Federal Court of Justice: Criminal bail and other security deposits are attachable

– How seizure of a bond provided by a third party can still result in taxes –   The Federal Court of Justice (BGH, judgement of 22.07.2004, ref. IX ZR 132/03) recognises in constant jurisdiction that deposited penalty bonds and other security payments are attachable by creditors of the debtor. This applies both to the […]

Company pension scheme: Termination, nullity and compensation of pension commitments

– How to exit from unprofitable contracts with a low tax burden -.   Contrary to claims to the contrary, the assets saved in the company pension scheme (bAV) can, as a rule, be dissolved prematurely. This applies both to the occupational pension scheme of normal employees and to managing directors and board members – […]

Books / Technical articles

Publications – Technical papers Fiala/Schramm, Insolvency risk of British life insurers when relocating to Ireland, ExpertenReport, issue 7/2019, pages 60-62 Fiala/Schramm, When are insurers no longer obliged to pay benefits or can reduce benefits?Expert Report, issue 3/2019, pages 56-58 Fiala/Schramm, No insurance coverage in case of refusal to pay protection money, ExpertenReport, issue 11/2018. Pages […]

Sharia protects against creditors, also in inheritance law and family law claims

– Basic foreign values (ordre public) protect against access to assets – German courts also recognise Sharia law and, where applicable, apply it compulsorily if it does not contradict fundamental German legal concepts – especially the constitution. Conversely, German law is not applied abroad, even if it is fundamentally valid, if it contradicts the fundamental […]

How to increase the number of organ donations:

And what price does the donor have to pay?   In Varanasi, on the banks of the holy Ganges, tourists wanted to attend a traditional cremation. To the relatives of the burning candidate who were standing around, it was said that he was already dead, and that he should now be placed on the pile […]

How half-baked company pension commitments can be interpreted by the courts

The Federal Labor Court (BAG, ruling dated February 21, 2017, file no. 3 AZR 297/15) dismissed an employee’s action seeking to establish that his current wife is entitled to a widow’s pension from his company pension commitment. The employee had remarried at the end of the employment relationship. The future widow goes away empty-handed – […]

Benefits to spouses and in the case of non-marital cohabitation are often recoverable

If donations are for the purpose of community protection, but are not gifts…. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH, ruling of 6 May 2014, file no. X ZR 135/11) decided that donations to non-marital partners with the purpose of securing the death of the donor are not gifts. If the cohabitation fails, such donations must […]

Errors in advice on the tax savings model for the Rürup pension

Why the mediation of the basic pension almost certainly leads to the liability of the intermediary.   The Rürup pension was sold millions of times as a tax-saving model. As a matter of course, savings by paying insurance premiums in the savings phase are then precalculated by the agent or broker. However, if documentation has […]

Insurers’ distribution often not in compliance with the law

How insurers have to pay in full in the event of a claim despite incorrectly answered risk questions   Policyholders (UN) can lie to their future insurer (VR) with impunity on risk issues. All you have to do is find an insurer who is stupid enough not to conduct its business in accordance with the […]

Commentary: When private and occupational pensions cut provision

Survivors rub their eyes when the survivors’ pension of the German Pension Insurance (DRV) is reduced to zero after three months. Marriages entered into after 2002 or those where both spouses were born after 1962 are affected by this provision.   In these cases, 40 percent of the additional net income is offset, i.e. deducted […]