The inheritance law has now been in force for more than a hundred years and is no longer adapted to our times. Therefore, it will be amended on the 1st of January 2023. This will give testators more freedom to decide to whom they wish to bequeath their wealth.
Reduction of the protected Shares
The cornerstone of the inheritance law's revision is about the reduction of the legal shares. These latter are shares of the inheritance to which children, spouses, registered partners, and parents are entitled as a minimum by law. With the revision of the law, the protected shares of children are significantly reduced. At the moment, children's legal shares amount to three quarters (75%) of the legal share. From January 1st 2023, this will be reduced to half the legal share, i.e. 50%. The legal shares of parents will be completely eliminated.
Protection of the spouse
With the adjustment of the protected shares, the available portion will be increased and the testator will be able to favour his or her spouse or partner as well as third parties more in his or her will.
In order to enable the surviving partner to maintain his or her current standard of living, the children may be required to contribute to the protected share. After the revision of the law, the partner can thus receive a total of 75% of the wealth, whereas this value is a maximum of 62.5% today.