Personal and family law
Will
With a will, you stay in control.
Drawing up a will: arrange your estate the way you want it
What happens to your money, home, assets and debts when you die? With a will, you decide for yourself what happens to your estate. In a will you set out who your heirs are, who receives which assets and how your estate is to be settled. Without a will, the law determines who your heirs are. That does not always match your personal wishes.
With a will you create clarity for your surviving relatives and avoid uncertainty or conflicts. For example, you can stipulate that your partner is well provided for, that your children only receive their share of the inheritance later, or that a friend, grandchild, stepchild or charity receives part of your estate. You can also appoint an executor to handle the practical and financial settlement of your estate.
A will is especially advisable when your situation deviates from the standard arrangement in the law. Think, for example, of living together unmarried, a blended family, a business, a divorce or property abroad. A will is also the answer when you want to exclude certain family members from the inheritance or offset gifts between children.
In addition, in a will you can arrange important matters for the future. For example, you can appoint a guardian for minor children, appoint an administrator so that your children can only dispose of the inheritance at a later age, appoint an executor and stipulate that an inheritance stays within the family by means of an exclusion clause. You can also leave specific assets or sums of money by way of a legacy.
In a personal meeting you discuss your wishes and situation. You then receive a draft will in which your choices are legally recorded. After approval you sign the will and it is registered in the Central Testament Register.
A will remains valid until you amend or revoke it. Because personal circumstances can change, it is advisable to have your will reviewed regularly. That way you can be sure your estate is arranged the way you wish.
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Frequently asked questions
A will is a notarial deed in which you set out what is to happen to your money, home, assets and debts after your death. You state who your heirs are and who receives what from you when you are no longer here.
In a will you can also provide for future situations. For example, if you have children or if your partner remarries after your death. You can also disinherit heirs. To settle your estate, you appoint an executor in your will.
If there is no will, or if the heirs designated in the will and their children have died, the law determines who your heirs are.
With a will, you stay in control of what happens after your death. You set out your wishes clearly and avoid uncertainty or undesirable situations for your surviving relatives.
A will is advisable, among other things, when you:
- want to decide for yourself who inherits your assets, such as your partner, (step)children, grandchildren, a good friend or a charity;
- want to appoint an executor to handle the practical settlement of your estate;
- want to limit inheritance tax or your partner's own contribution towards care in a care institution;
- want to exclude certain family members or your partner from the estate (disinheritance);
- want to offset earlier gifts to one of your children against the estate;
- want to better protect the financial position of your (new) partner or children.
In addition, a will is particularly advisable in the following situations:
- you are single;
- you live together with your partner without being married;
- you have a business;
- you are divorced;
- you have a blended family;
- you have assets or property abroad.
With a will, you choose clarity, tailor-made arrangements and certainty for yourself and your surviving relatives.
- In a will you can include provisions that give your partner a better (financial) position, for example compared to your children. This way you can ensure that your partner can stay in the house. Or that your child only receives his or her share of the inheritance after your partner's death.
- Equalising a gift: If one of your children has received a gift, for example for the purchase of a home, you can arrange in your will that one child receives more than the other.
- Usufruct: Do you have children from a previous marriage and have you remarried? Then you can safeguard the inheritance for the children by granting your new partner ‘usufruct’. In your will you determine when the usufruct ends.
- Exclusion clause: In this way you can prevent the (future) partner of a child from receiving part of the inheritance.
- Without a will, stepchildren are not heirs. If you want your stepchildren to inherit from you as well, you appoint them as heirs in your will.
- Under the law, your grandchildren do not inherit from you as long as your children are still alive. In a will you can arrange for them to receive something as well.
- Guardian: Who will care for and raise your minor children if both parents have died? A guardianship provision can also be arranged through the court.
- Appointing an administrator: If a child is still too young, or you have an adult child with difficulties, for example an intellectual disability, you can appoint an administrator. He or she manages the inheritance for your heir. In your will you determine how long the administration lasts and under which circumstances it ends.
- Ex-partner has no rights: Do you not want an ex-partner to receive income from your estate on behalf of the children? You can prevent this by excluding parental usufruct in the will. The interest income and other proceeds of your estate then go to your children.
- Disinheriting or excluding a child from the estate is arranged in a will. However, under the law a disinherited child still has a right to their ‘legitimate portion’. The legitimate portion is a sum of money equal to half of the value of the share of the estate that the child would have inherited by law. The legitimate portion only entitles the child to money, not to goods. After your death, the disinherited child has 5 years to claim their legitimate portion. If they do not do so within 5 years, the right to their share of the inheritance lapses.
- Legacy: Who gets the antique cuckoo clock, the gold necklace or your car? Or a certain sum of money? The person to whom you wish to leave the legacy is called a legatee. You can also provide a legacy for, for example, a charity.
The heirs and the executor are obliged to inform the legatee of the legacy and to hand it over.
