Most of the Belgian inheritance law regulations date back to Napoleonic times. The law of 20 July 2017 provides for a new inheritance law which will come into force from 1 September 2018. Although this reform is not in itself revolutionary, it does modernise the existing rules to bring them into line with the law and reality of today's family structures.

The inheritance law reform gives the future deceased greater freedom in the way they dispose of their estate and provides greater security for the future heirs.

The reform covers three main areas

• the reserved inheritance
• the mechanisms for valuing and calculating the reduction of gifts
• the introduction of succession agreements

Key points

The new inheritance law comes into force for successions commencing on or after 1 September 2018. However, it could have an impact on transactions to pass on property between now and then.

It will also be necessary to check the compliance or compatibility of this reform with transactions made in the past, and to adapt these where necessary to ensure that previous inheritance planning arrangements will still achieve their initially intended objective. It is also possible to opt to maintain some of the regulations of the existing Civil Code, provided a declaration to this effect is made by authentic deed before 1 September 2018.

The reform only covers civil inheritance law and consequently has no direct tax impact.

What are the main concrete proposals in this reform?

Future articles:

1. Reform of the reserve portion of the estate:
   Giving the deceased greater freedom in disposing of their estate.
2. New mechanisms for valuing and calculating the reduction of gifts:
   Fairer and more secure for the heirs.
3. Succession agreements:
   A tool to prevent family disputes.

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