Estate planning: what exactly is it?

Estate planning is about what happens to your assets at the time of cohabitation, marriage (divorce) and death. You can leave the consequences to the civil and tax laws, but you can also influence them yourself.

Misunderstanding is that when people think of assets, they think of a value of €1,000,000 and more. If you only have a bank balance, a pension plan, a small owner-occupied home, then you wouldn't have to do anything; in their eyes, you have no assets. Another misconception is that the legislature has already taken care of it all for us. In some respects that is true, but if you look at matrimonial property law, for example, you will notice that the legislator has actually left a lot of freedom. You can fill in the existing statutory regulations as you wish. Those own regulations, of course, must not conflict with the rules of public order and morality.

As for inheritance law, you can decide who your heirs are. The civil legislature did grant some other legal rights to the disinherited spouse, and the disinherited child gets a right of action as a creditor. But beyond those rights, you can distribute your estate to your heirs as you wish. Who those heirs are, you decide.

Estate planning requires awareness: you are in control of what happens to your assets. An estate planner can inform and assist you in this process. They can advise on the choices to be made and are aware of the fiscal consequences. Due to the fact that tax rules change more frequently than civil rules, it is advisable to go through these with him or her on a regular basis.