Last year, 51,817 Belgians declined an inheritance, according to statistics released on Sunday by the Federation of Notaries (Fednot), marking an increasing trend since 2018.
Inheriting a deceased person’s estate is not compulsory under Belgian law. There are three options upon the death of a loved one: to accept the inheritance, to renounce it, or to accept it under the benefit of inventory. In the latter case, a notary lists all the assets and debts of the estate, communicated either by the inheritors themselves or the creditors.
The inheritor’s and the deceased’s assets do not merge, and the latter’s debts are only cleared with the inheritances. However, this procedure carries a cost of approximately €1,500 and is more complicated, as it includes a publication in the Belgian Official Gazette calling for creditors to come forward.
The number of people rejecting an inheritance for free has been increasing for the past five years, reports the Federation of Notaries. In 2018, the number of free renunciations was 35,992. Subsequently, this figure went from 45,505 to 46,165 between 2019 and 2020. It further rose in 2021 to 49,532, and again in 2022. Up until September for the year 2023, the federation recorded 38,632 declined inheritances.
This rise can be explained by two factors, according to Sylvain Bavier, spokesperson for Notaire.be. Firstly, inheritances were previously overseen by courts, which did not publicise the various options, he points out.
"This responsibility came back to notaries in 2018.” Secondly, “we see a lot of ‘shattered’ families, with branches that no longer have contact with each other and renounce because they don’t want to get involved in these procedures or they think nothing remains but debts."
