Onwaardigheid

Unworthiness: when does that happen and what are the legal consequences? A topic that has
been in the spotlight recently due to several high-profile cases. For instance, the media
recently paid plenty of attention to Yvon K, a poison murder suspect who died by suicide.
Can she still inherit from her boyfriend? Last year, the division of the inheritance in the
torture murder case in the town of Beuningen is attracting attention in the press. The current
legal provision requires a conviction by the criminal court for unworthiness. In both cases,
there was none. In some cases, the court can fall back on the European Court of Human
Rights case law of to rule a person unworthy. That does not alter the fact that adaptation of the
law is necessary. Unworthiness should follow in situations where the perpetrator could not be
convicted because of suicide or where the perpetrator is acquitted.

However, it is not only murder and manslaughter that leads to unworthiness. The
reprehensible conduct that gives rise to it is diverse but exhaustively listed in the law. That,
however, is where the problems start. It has been argued that - in addition to a number of
concretely defined improper types of conduct - the court should have discretion to declare a
person unworthy in case of any serious misconduct. Furthermore, several extensions and
amendments to the current regulation have been proposed. This will allow for tailored rulings
and hopefully make headlines such as 'Relatives in shock: man who tortured his wife to death
reports for inheritance' (De Gelderlander, 24-9-22), a thing of the past.