The family had fallen out with the daughter because of her husband.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The dispute between Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann and her daughter Angela Göthert over the inheritance of entrepreneur Peter Dussmann, who died in September 2013, continues: the daughter has appealed after her defeat at the Berlin Regional Court.
The dispute revolves around the question of whether Dussmann’s change of will in favor of his wife is valid. In this case, the widow would be entitled to 75 percent of the company shares. Otherwise, Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann and Angela Göthert each owned 50 percent, as originally ordered by Dussmann.
Basically, the courts have to clarify whether Dussmann was still in a position to make his own decisions at the time the will was changed on May 25, 2010.
After a stroke in October 2008 and a fall in spring 2009, the entrepreneur was in a clinic in Berlin. At times he was barely responsive. Even at that time there was little hope that the entrepreneur would ever recover.
The widow is firmly convinced that Dussmann wanted her to have a three-quarters majority in the service company. He no longer wanted his daughter to inherit the 50 percent share. In the hospital he repeatedly had “light moments”. It was the same with the new version of the will.
Serious quarrel
There was a dispute between Angela Göthert and her parents because the Dussmanns did not agree with Angela’s husband Ronald Göthert. The Dussmanns were obviously uneasy about the esotericist and inventor of the so-called “Göthert method”, who researches the “subtle theory” and offers seminars full-time. They didn’t even show up for their daughter’s wedding.
Angela Göthert’s lawyer does not consider the district court’s judgment to be convincing. “The assumption of the ability to test cannot be reconciled with the numerous treatment documents, the expert findings and the years of medical history,” said Andreas Urban. The expert appointed by the court disregards relevant circumstances. “In addition, the supposed certification of the will suffers from serious errors,” said Urban.
The court relies on an expert opinion by the brain researcher Pedro Faustmann who had been commissioned by him. “The limited performance does not appear as a permanently disturbed pattern of experience and behavior,” writes Faustmann in the paper, which he presented in mid-2019.
A spokesman for Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann emphasized that his client has full confidence in the further judicial decision-making process. “She is confident about the progress of the proceedings after the Berlin Regional Court had fully upheld her claim.”
Von Fürstenberg-Dussmann will have to be patient until the final decision is made. Now it’s the Berlin Court of Appeal’s turn.
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