Art. 4:188 Civil Code states:
– 1. A declaration of inheritance is an authenticated certificate in which a notary mentions one or more of the following facts:
- that one or more persons mentioned in the declaration, whether or not for specific shares, are heirs or the only heirs of the deceased, with indication if they already have accepted their inheritance;
- that the spouse of the deceased is or is not entitled by virtue of Section 4.3.2 to a usufruct of one or more assets belonging to the deceased’s estate, with indication if s/he has the power to dispose of (convey) the assets encumbered with his/her usufruct or if s/he has the right to consume (use up) these assets, and with indication if and until which moment the spouse may appeal to Article 4:29 paragraph 1 and 3;
- that the estate of the deceased is apportioned (divided) in accordance with Article 4:13, with indication if and until which moment the spouse has the right as meant in Article 4:18 paragraph 1;
- whether or not the estate of the deceased is subject to an administration by an executor, administrator or a liquidator appointed under Section 4.6.3, with indication of their powers; or
- that one or more persons mentioned in the declaration have the status of executor, administrator or liquidator. This special form of authentic instruments consists only of declarations of the notary and not of the heirs/legatees.
The declaration of inheritance is an example of the proces-verbaal akte, which only contains declarations of the notary.
