Read the best with F+: popular heat pumps and a testament with pitfalls

Dear readers, when we talk about heating systems at the moment, we are talking about the

.

It is calculated and compared, especially with the costs of gas heating, both in terms of purchase and operation.

That's why we've read a lot of reports on this over the past few weeks and months, some of which have sparked exciting discussions.

The decisive question is which effect of the heat pump has a greater impact on one's own wallet: the negative one due to the comparatively expensive electricity in Germany or the positive one due to the shared use of free ambient heat?

The result shows in one sentence how complicated things are: With gas price brakes, at least in old buildings, higher energy costs have to be expected for heat pumps than for gas heating.

Without the price brake, on the other hand, the heat pump has clear cost advantages.

In addition, the calculation is a snapshot: heaters are used for many years, and nobody knows for sure how electricity and gas prices will develop in relation to each other in the long term.

On the other hand, it is foreseeable that the state will not be able to permanently subsidize heating costs across the board.

As you can see, it might be worth reading, but the decision might not get any easier.

Carsten Knop

Editor.

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A year ago,

fell badly , and because that doesn't just happen to prominent politicians, but also happens to many people in their average everyday lives, I'm always interested in discussions about

.

Jasper von Altenbockum and Eckart Lohse got the opportunity to have such a conversation with the former CDU party leader and chancellor candidate.

Now he talks about his failure, about Putin's war and Nord Stream 2 and about what he would do differently than Olaf Scholz.

First the partner, then the children: the

is widespread among married couples.

However, it has major disadvantages.

When inheritance attorney Dietrich Ostertun talks to married couples, he always hears the same thing: "We're afraid that if one of us dies, we won't have enough money." Then they discuss the "Berlin Testament," which is supposed to prevent that .

Because it makes the surviving partner the sole heir, the children or other relatives only get the inheritance if they die too.

In this way, the largest possible part of the assets remains with the surviving partner.

"But what most people don't realize is that the Berliner Testament is full of pitfalls that need to be taken into account," warns Ostertun.

"Many are surprised later and often can't change anything."

Strong anger is then programmed.

For example, few realize that after the death of one partner, agreements cannot be modified by the other unless there is a

was completed.

This can become a problem if, for example, a child develops for the worse and should be given less attention.

Or if the surviving partner remarries and also wants to take the new partner into account in the event of death.

In addition: If the spouse becomes the sole heir, he alone has to pay the inheritance tax on it.

The allowances for the children, which amount to 400,000 euros each, remain unused.

With assets of more than one million euros, which can be reached quickly with a house, this can become a problem.

There are other points – and solutions.

Dyrk Scherff researched and wrote them down.

Best wishes for the New Year, thank you for using our digital offers in 2023 as well.

If you have an F+ subscription and have questions about it, please write to me: c.knop@faz.de.

Many greetings

Yours sincerely, Carsten Knop

Publisher

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung