Million dollar poker

Niki Lauda’s widow wins inheritance dispute

Widow Birgit Lauda at the coffin of the late Formula 1 legend in May 2019

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/Alex Halada, OLG Wien)

In June 2020, Birgit Lauda brought an action for a compulsory portion against the Lauda Private Foundation. This was followed by a years-long court battle: the racing legend's widow against her former closest confidants. After the court of appeal rebuffed the other side, it is now clear: Birgit Lauda will receive the share to which she is entitled.

It was a dirty battle that was fought in court. First, the foundation side insisted that Niki Lauda had not lived in Austria, but in Ibiza - which is why the Spanish courts had jurisdiction. Then it was claimed that Birgit Lauda was unworthy of inheritance because she had concealed works of art from the estate. In addition, there was a public campaign of envy in which she was portrayed as greedy.

Niki neglected to change his will
The matter is clear: in Austria, the wife and children receive a compulsory portion of the inheritance amounting to one sixth of the estate, i.e. around 16 percent: "According to the law, the compulsory portion must be paid out within one year of the death of the testator," says lawyer Christoph Kerres, who represents the Formula 1 legend's widow.

Widow Birgit Lauda at the coffin of the deceased Formula 1 legend in May 2019

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/Alex Halada, OLG Wien)

The deadline has long passed. Monday marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Niki Lauda (†70).

The widow has not yet seen anything of the statutory compulsory portion of the inheritance: "I very much regret that I have to enforce my claim in court," says Birgit Lauda, who would have wished for a different outcome. "I was happily married to Niki for eleven years," she says to "Krone".

Birgit and Niki Lauda

(Bild: EPA)

She gave him a kidney
Even before the wedding in 2008, the 45-year-old gave the three-time world champion one of her two kidneys when the functional weakness of his remaining kidney became life-threatening for him. Lauda had lost a kidney as a result of his accident on the Nürburgring in 1976.

The court confirmed that Birgit Lauda was not at fault in the inheritance dispute and that she was therefore entitled to her compulsory portion.

Rechtsanwalt Christoph Kerres vertritt die Witwe Lauda.

Bild: zVg

Provision in the foundation deed for the twins
It is unclear why "Niki Nazionale" did not change his will after 2007 and therefore did not adapt it to the new family situation. Birgit Lauda and the twins Max and Mia do not appear in it.

The three-time world champion only made a provision for his children in the deed of the Lauda Private Foundation - in which Niki stashed the majority of his assets. His widow receives a monthly payment from the foundation, but this bears no relation to the compulsory portion. 

The funeral service in Vienna at the end of May 2019

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

In May 2023, the Krone reported an interim success for the art-loving widow. The Regional Court for Civil Matters in Vienna ruled that Birgit Lauda was entitled to a compulsory portion and, in particular, was not unworthy of an inheritance.

The compulsory portion

The law gives descendants and the spouse the opportunity to receive something from the assets of the estate in any case, even if the deceased designated someone else in their will during their lifetime. The right to a compulsory portion is always half of the statutory inheritance share.

Court must determine how high the claim is
This interim success turned into a victory. The Higher Regional Court dismissed the other party's appeal. "The appeal is not upheld. The appeal is in any case inadmissible," reads the judgment concerning Lauda's estate. This would leave the foundation with only one extraordinary legal remedy. Conclusion: Birgit Lauda will receive around 16 percent of the assets, which according to reports are well into the three-digit million range. No ifs, ands or buts.

I very much regret that I have to enforce my claim in court.

Birgit Lauda zur „Krone“

Soon to be reunited in the Palace of Justice
But is that the end of the story? No. Now the court has to determine the actual amount of the inheritance. The plaintiff had a private report drawn up, which will be reviewed by a court-certified expert: "The monthly support payment will of course be taken into account when calculating the compulsory portion," explains Kerres.

The parties to the dispute will soon be sitting opposite each other in the courtroom again: on one side the widow Lauda, on the other Niki's best man and foundation lawyer Haig Asenbauer, foundation director Attila Dogudan and Niki's sons from his first marriage, Mathias and Lukas Lauda. The dispute over the compulsory portion has been decided, now the million-dollar poker starts.