
If you are married, your spouse inherits half of what you leave behind. The rest is distributed according to inheritance classes. If you are not married, the entire inheritance is distributed according to inheritance classes.
3rd class of inheritance are your grandparents, and they only inherit if there are no heirs in the 1st and 2nd inheritance classes. If your grandparents are dead, their children (your maternal uncle, paternal uncle, aunt and great-aunt) inherit.
If there are still no heirs, the State inherits.
If the heirs are married, the inheritance is included as joint property in the marriage, unless the heir has separate property.
If you are satisfied that the inheritance will be distributed according to the Inheritance Act, you do not need to make a will, but if you want a different distribution, you must make a will.
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In your will you can decide quite freely, but with certain restrictions.
Are you married, your spouse inherits 1/4 of what you leave behind as a compulsory inheritance. Your spouse also has the right to remove property from the estate from the joint home, just as your spouse will have the right to take over the property if he or she can afford it. Your spouse can also sit in the undivided estate with the heirs. Joint heirs do not have to give their consent to the undivided estate, but special heirs (i.e. your special children) must. If you are married, the contents of your will will therefore often only be effective on the day your spouse dies or chooses to divide with the children.
Do you have children inherit your children together 1/4 as a forced inheritance. Are you married and has children inherits the spouse 1/8 and the children share 1/8, while you are free to dispose of 3/4 by will.
The part of your inheritance that you can choose to bequeath is freely given to whomever you wish. It just needs to be written down in a will as to who you want to receive the inheritance, otherwise it will be distributed according to the rules of inheritance law.
A notarized will is the most common type of will, as it is also the type of will that most certainly expresses how the deceased wishes their inheritance to be distributed.
The notary is an employee of the courts, and is responsible for ensuring, among other things, that the right people sign a will and that people can act rationally. Wills drawn up by a notary – notarized wills – are therefore considered the most reliable evidence in terms of whether the content is in accordance with the wishes of the deceased.
In practice, this is how it works: after meeting with you, we draw up the will as you wish. You will then be given the will, and you will then have to go to the local notary, where you will sign the will while the notary looks on. You must bring a photo ID or other documentation as proof that it is your will.
There is a court fee of DKK 300 to draw up a notarial will. The amount is paid directly to the notary.
The will is valid the moment you sign it. A copy of the will is kept in the Personal Book under your CPR number, while you take home the original with the notary's signature.
To revoke a will, a new will must be drawn up. However, provisions in the will that spouses or cohabitants shall inherit each other automatically upon termination of cohabitation shall lapse unless otherwise expressly provided.
A witnessed will is created by the testator drafting his will and signing it in front of at least two witnesses.
There are certain conditions that must be met in relation to the witnesses.
The will is valid when it is signed by the testator and the two witnesses.
If you are ill or are prevented from making a notarized will or a witnessed will due to an emergency, you can make an emergency will.
There are no formal requirements for the drafting of an emergency will, which is why it can be created, among other things:
Written emergency wills should be signed by the testator, as a guarantee that it is an expression of the testator's will.
An emergency will automatically lapses no later than 3 months after the emergency situation has ended. As soon as the emergency situation has ended, the testator should therefore ensure that the emergency will is replaced by a notarized will or a witnessed will.
If you have children under the age of 18, it is possible to state in your will who you want the children to grow up with if you die before the children turn 18.
If there are two parents with custody and one parent dies, the other parent automatically gets full custody. But unfortunately, sometimes both parents die, for example in an accident, so it is a good idea to decide where the child will grow up.
Ultimately, it is the authorities who decide where the children will grow up upon the death of the parents, but if this has been decided in a will, the authorities will largely follow the parents' wishes.
You can also add in your will that those who receive custody upon your death should receive a monthly amount from the inheritance to cover the child's ongoing expenses. This can be a good idea, as the child's inheritance will be tied upuntil the child reaches the age of 18.
Creating or amending a will usually takes place in the following way:
Which court should be used, what costs can be expected, do you have legal aid insurance and are there any witnesses? These are all four topics that you will be introduced to in connection with a court case. Below you can read more about the individual topics.
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