A regional court in Germany has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the three adult adopted children of retail magnate Erwin Müller, who owns a namesake drugstore chain with locations across Europe.
A dispute over the children’s inheritance is at the centre of the legal fight. The regional court had set the value of the dispute at the statutory maximum of €30 million ($32.5 million), a spokeswoman said.
The three children had tried to get out of a contract they had signed in which they had renounced their statutory share of the inheritance.
They tried to persuade the Ulm Regional Court that the contract they had signed was invalid.
But a judge ruled on Monday there was nothing about the contract that could nullify it and dismissed the lawsuit.
In short, the judge did not accept the plaintiffs’ argument that they had not received the contract well enough in advance, or were sufficiently aware of its consequences.
“The verdict is untenable and clearly violates the law,” responded Maximilian Ott, the adopted children’s lawyer, after the decision was announced.
Ott said the children are still demanding their statutory share of the inheritance, and would like to appeal. But the prerequisite is finding someone who can foot the bill – “because my clients cannot afford the costs.”
Erwin and Anita Müller adopted the three in 2015 as part of an adult adoption process.
The Müller drugstore chain dates to 1973. The company says it has around 35,000 employees and more than 900 branches in Europe today.
