Gifts and inheritance: must an earlier gift be brought into account?

1. First establish the payment's legal nature

For each payment, start with its date, amount, recipient and circumstances. Find the bank reference, deed of gift, loan agreement or correspondence about repayment. A transfer described only as help does not by itself decide whether a gift or loan was intended. Also consider reimbursement of expenses advanced. Classification may determine whether you are investigating an existing debt owed by the recipient or including a previous gift in an inheritance calculation.

Identify missing information without immediately making an accusation. Who made the payment, from whose assets, and who alleges which agreement? If two parents were involved, their roles must not be merged without investigation. Collect documents you lawfully hold and request a specific explanation of disputed entries. A lawyer can assess which information is needed and the basis on which further disclosure can be requested.

2. Check whether bringing the gift into account is actually required

Article 4:229 of the Dutch Civil Code requires heirs to bring gifts into account for their co-heirs to the extent the deceased required this when making the gift or in a will. The statutory rule is therefore not that every earlier gift to a child must automatically be equalised. An obligation imposed when making the gift can also be cancelled by a will. Read the gift's conditions alongside the relevant testamentary wording.

Ask exactly what must be calculated and for which distribution. Bringing a gift into account concerns the relative value allocated between co-heirs; do not automatically treat it as an immediate duty to repay every disadvantaged sibling. Amount, valuation and heirship position require specific examination. Keep earlier drafts or accounts too, to establish the assumption they used about bringing gifts into account and whether the parties actually agreed to it.

3. Keep the reserved share as a separate route

When a Dutch reserved share is claimed, gifts may count even if the same gift need not be brought into account in ordinary distribution. Article 4:65 provides the framework for the calculation base; Article 4:67 identifies different categories of gifts. That distinction matters if someone says a payment is irrelevant because the will contains no obligation to bring it into account. First establish which entitlement you are investigating and which category may apply.

Do not apply a general rule that only gifts from the last five years can count. Article 4:67 includes gifts to certain descendants as well as a five-year category for other gifts. The applicable provision requires investigation of recipient and circumstances. The deadlines for invoking the reserved share are separate again. Have a specific response deadline assessed immediately rather than waiting to protect your rights until every historical payment is explained.

4. Prepare a verifiable gifts schedule

Use one spreadsheet row for each gift or connected arrangement. Record the source document, agreement date, payment date and alleged conditions. Add a column identifying its possible relevance: bringing gifts into account, the reserved-share calculation, a loan or tax. Mark provisional amounts as provisional. This prevents an estimated total quietly becoming an acknowledged debt in a final account.

For support over several years, a period-by-period schedule is more useful than a pile of statements. Record payments actually located and those known only from recollection. Also note why the other party says a particular payment was not a gift. The aim is a verifiable file for legal advice. The schedule itself creates no right and gives no unlimited authority to request all the recipient's private information.

5. Examine tax consequences separately from civil adjustments

The Dutch Tax Administration generally treats a gift made within 180 days before death as part of the inheritance for inheritance-tax purposes. Exceptions exist, including certain gifts using a one-off increased exemption and gifts to an ANBI public-benefit organisation. A tax addition does not prove that other heirs can claim the same amount under civil law. Place the tax return alongside the inheritance account without automatically importing the result from one into the other.

For a death in 2026, the Tax Administration describes a particular filing procedure: the deceased donor's share is dealt with in the inheritance-tax return. With two donors, a gift-tax return may still be required for the surviving donor's share. Use the current explanation for the year of death. Ask a tax specialist how earlier returns and assessments are handled; do not apply an explanation for a 2025 death to 2026 without checking.

6. Read a gift on paper together with its implementation

A gift on paper is not the same as money already transferred between accounts. Notaris.nl describes its recording in a notarial deed and the importance of interest actually paid for tax treatment after death. Collect both the deed and evidence of implementation. A signed amount in the records alone does not answer which debt exists, when it falls due or the tax consequences of the arrangement.

Have the civil-law agreement distinguished from the conditions for the tax benefit. Ask which payments can be proved and what a missing payment may mean. Do not try to repair unclear records retrospectively by transferring an amount or changing an old description. The assessment must reflect what was actually agreed and carried out, including later amendments and the position of others involved.

7. Fictional example: a contribution to one child's home

Daan and Lotte's mother paid money towards Daan's home years ago. After her death, Lotte says it must automatically be deducted from his inheritance share. Daan calls it an unconditional gift. There is also an older letter using the word advance and a later will. This example is fictional; the word advance alone does not determine the legal outcome and no particular inheritance entitlement is established for these people.

A focused instruction to an adviser is to compare the payment agreement and will for an obligation to bring the gift into account, then separately assess whether a reserved-share claim arises. Documents that might support a loan must also be examined. Only after separating these questions does the calculation required become clear. A general complaint about unequal treatment may prompt the investigation but does not replace the necessary evidence and legal basis.

8. Checklist before agreeing to distribution

Tell the lawyer which entry you dispute and which consequence you want examined. Do you want a gift brought into account, a loan collected or a reserved-share calculation checked? Mention whether an account, settlement agreement or final discharge is already awaiting signature. The adviser can then assess the consequences of signing and any deadlines before starting an extensive reconstruction of every gift.

Next ask which documents are missing and who can lawfully obtain them. Record the amounts the parties acknowledge, those that are merely estimates and the reservations that must remain in a proposal. Agreement on a tax return need not mean agreement on every claim between the parties. Make that distinction explicit before separate documents containing identical amounts unintentionally suggest a final agreement.

• Gift and loan agreements, the will and relevant later amendments.
• Evidence of payment, repayment and any interest for each arrangement.
• A schedule of recipient, donor, date and alleged conditions.
• Existing estate accounts, returns and assessments without automatically treating them as equivalent.
• Specific response deadlines and documents awaiting signature.