Due to inheritance tax, nothing says your wish will come true. These taxes can be very high because they are calculated according to the amount of capital. Who can then know if everyone will be able to “pay their share of the inheritance”? The wikifin.be website can help you define this amount: you enter all the elements that make up your wealth and obtain an estimate of future inheritance tax.
In addition to these inheritance tax constraints and financial limits, other legal constraints may also limit your choices. For example:
This insurance policy (read our article “Death Insurance in detail”) could be useful for you: it would pay a sum to your loved ones after you pass away and, that could finance the inheritance tax bill they would have to pay. This reduces the financial impact of the inheritance.
You determine the amount they will receive when taking out the insurance.
You are also free to decide the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the insurance and thus allow your children-in-law for example to also benefit from the cover.
Of course, you will want to avoid discussions that divide your beneficiaries when the time comes. This is why it is particularly important to draw up the beneficiary clause of your policy correctly.
Nothing stops you from making a gift in advance, during your lifetime.
- Donation via notarial deed: in this case, gift tax is paid and no inheritance tax is due later.
- Unregistered private donation of assets other than real estate: no gift tax is due. However, your heirs are still at risk of inheritance tax if the donator dies within 3 years (for the Flemish and Brussels Regions) or 5 years (for the Walloon Region) after the gift. You can register such a private donation spontaneously afterwards, for example if the donator becomes seriously ill within the "risk period" of 3 or 5 years. In that case, the gift tax must be paid, but the heirs avoid the inheritance tax.