Isn't a notarized will enough to cover my digital estate too?

Legally, yes — practically, no. A will decides who inherits. It does not say which online accounts even exist, how to get into them, or what stands in the way of a two-factor login. That practical information doesn't belong in a will anyway.

Why should I never write passwords into my will?

In Germany, a will gets registered with the Central Register of Wills and, once opened after death, can be read by several people — heirs, the probate court, sometimes notary staff. Any password written there is effectively public once the will is opened, and it's hard to change once it's known.

How much does a notarized will cost in Germany?

Costs follow the Court and Notary Fees Act (Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz, GNotKG) and scale with the value of the estate. For an estate worth around EUR 100,000, a straightforward notarization typically runs in the low hundreds of euros; a joint contract of inheritance (Erbvertrag) for two people costs more. Exact figures require checking the GNotKG fee tables.

Do I still need a certificate of inheritance with a notarized will?

Usually not — that's one of the big advantages. A notarized will, together with the court's opening record, is generally accepted by German banks and authorities as proof of inheritance. A handwritten will, by contrast, often requires an additional certificate of inheritance (Erbschein) before banks release funds.

Can a lawyer handle my digital estate too?

A lawyer can advise on the legal side — powers of attorney, contracts of inheritance, disputes. But a lawyer will not typically maintain an up-to-date list of your online accounts or document how to technically get past two-factor authentication in an emergency; that falls outside standard legal services.

Does Erbnis replace a notary or lawyer?

No, and neither replaces Erbnis. Erbnis doesn't create a legally binding will and doesn't replace notarization. It documents the practical, digital layer: which accounts exist, how to access them, and what should happen to them — complementing what a notary or lawyer settles legally.

What happens if I only have a will but no account overview?

Your heirs will legally know they're entitled to something, but not practically where it is. Without an overview of digital accounts, family members often have to guess which subscriptions are running or which accounts even exist, and figuring it out can take weeks or months.

Should I set up a will or Erbnis first?

There's no strict order, but the two work best done in parallel: the will settles the legal side for the long term, while Erbnis keeps the digital side current, since accounts and access details change far more often than your actual last will.

Compare

Notary & lawyer vs. Erbnis

A notarized will in Germany is legally binding and, in practice, hard to beat. But it answers a completely different question from the one that matters for a digital estate: who inherits, not where the accounts are or how to get into them.

By The Erbnis editorsPublished 1 September 2026Updated 1 September 20266 min read

Key takeaways

A notarized German will (notarielles Testament) is legally binding and usually replaces a certificate of inheritance with banks.
Notaries and lawyers settle the legal side of an estate — not which digital accounts exist or how to access them.
Passwords should never go into a will, because once opened after death it can be read by several people.
Notarization costs in Germany follow the GNotKG fee schedule and scale with estate value.
Erbnis doesn't replace a will or notarization — it documents the practical, digital layer.

What notaries and lawyers genuinely do well

In Germany, a notarized will carries serious legal weight. The notary checks your legal capacity, advises on forced-heirship rules (Pflichtteil), and drafts the will's language so it holds up and is difficult to contest later. Unlike a handwritten will under § 2247 of the German Civil Code (BGB), which you can write entirely yourself by hand, the notarized version has the notary handle the wording and make sure nothing is left ambiguous.

A practical advantage follows from that: banks and land registries in Germany generally accept a notarized will, together with the court's official opening record, as sufficient proof of inheritance — no separate certificate of inheritance (Erbschein) required. A handwritten will, by contrast, is often not enough on its own, and institutions ask for an Erbschein, which costs time and money. Couples who want to plan together can also sign a contract of inheritance (Erbvertrag), which is more binding than a simple will and harder to change unilaterally later.

Notaries also register wills with Germany's Central Register of Wills (Zentrales Testamentsregister, ZTR), run by the Federal Chamber of Notaries. That means the responsible probate court is automatically notified of your will's existence once a death is reported — a will sitting in a home drawer can easily be overlooked entirely.

Notary/lawyer vs. Erbnis

	Notarized will	Legal advice	Erbnis
Legally binding	Ja	depends on the service	Nein
Cost	set by GNotKG, value-based	hourly rate or flat fee	predictable subscription
Digital accounts documented	Nein	Nein	Ja
Access paths documentedincluding 2FA notes	Nein	Nein	Ja
Easy to keep updated	needs re-notarization	needs new consultation	Ja
Notifies family automatically	Nein	Nein	Ja
Replaces a will	is one	Nein	Nein

As of September 2026, to the best of our knowledge; notary and legal fees vary by case.

What notaries and lawyers deliberately don't do

Neither a notary nor a lawyer keeps a list of your streaming subscriptions, email accounts, cloud storage, or crypto wallets. That's not negligence — it simply isn't their job. Their mandate is the legal security of your wishes, not a practical inventory of your digital life. A will says who inherits — not what there even is to inherit when it comes to online accounts.

Access paths are likewise out of scope. How an heir gets past two-factor authentication, which device is needed for confirmation codes, or where a recovery code is stored — none of that is covered. And crucially, a will is opened after death and can, within limits, be read by heirs, the court, and sometimes notary staff. That's exactly why passwords should never be written into it: whatever ends up in an opened will can no longer realistically be kept secret.

Complementary, not competing

A notary and Erbnis don't compete, because they solve different layers of the same problem. The notary makes sure your wishes hold up legally: who inherits, how forced-heirship claims are handled, what applies in a dispute. Erbnis makes sure your heirs actually know what exists and how to get to it — the practical map to the legal framework.

Combining both gives you the strongest setup: a legally valid will registered with the Central Register of Wills, plus an always-current, secure overview of digital accounts and access paths in Erbnis. Erbnis explicitly does not create a will and does not replace notarization — for that, seeing a notary or lawyer remains the right path.