Germany only recognises two kinds of wills: holographic and notarised. In the first, you’ll need to handwrite every portion of your will, date it, note the place it was written and sign it at the end. Every detail is vital to allow courts to later determine whether or not you actually wrote it.

Writing the will on a computer and then signing a print-out is not sufficient and a signature anywhere but at the end will also void the will. Even when you follow these guidelines, experts say the majority of holographic wills are successfully contested. For the second type, you’ll need to contact a notary, who will take down your wishes and turn them into an official document for you to sign. He will then register it with a local court. As you may suspect, notarised wills are more difficult to contest but they cost about €150.