What happens to an estate when the deceased left no will behind? In Belgium, you fall back on the legal devolution: the law itself determines who inherits what, in what order and in what shares. For most families this works logically, but there are subtleties (legal cohabitants, half-siblings, grandchildren, in-laws) where many people get stuck. This guide lists all the rules.
The basic principle: orders and degrees
Belgian law ranks heirs in orders. Within an order, the degree of blood relation matters. A higher order excludes a lower one; a lower degree excludes a higher one. There are four orders:
- First order: descendants (children, grandchildren).
- Second order: parents and siblings, with their descendants.
- Third order: other ascendants (grandparents).
- Fourth order: other collateral relatives up to the fourth degree (uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces).
A higher order excludes all lower orders.
The role of the spouse or partner
The spouse is involved in every order. What they receive depends on who else is an heir.
- Spouse + children: the spouse receives usufruct over the entire estate, the children receive bare ownership. In practice: the surviving partner can continue to live in the home and manage it; the children eventually inherit it in full ownership when the survivor dies.
- Spouse + other heirs (no children): the spouse receives full ownership of the marital community and usufruct over the deceased's own assets.
- No other heirs: the spouse receives everything in full ownership.
The legal cohabitant has, since the reform of inheritance law, a legal right of usufruct over the family home and the household contents. The de-facto cohabitant, by contrast, has no legal inheritance right: without a will they inherit nothing.
What do children inherit?
Without a will, all assets go to the children in equal shares. It does not matter whether they are children from a first or later relationship, or fully adopted children.
Simple adoption opens limited inheritance rights. Stepchildren do not automatically inherit.
If a child dies before their parent, the grandchildren take their place through the mechanism of representation. The share that would have gone to the deceased child is divided among their descendants.
What do parents and siblings inherit?
When there are no children or grandchildren:
- Parents and siblings together: each parent receives a quarter; siblings share the half.
- Siblings only: they share everything equally. Half-siblings only inherit through the common parent, not through both sides as full siblings do.
- Parents only: they inherit equally. If one parent has died, everything goes to the other or, if both are deceased, to their descendants (siblings or their offspring).
What do uncles, aunts, nephews or nieces inherit?
When there are no surviving partner, children, parents, siblings, the estate goes to ascendants (grandparents) and, failing them, to uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces up to the fourth degree. Beyond that, no one inherits: the estate goes to the Belgian State.
Inheriting from an uncle or aunt is fiscally expensive: in all three regions, the "all other" rates apply (up to 55% to 80%).
What happens with no family?
If no one exists within the fourth degree, the estate passes to the Belgian State. To avoid this, you can name a charity, friends or a non-profit in a will.
Reserved share: what remains of it without a will?
Belgium recognises a reserved share for descendants and, to a limited extent, for the spouse. That is the share the deceased could not freely dispose of. Without a will this is not relevant: inheritance law allocates the assets to the heirs anyway under legal devolution. The reserve becomes relevant as soon as there is a will, to check whether the deceased's wishes encroach on the reserve.
How to request a certificate of inheritance without a will
For an estate without a will, no marriage contract and no minor or protected heirs, you can, instead of a notarial deed, request an attestation of inheritance from the FPS Finance. This attestation is free and is enough to unblock bank accounts. Our guide on the certificate of inheritance.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the surviving spouse inherits everything. They do not: with children, the spouse receives usufruct, children bare ownership.
- Treating de-facto cohabitants like legal cohabitants. Without a will, de-facto cohabitants inherit nothing.
- Ignoring or wrongly equating half-siblings. They only inherit through the common parent.
- Not requesting a certificate of inheritance when it is precisely the simplest path in this scenario.
Nalenta helps with legal devolution
In Nalenta, you automatically compute who inherits what under Belgian law based on your family situation. We help you request the certificate of inheritance and file the inheritance declaration. For the regional tax rates, see Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia.