Hello all,

Apologies for this super long post but I need urgent help as the situation is dire. I have put my questions in bold as the post keeps flowing. My intent for the following post is to save inheritance/gift taxes legally in Germany. I do not want to do anything that jeopardises my stay or penalises me in Germany in any manner. For additional context, India has does not any inheritance tax but I understand Germany does have an inheritance tax to be paid.

I recently moved to Germany (September 2023) from India and I unexpectedly lost my mum in March 2024. I am the only child of my parents.

The assets she had were publicly listed shares worth 4000 Euros, a small 3 room portion in her ancestral house and gold stashed in a bank locker. The value of the gold is about 15000 Euros and I have no idea about the valuation of the real estate in her name. (These are the assets that were solely in her name).

She was the joint holder in a bunch of bank accounts along with my dad and we got her name deleted and added my name as a joint holder of the bank account

Q1) Does the act of making me a joint holder in the bank account make me liable for inheritance tax?!

Q2) The gold is placed in a bank locker and per the rules in India, even the bank officials are not aware about the contents of the bank locker. This question is only from the perspective of curiosity and not to commit any fraud; how do any authorities ever know that my mum had 15k Euros worth of gold in that bank locker?

Q3) The small portion in her ancestral house in her name; how do I determine the valuation of the same? How is valuation of any foreign property declared in Germany? I understand there are local folks in her town who can do the valuation in English; can I submit one such valuation letter to the tax authorities here?

Now, my father could not handle the grief and has developed several health issues and he is currently admitted in the hospital and per the doctors, he has a couple of months to live before he passes away.

These are the details of the complete assets that I will inherit in the next few months

1) Our apartment - This is worth 1,70,000 Euros (This was in the name of my parents). This is just an estimated valuation; I am not aware of the exact amount.
2) Dad's shares and mutual funds/ETFs - 1,70,000 Euros (This is dad's name only as he operated the account)
3) A plot of land -- 60,000 Euros (This is also in mom and dad's name but this land is disputed as someone has illegally captured it and using it for agriculture. for context: illegal land grabbing happens in India)
4) Dad's provident fund --> He is due to receive 170,000 Euros from his company and that can be withdrawn from the company anytime (Please note this money is still not in his bank account; it is with his company; I am not sure if this counts as inheritance or not)
5) Various bank accounts, fixed deposit schemes and senior citizen schemes in the name of dad -- 1,30,000 Euros

The following are the question regarding the above four points.

Q1) There is a legal procedure to get the name transferred of the apartment in my name (it is the called the legal heir certificate/letter of administration). This is a 6-10 month long process in India. If I file taxes before that, should I call this my inheritance?

Q2) This is my biggest concern --> The concept of gifting shares and ETFs is easily possible in India and dad wants to do it while he is alive. Does this in any manner provide tax relief if it is a gift and not an inheritance when I declare it in Germany? I read some sources that gifts made by parents to children are tax free if done once in ten years.

Q3) The land that is disputed; how do I claim it is mine? Dad had filed a police report and the matter is still not resolved.

Q4) Regarding the provident fund; the money is still not with him. He can apply for it and receive it OR i can get it post his passing away via the legal heir certificate. What is the best course of action from a tax perspective? Get it now or push it for later?

PS: i may have put the wrong flair as I dont speak Germany, request mods to correct the flair per the post.