Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

More and more Belgians are refusing inheritance. Until a few years ago, the heir had to go to court to reject the inheritance, but now this can be done for free through a notary if the inheritance is negative. You have three options: accept the inheritance completely, reject it, or accept it subject to the stock privilege. More and more people nowadays are choosing the second option, which is rejection. Last year, this included 51,817 Belgians, at least 40 percent more than in 2018 when only 35,992 people refused inheritance.
In the first nine months of 2023, the counter has already reached 38,632 rejections.
This increase is striking, but should not be surprising, according to notary Carol Buhen told Die Sondach newspaper. “Until a few years ago, the heirs had to go to court to reject the inheritance,” she added. Now this can be done for free at the notary’s office if the inheritance is negative, which reduces the suffering. The same source also sees a second reason: “With a less traditional family structure, one is often unable to properly assess the financial situation of the deceased. This uncertainty makes people more likely to reject an inheritance.
Anyone who wants to refuse an inheritance must be careful what they do. “It's much easier to accept than to decline. It's out of kindness, but some might ask, 'Should I pay off a small bill for the deceased?'" "It can be tantamount to implicitly accepting an inheritance, with any debts associated with it," says Bohen. If you want to decline an inheritance, you should This is done expressly on paper, in the form of a notarized document.
An inheritance worth no more than 6 million euros can be rejected free of charge thanks to the Notary Fund. “This is after deducting all debts, but not after deducting the costs of settling the inheritance,” Bohen explains. “Often people don't want to put in the effort to get an inheritance of €1,000.”