Accepting mother's inheritance

Questioner

My mother passed away last Thursday, December 23rd. My mother has three children and I am the youngest of the three boys. My mother has never been open about her finances to either me or my middle brother. That's why I don't dare accept the inheritance because I don't know whether she also has debts. Now I understand from my middle brother that if you help to clear a house or in this case the nursing home where my mother was, you automatically accept the inheritance, which was not my intention. Immediately after my mother's death, we received a message from the nursing home that it had to be vacated within a week and I, perhaps very naively, vacated her room in the nursing home together with my eldest brother because there was a need for haste. And this was also my mother's wish, she wanted us to do it together, the middle brother didn't want to help. Before my mother passed away, I did not delve into legal matters regarding a possible inheritance due to lack of time, as I am currently in the middle of a move/renovation myself. I would also like to have some of her personal belongings. My oldest brother manages her finances and therefore knows exactly how my mother is doing financially, but he is not open about everything, which makes me suspicious at the moment. Now my question is; Now that I have helped clear out her room in the nursing home, can I still reject my mother's inheritance? I don't need money but would like to have some of my mother's possessions as a keepsake. Is this possible without accepting the inheritance? As the youngest son, can I also gain insight into my mother's finances, both her assets and her (possible) debts, so that I can decide for myself whether or not to accept the inheritance, and if so, how can I achieve this? Thanks in advance for your answer, Yours sincerely,

Lawyer

First of all, my condolences for your loss. I can imagine that there are now many questions because of the situation. An inheritance can be accepted under certain circumstances by acting as an heir. This can be done by dividing or selling the goods, etc. These are actions that can be disadvantageous to possible creditors. You then do something with goods that can still be worth money. This will depend on the specific circumstances. This is partly because the home had to be evacuated. Do you know what happened to the belongings? An inheritance can also be accepted with benefit of inventory (only if there is something left). https://www.juridischloket.nl/familie-en-latie/erfenis/beneficiair-aanvaarden/ There are possibilities to require insight into certain (evidence) documents when these are in the possession of a certain party. This is called the exhibition obligation (art. 843a Rv). Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Lawyer

There are various distinguishable acts for the question of whether you have accepted the inheritance, yes or no, the act of management and act of disposal. An act of management is, for example, clearing the house, storing the belongings separately, notifying the funeral insurer of the death; an act of disposal is, for example, dividing the estate or certain pieces, terminating the lease and delivering the house. The first is not, but the second is, considered an act of acceptance.