Community of accrued gains (Zugewinngemeinschaft)

If German law governs matrimonial property (see Council Regulation 2016/1103), there is generally no spousal community property unless the spouses agree to such an arrangement in a contractual agreement. However, the surviving spouse will receive one half of the surplus of the other spouse when marriage ends because one spouse dies (community of accrued gains, "Zugewinngemeinschaft"). As the surviving spouse has a right to the accrued gains and his claim is not subject to German inheritance tax. In case of intestacy, the accrued gains are generally equalized by adding another quarter to the intestate share of the surviving spouse. A calculator is available here:

http://www.lawyerdb.de/Accrued_Gains.aspx