One of them concerns the pension fund savings: do they simply fall into the estate and get divided among the heirs like the rest of the assets? The answer surprises many.
As a rule, pension fund assets do not fall into the estate upon death. They follow their own statutory and regulatory order, the so-called order of beneficiaries. This determines who is entitled to benefits upon death, typically first the surviving spouse or registered partner and the children, then other beneficiaries such as life partners under certain conditions. This order takes precedence over inheritance law. This means the benefits flow directly to the beneficiaries and not via the estate. The savings neither fall entirely into the estate, nor only the extra-mandatory part, and the condition that there are no beneficiaries does not apply to the normal case.
This special status has a good reason: occupational pension provision is meant to specifically protect those who were economically dependent on the deceased. That is why it is important to know one's own order of beneficiaries and, where possible, to arrange it actively, so that in an emergency the right people are protected.