Dispute at Veltins: “If you had known my mother”

He is the scion of one of Germany's most successful beer-brewing families. However, Carl Clemens Veltins will not be able to enjoy a multi-million dollar inheritance for the time being. His mother, the long-time owner of the Sauerland Brewery, explicitly disinherited him in her will – in favor of her two sisters. On Thursday, the now 63-year-old lost his lawsuit in the regional court in the years-long inheritance dispute. "Even the disinheritance of a child must be respected," the judge explained their decision. Any claims to a statutory share that the plaintiff had sought to assert had long since expired, more than 30 years after the mother's death.

Still unaware of the impending defeat, the now 63-year-old Veltins offspring appeared relaxed before the start of the trial. The stakes are high: the court estimates the value of the dispute at 30 million euros – before the trial could even begin, the Veltins son had to shell out a sum of 360,000 euros in advance for legal costs, he reports. "That's an expensive thing," he replied accordingly when the judge asked him why he hadn't filed a lawsuit until so many years after his mother's death. Only when someone provided him with the money was he able to sue.

The youngest of three siblings had attempted to cast doubt on his mother's will, claiming that she was no longer in control of her senses when she drafted it. The defendant sisters dispute this claim. After all, the family entrepreneur managed the brewery business until shortly before her death, according to their lawyers. The court also rejected the plaintiff's argument. It was not apparent that his mother was no longer capable of drafting the will.

The Veltins sisters did not attend the hearing. One of them, Susanne Veltins, runs the brewery – one of Germany's most famous – together with her nephew. In the industry magazine "Inside's" ranking of the most consumed beer brands in Germany, Veltins ranks third after Krombacher and Bitburger. The brewery in the Hochsauerland district, which employs more than 700 people, generates revenues of just under €460 million. However, when contacted, the brewery stated that the legal dispute has no economic impact. It is "exclusively a legal dispute affecting family members." The lawyers were also sparing in their statements in court. The defendants' side essentially argued that the claims are time-barred. A settlement is out of the question. Even when asked after the hearing, they declined to comment on the family dispute.

Carl-Clemens Veltins, on the other hand, uses the stage to clarify the family circumstances and paints a picture of a family that wanted to rip him off. And this was true from the very beginning: He had just celebrated his 18th birthday when his mother surprised him by forcing him to sign a declaration renouncing his share of the compulsory inheritance. After a night of heavy drinking, still under the influence of alcohol, he was unclear about the implications of his signature: "I didn't know anything. I swear," he says. There was no room for further questions: "If they had known my mother, they would know that no dissent was tolerated," Veltins says.

But the question of whether his signature on the waiver after a night of heavy drinking is valid will not concern the judges any more: one has three years to assert one's compulsory claim if it is clear that one will not otherwise be included in the inheritance .

Even though Carl Clemens Veltins repeatedly asserts that he didn't really know any of this, never received a will, and was given incorrect advice, the court doesn't follow his argument: There are certain obligations to cooperate if one wants to enforce one's rights, the judge emphasizes in justifying the statute of limitations. The parties to the proceedings have long since left.

Whether the inheritance dispute between the Veltins siblings will now be settled remains to be seen: an appeal can be filed with the Higher Regional Court.