Dying Without a Will in the Netherlands: Intestacy Rules

When someone dies without a will in the Netherlands, Dutch intestacy law — the wettelijke verdeling — determines who inherits and in what proportions. The rules are clear but produce results that shock many English-speaking families, especially unmarried couples and blended families.

The Default Inheritance Order

Dutch intestacy law follows a strict statutory order based on family relationships:

Group 1 — Surviving spouse (or registered partner) and children. They inherit in equal shares. However, under the wettelijke verdeling, the surviving spouse receives all assets in practice — the children's shares are converted into a monetary claim that is only payable when the surviving spouse dies, remarries, or goes bankrupt.

Group 2 — Parents and siblings (if no spouse or children exist). Each parent receives at least one-quarter of the estate.

Group 3 — Grandparents.

Group 4 — Great-grandparents.

If no relatives exist in any group, the estate passes to the Dutch state.

How the Wettelijke Verdeling Works

The wettelijke verdeling is designed to protect the surviving spouse. Even though children are co-heirs, they cannot claim their share while the surviving spouse is alive and has not remarried. In practice, this means:

• The surviving spouse gets the house, the bank accounts, and all physical assets
• Each child receives a monetary claim (essentially an IOU) equal to their statutory share
• The children's claims carry no interest by default — though this can be modified by will
• The claims become payable only when the surviving spouse dies, goes bankrupt, or in some cases remarries

This system prevents a scenario where children could force the sale of the family home to claim their inheritance. But it also means the surviving spouse controls everything, which can create tension in families with strained relationships.

Unmarried Partners: The Critical Gap

Here is where intestacy law hits hardest. Under Dutch law, unmarried cohabiting partners — regardless of how long they have lived together — have no automatic inheritance rights. If one partner dies without a will, the surviving partner inherits nothing. The entire estate passes to the deceased's statutory relatives (children, parents, siblings).

The consequences can be severe:

• A surviving partner who co-owns a home may face the deceased's family demanding their share of the property
• The family can legally force a sale to distribute proceeds
• The surviving partner may need to buy out the deceased's share of jointly owned assets — from people they may barely know

A notarized cohabitation contract (samenlevingscontract) with a survivorship clause (verblijvingsbeding) can protect jointly owned assets by transferring them automatically to the survivor. But this only covers co-owned property — the deceased's individual bank accounts, investments, and personal property still pass to statutory heirs.

The only way to grant full inheritance rights to an unmarried partner is through a will.

Stepchildren

Dutch intestacy law does not recognise stepchildren. If a stepparent dies without a will, their stepchildren inherit nothing — the estate passes entirely to the stepparent's biological children and spouse.

However, for tax purposes, stepchildren are treated identically to biological children (same €26,230 exemption, same 10–20% rates). The tax benefit only helps if the stepparent explicitly named them as heirs in a will.

The Legitimate Portion

Even with a will, biological children cannot be fully disinherited. Each child has a statutory right to the legitieme portie — a claim equal to half of what they would have received under intestacy law.

This is a monetary claim, not an ownership right. The disinherited child can demand payment from the estate but cannot claim specific assets. They have five years from the date of death to exercise this right, which can complicate estate distribution for other heirs.

What This Means for English-Speaking Families

If you are an expat in the Netherlands or dealing with the estate of someone who died there, the intestacy rules may not match what you expect from your home country. Common-law concepts like "common-law marriage" or automatic partner rights do not exist in Dutch succession law.

The Someone Died in Netherlands: English Speaker's Emergency Guide maps out the complete intestacy framework with visual flowcharts showing exactly how assets pass under each family scenario.

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