Inheritance law

When a person passes away, many arrangements need to be made such as the winding up of the inheritance. How the legacy should be liquidated depends primarily on whether the deceased has left a will. If there is no will, the legacy will be settled based on legal standards, which basically state that the inheritance shall be divided between the children and the widow/widower (also called the survivor) in the sense that the survivor is bequeathed all property and the children are bequeathed a claim on the survivor. How the inheritance gets divided depends on whether and how the heirs accept their part or share of the inheritance. Should the inheritance be negative, it is advisable to accept ‘under the benefit of inventory’. This means that the extensive liquidation procedure is still applicable, but the heir cannot be held privately liable for the inherited debts. If there is a will, solely its contents determine how the settlement and division will take place. However, the law does contain some protective provisions that, to a certain extent, limit the deceased’s freedom of disposition. This means that, irrespective of any disinheritance, children are always entitled to a legitimate share, which is roughly half of the share they would get if the legal standards were applied.