Court rules that Ex-German Chancellor's $1.13m damages cannot be inherited

An award of damages of one million euros ($1.13 million) to the former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, cannot be passed on to his widow. This was after the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled on Monday that the compensation could not be inherited. The BGH judges in Karlsruhe upheld a 2018 ruling by the Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG), making it legally binding.

The case involves the author and publisher of the bestselling book "Legacy: The Kohl Protocols", which Kohl's ghost-writer, Heribert Schwan, wrote without consent after the two men fell out with one another. The book contains content from long, confidential conversations that took place when Schwan was still working on Kohl's memoirs.

In 2017, the Regional Court of Cologne awarded Kohl one million euros on the grounds of violated personal rights, just a few weeks before his death. His widow, Maike Kohl-Richter, continued the legal dispute as sole heir.