Only after a parent's death does a brother say that the parent previously gave him a large sum. This may raise questions about the division, but an unknown gift is not automatically a concealed estate asset. It must first be investigated whether there really was a valid gift, whether the recipient must repay anything and in what capacity you seek information. An inheritance lawyer can distinguish these routes and formulate a specific request or a substantiated claim.
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1. Clarify precisely what is alleged to have been concealed
Describe the alleged gift as precisely as possible: amount or asset, probable date, recipient and missing information. Distinguish a gift made by the parent personally from a transfer executed by the recipient using a bank authorisation. Saying that this was what mother wanted does not replace investigation of the agreement. Collect existing bank records, messages and any deeds without presenting assumptions as established facts.
Consider a son who received 45,000 euros when buying an apartment. A transfer described as an advance may indicate a loan, but that description does not decide the matter. Ask for correspondence surrounding the purchase, repayments and agreements about any later forgiveness of the debt. Also record when the other heirs learned of the payment and the explanations the recipient gave at different times. Keep original messages with their dates and senders instead of only isolated screenshots. Ask witnesses to describe their own observations without jointly agreeing on a single family account. A statement about what the parent personally said differs from a suspicion based solely on the later bank balance.
2. A valid gift does not necessarily remain an estate asset
If money was validly given and paid during life, it generally no longer forms part of the donor's assets at death. Whether the gift affects other inheritance entitlements must be examined separately. A relative who received less cannot therefore demand the return of the entire gift solely because of that inequality. Start with the civil-law agreements and treat any tax return as a separate subject.
If no gift was established, there may instead be a repayment claim. That claim can be an estate asset. The case leading to the Dutch Supreme Court's judgment of 31 March 2017 concerned this distinction: the bank balance transferred to the recipient's own account was not an established gift, and the repayment claim mattered to the jointly held assets. Therefore have potential claims inventoried alongside the missing bank funds.
3. Investigate consent and the circumstances of the gift
For an alleged gift, the intention and agreement underlying the transfer of wealth must be clear. Look for a signed document, a discussion with an independent adviser and messages from the same period. A parent may make choices their children find incomprehensible. Age, illness or dependence deserve attention, but individually they do not conclusively prove that the parent could not decide or that the recipient acted improperly.
Where abuse of circumstances is invoked, the special evidence rule in Article 7:176 of the Dutch Civil Code may matter. On 10 July 2020, the Supreme Court emphasised that appropriate facts must first have been asserted and that departure from that evidence rule requires careful reasons. A notarial deed of gift and the statutory exception based on reasonableness and fairness require separate attention. Have applicability assessed; merely alleging that a child exercised influence does not reverse every burden of proof.
4. Base your information request on your own position
An heir checking the estate, a person entitled to a reserved portion calculating their monetary claim, and an executor administering the estate do not always have the same rights to information. Therefore state why you need the records. For example, request proof of the legal basis of one transfer or documents needed to calculate a reserved-portion entitlement. A request with no period, subject or interest makes talking at cross-purposes easier. State whether you are an heir or claim solely as a person entitled to a reserved portion. Include relevant correspondence about that position. A recipient must be able to understand the specific investigation your request serves and which documents are still missing for it.
In its judgment of 22 September 2026, the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal did not order a general statement of all gifts solely because of the executor's role. This underlines the need for a specific legal basis. Ask your lawyer who holds the documents and in what capacity that person may be obliged to provide information. The absence of a general statement likewise does not mean that a targeted question about a possible estate claim serves no purpose.
5. Forfeiture requires more than late disclosure
Article 3:194(2) of the Dutch Civil Code imposes a severe sanction on a co-owner who intentionally conceals, misappropriates or hides jointly held assets. The Supreme Court has clarified that actual knowledge is required; merely having ought to know is insufficient. The party invoking the sanction generally bears the burden of assertion and proof, and demanding standards apply to proof of intent. An administrative mistake and a genuine legal disagreement therefore require a different assessment.
The sanction concerns the share in the particular jointly held asset and does not automatically mean losing the entire inheritance. Nor does a valid gift become such an asset merely because it was unknown. For alleged concealment, therefore separately identify which estate asset exists, what the recipient knew about it and which conduct constitutes hiding it. The same judgment makes clear that later disclosure does not simply undo concealment that has already been completed.
6. Safeguard any reserved-portion entitlement separately
If you are a child of the deceased and disinheritance or a possible shortfall in your reserved portion is involved, promptly have the gift's effect on that calculation examined. The KNB states that a reserved portion is not acquired automatically and must be invoked within five years of death. Do not wait for a family investigation to finish before safeguarding your position; also have any earlier reasonable deadline imposed on you assessed.
A reserved-portion claim is a personal inheritance entitlement and must be distinguished from repayment to the estate. Suppose a valid gift remains in place but you may have a reserved-portion shortfall. This does not mean that, without further assessment, the recipient must pay precisely that gift back to the estate. Have the relevant gifts, debts, entitled persons and any further steps calculated together before naming an amount or a liable person. Also identify amounts that are provisional because information is missing. Have the calculation updated when new documents arrive, so an initially estimated shortfall does not inadvertently become an established premise in a settlement.
7. Prepare a targeted solution or proceedings
Bring the will, gift documents, disputed transactions and full correspondence about the discovery to your lawyer. Also list what you want to achieve: information, acknowledgement of an estate claim, a challenge to a gift or satisfaction of a personal entitlement. Ask which route best matches the available evidence and whether an initial letter will suffice to obtain missing records or a substantiated response. Also agree how the costs of the information investigation and any tax corrections will be handled. Responsibility for those costs need not be allocated in the same way as the disputed amount itself. State which documents you still expect and which are needed first to negotiate a settlement responsibly.
If a settlement is discussed, record which amount will be paid, on what grounds and to whom. Avoid a general full and final release while it remains unknown whether other relevant gifts or claims exist. Discuss a defined reservation for missing documents and a clear deadline for providing them. A settlement that speaks only of sharing fairly may later cause a new conflict about taxes, litigation costs and whether the gift itself remains disputed.
Frequently asked questions
Does my brother lose his entire inheritance if he conceals a gift?
No. It must first be established that a jointly held asset was intentionally concealed. The statutory sanction concerns the share in that particular asset, not automatically the entire inheritance.
Must a parent give every child the same amount?
An unequal gift does not in itself create an obligation to repay. Examine the validity of the gift and any separate inheritance entitlements.
Does a gift tax return prove that the gift is valid?
That return may form part of the evidence, but does not replace the civil-law assessment of the gift, authority and consent.
Sources
These sources relate to this page. For a specific case, check current rules and your own documents.
- ECLI:NL:HR:2017:565 — volledige officiële uitspraak Accessed: 2026-10-23
- ECLI:NL:HR:2020:1240 — volledige officiële uitspraak Accessed: 2026-10-23
- ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6085 — volledige officiële uitspraak Accessed: 2026-10-23
- KNB — Onterfd Accessed: 2026-10-23
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Editorial team Inheritance law in the Netherlands
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