There are a few certainties in life, at some point you will go through and you will have to pay taxes. When you die, you can be sure that your heirs will come into contact with these two matters. You can provide some guidance in advance by, for example, drawing up a will. You can also try to disinherit one or more children. But is that possible? In this article I will discuss the possibilities of our inheritance law with regard to arranging your estate and your children.
Inheritance – legitimate portion and children
There are a few certainties in life, one day you will have to pay taxes. When you die, you can be sure that your heirs will come into contact with these two matters. You can provide some guidance in advance by, for example, drawing up a will. You can also try to disinherit one or more children. But is that possible? In this article I will discuss the possibilities of our inheritance law with regard to arranging your estate and your children.
Legitimate portion
If you say that you want to disinherit your children, everyone will say that that is not possible in the Netherlands. Partly true. If you draw up a will and you disinherit a child, your child will in principle receive nothing. You must then draw up a will!
But a child is (sometimes unfortunately) not without rights. Your child can always rely on the legitimate portion. So you cannot completely prevent your child from inheriting anything. But the legitimate portion does have a number of consequences.
Legitimate portion size
In the old inheritance law, the size of a legitimate portion depended on the number of brothers and sisters. Under current inheritance law, the size of a legitimate portion is always half of your child’s inheritance.
Suppose you have a wife and two children, then everyone’s inheritance is 1/3 according to the law. Your child then has a legitimate portion of ½ times 1/3, so 1/6.
Legitimate portion ingredients
The legitimate portion always consists only of an amount to be claimed in money. Your child will not own either the car or grandmother’s clock. So you can indeed disinherit your child on a material level! Perhaps a relief for some people.
When will your child receive something?
If you have drawn up a will and you disinherit your child, your child will in principle receive nothing at all. Your child will have to explicitly rely on the legitimate portion. It is therefore absolutely a misunderstanding to think that your child will by definition receive something.
Term
Your child has six months after your death to claim his or her legitimate share. If your child does not do this, the right to claim something will essentially lapse.
Payment of the claim
If your child has been disinherited, your child appeals to the legitimate portion and demands payment of an amount, then there is something else to consider. If the surviving spouse inherits everything and remains indebted to the same children for the inheritances of the children, the legitimate portion of your disinherited child is not immediately due and payable provided you arrange this properly. In that case, your child will have to wait until the surviving spouse has also died.
Legitimate portion size
The size of a legitimate portion can be quite a calculation exercise for your heirs and executor of the will. You can easily influence the size of the legitimate portion by donating a considerable amount just before your death. So, you think you have your child under control twice over. The legislator has come up with something about this.
Your heirs must add back all donations made by you over the past five years, donations to your child regardless of the term , older donations that apparently were intended to adversely affect your estate for your disinherited child and revocable donations during your lifetime. your legacy. Based on this calculation exercise, your heirs can determine what the so-called legitimate claim of your disinherited child is.
But then you’re not quite there yet. The donations made to this child during your lifetime must be deducted for a while. And finally, the value of any inheritance you may receive must be deducted from your child’s legal claim. In short, the legitimate portion is not necessarily equal to the legitimate claim.
read more
- Inheritance tax – gifts through loans to children
- Inheritance – will and will rights