Inheritance and rights as a child | Legal aid centre

Questioner

My father has passed away and has left a surviving spouse's will. I have accepted the inheritance under benefit of inventory. My stepmother does not provide insight into the financial status by releasing the amount of wealth tax for 2014 (the year my father passed away). In any case, my father owned a house before they got married and brought this property into the marriage. How do I get insight? What avenues can I take without it costing me a lot of money (low income). I know that I can only make a claim after the death of my stepmother (with whom there is no relationship or bond of trust), but I am aware that she will not grant me anything and can spend everything. So I think it is important to have a certain child's share recorded or something. Do I have any rights in this? I would like your insight. regards

Lawyer

The legal arrangement is that the surviving spouse gets the disposal of the estate. If your father has a will with the same meaning, you get a future claim on your stepmother. http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/over country-en-erven/question-en-answer/wat-is-de-legale-distribution-bij-erfrecht.html Now that you have accepted the inheritance under benefit of inventory, an inventory of the estate will have to be made and the estate will have to be settled according to the law. I advise you to contact a notary for this.

Lawyer

Providing information is enforceable. There are several ways to go about it. The simplest are these. a. A simple petition can be submitted to the subdistrict court to order an inventory of the estate, in which case a notary will be appointed with the task of recording the assets and debts of the estate in writing. b. In connection with the beneficiary acceptance, one could also consider appointing a liquidator, who will have to settle the estate in accordance with the law and in that context must in any case draw up an estate inventory. Often, exerting pressure by announcing or initiating such procedures is sufficient to obtain the necessary information.

Questioner

Thank you for your answer. In the explanation that the notary gave me, when signing the acceptance, I was told that my stepmother is obliged to draw up an inventory of the contents and to file the inheritance tax return, so that a monetary claim (of my child's share) can be established. Who can I contact about this? As stated, my stepmother does not provide any insight and I have now sent a letter to the tax authorities to ask them to provide insight into the 2014 wealth tax return (which the notary recommended). My stepmother only indicated that the inheritance contains a 'positive balance'. What methods do I have as a child to exercise this right (inspection of the amount of the inheritance and determination of my child's share)? How do I record my child's share?

Questioner

Thank you. I have become a lot wiser. I have now sent my stepmother a letter of which I would like to share a part with you for perusal and in preparation for my next question: '...Dear Madam ....., My father, .... left a surviving will which I accepted under benefit of inventory on 5 August 2014. By accepting my father's inheritance, I receive a claim for money from you, corresponding to the value of my inheritance. The size of this claim must be recorded in a notarial deed. Up until now, you have not provided any insight into the financial status of my father's assets at the time of his death. I therefore request that you comply with your legal obligations immediately: 1- You are obliged to draw up an inventory of the estate; 2- You are obliged to prepare the inheritance tax return; 3- And you are obliged to release both matters, so that the claim can be recorded in a notarial deed. I assume that you will honor my request and provide me with information about this within 2 weeks. If I do not receive any information from you within 2 weeks, and you therefore ignore my request, I will file a petition with the subdistrict court judge to order an inventory of the estate, in which a notary will be appointed with the task of putting the assets and debts of the estate on paper. '... Now my question to you is: Can I personally file a petition with the subdistrict court, or can I only do this with the help of a lawyer? I ask this in connection with my financial situation, which is also not very broad :) I suspect that my stepmother will not be 'irritated' by my letter. regards