Dutch Civil Code

Book 4 Law of Succession

Title 4.1 General provisions

Article 4:1 Inheriting property
- 1. Heirs can inherit property on the basis of an intestate succession or on the basis of the last will of the deceased.
- 2. The statutory provisions for intestate succession may be set aside by a last will which provides for an appointment of heirs or a disinheritance.

Article 4:2 Order of death of two or more persons
- 1. When it is impossible to determine the order of death of two or more persons, those persons are considered to have died at the same time, so that none of them shall benefit from the estate of the other.
- 2. If an interested party, as a result of circumstances which are not imputable to him, runs up against difficulties in proving the order of death, then the court may several times grant him a delay, this as far as reasonably may be expected that the proof can be provided within the period of the delay.

Article 4:3 Unworthiness
- 1. Unworthy, by operation of law, to take an advantage from the estate of the deceased is:
a. a person who has been irrevocably convicted for taking the life of the deceased, for the attempt to kill him or for the preparation of or taking part in such an offence;
b. a person who has been irrevocably convicted for a deliberately committed offence against the deceased, for which, according to the Dutch legal definition, a maximum imprisonment is set of at least four years, or for an attempt to, a preparation of or a taking part in committing such an offence;
c. a person of whom in an irrevocable court decision has been established that he has slanderously accused the deceased falsely of committing an offence for which, according to the Dutch legal definition, a maximum imprisonment is set of at least four years;
d. a person who by physical act or by threat has forced the deceased to make a last will or who through such means has prevented the deceased from making a last will ;
e. a person who has stolen, concealed, destroyed or falsified the last will of the deceased.
- 2. Rights, obtained in good faith by third parties before the unworthiness was determined, are respected. However, when objects are obtained gratuitously, the court may grant the rightful claimants (proprietors) a reasonable compensation at the expense of him who has enjoyed an advantage as a result.
- 3. The state of unworthiness ends when the deceased unambiguously forgives the unworthy person for his behaviour.

Article 4:4 Juridical acts in relation to a non-devolved estate
- 1. A juridical act, performed prior to the devolvement of the deceased’s estate, is null and void as far as it has the intention to obstruct a person in his freedom to exercise the rights and powers granted to him under Book 4 of the Civil Code with regard to the estate of the deceased.
- 2. Agreements intending to dispose of an entire not yet devolved estate or of a proportional part thereof (future share in such an estate) are null and void.

Article 4:5 Arrangement of payments
- 1. Upon the request of the debtor, the District Court may order that, due to noteworthy reasons, a sum of money which is chargeable under Book 4 or, in connection with the division (apportionment) of the deceased’s estate, under Title 3.7 of the Civil Code, needs to be paid only after some time, either in one lump sum or in instalments, and either with or without an ascertained interest. When such a request is made, the court has to take into account the interests of both parties. The court may grant the requested order on the condition that the debtor, within a certain time, provides real or personal security, approved by the court, to ensure that the principal sum and possible interests will be satisfied.
- 2. Upon the request of one or more parties, the same District Court may change its court order, passed by virtue of the previous paragraph, insofar this is justified in view of new circumstances, which were not to be expected at the time on which the order was given.

Article 4:6 Valuation of the assets of the estate
In Book 4 'the value of the assets of the estate' means the value of these assets immediately after the death of the deceased, without taking into account a usufruct on behalf of the still living spouse to which the estate may become subject under Section 1 or 2 of Title 3 of Book 4 of the Civil Code.

Article 4:7 Debts of the deceased's estate
- 1. The debts of the deceased’s estate are:
a. the debts and liabilities of the deceased which do not perish at his death, as far as they are not included under point (i) of this paragraph;
b. the costs of the disposal of the dead (costs of the funeral) as far as they are in concordance with the circumstances of the deceased;
c. the costs of liquidation (winding up) of the estate of the deceased, including the remunerations of the liquidator;
d. the costs to administer the deceased’s estate, including the remunerations of the executor;
e. the tax liabilities which become chargeable at the devolvement of the deceased’s estate, as far as they become a debt of the heirs;
f. the debts which arise on account of the application of Section 4.3.2 of this Book;
g. the debts resulting from a mandatory right of a child, as forced heir, to a legitimate share in the estate of his deceased parent, claimable under Article 4:80;
h. the debts resulting from a bequest which the heirs have to satisfy from the assets of the deceased’s estate;
i. the debts due to gifts and other actions which are considered to be a bequest by virtue of Article 4:126.
- 2. The debts of the deceased’s estate have to be satisfied successively with due observance of the following order of priority:
1° the debts meant in paragraph 1 under point (a) up to and including point (e);
2° the debts meant in paragraph 1 under point (f);
3° the debts meant in paragraph 1 under point (g).
When there are no debts as meant in paragraph 1 under point (f), then firstly the debts meant in paragraph 1 under point (a) up to and including point (c), and subsequently the debts meant in paragraph 1 under point (d), (e) and (g), have to be satisfied with priority.
- 3. When the surviving parent, meant in Article 4:20, and the stepfather or stepmother, meant in Article 4:22, have died, the obligation to transfer assets as referred to in those Articles, shall have, within their estates, the same priority as a debt meant in paragraph 1 under point (a) of the present Article.

Article 4:8 Equation of registered partnership with spouses
- 1. In Book 4 of the Civil Code 'registered partners' are equated with 'spouses'.
- 2. For the purpose of paragraph 1 the following rules have to be observed:
a. the use of the term 'marriage' includes 'registered partnership';
b. the use of the term 'married' includes 'registered as a registered partner';
c. the use of the terms 'matrimonial community of property' includes 'community of property of a registered partnership';
d. the use of the terms 'marriage vow' includes 'promise to enter into a registered partnership';
e. the use of the term 'divorce' includes 'termination of a registered partnership' as referred to in Article 1:80c under point (c) or (d) of the Civil Code.
- 3. A stepchild of the deceased is put in Book 4 on the same level as a child of the spouse or registered partner of the deceased of whom the deceased himself is not the parent. Such a child, however, remains a stepchild if the marriage or the registered partnership has ended.