Grenzen aan testeervrijheid: erfrechtelijke bescherming van naasten vanuit interdisciplinair perspectief

In 2021, almost 171,000 people died in the Netherlands. Problems often arise when settling the estates of those deceased, partly because the current inheritance law offers insufficient protection. For example, an unmarried cohabitant has virtually no rights under the law. Inheritance-related conflicts also arise in other, often non-traditional situations, such as after divorce and in case of step-relatives or multiple parenthood. Such patchwork families are increasingly common.
This interdisciplinary project applies a legal and an economic perspective to analyse how families can be protected. The starting point is that people are free to decide what should happen with their inheritance. In various cases, however, relatives should be able to make a claim, in spite of wishes of the deceased. A disinherited young child in need of support might for example make a claim if the deceased wants to leave his estate to a new partner. Currently, it is not always clear which imperative claims can be made. This research contains roadmaps to clarify relevant entitlements.
The empirical results and a comparison to the law of England & Wales show possible improvements. The Dutch court should always be able to make provisions in special circumstances. Furthermore, it is recommended that unmarried cohabitants and ex-spouses are better protected. It is desirable to maintain the statutory portion (the fixed claim for disinherited children) in an adjusted form. Provisions that could replace this statutory portion would be unnecessarily expensive, when the court would have to take into account all kinds of circumstances.