Rest in Peace: A Guide to Wills and Inheritance Tax in Belgium

This book is not just about wills and taxes. It is essentially about peace of mind.

"I came to Belgium for eight months, and that was sixteen years ago" is one of the most commonly heard comments by expatriates living in Belgium.

If this applies to you, or even if your long-term presence in Brussels was actually planned, you may want to think about estate planning. Estate planning is more than just writing a will. It is about organizing your assets. If you do it right, it can help avoid family fights and prevent a majority of your estate from going to the government later

However, smart estate planning can be complex.

Things can also get a little bit more complex if you own property in other countries, if you have bank accounts abroad, if you are about to inherit from your parents living abroad, if your spouse has a different nationality, if your children live in Spain, Japan and New Zealand, or if you plan to retire in Italy.

In addition, the days when estate planning was just about limiting inheritance tax for a happy couple who have been married for forty years, with two well-adjusted children and four lovely grandchildren are long gone. Estate planning has become more complex. It is not only about planning around ever changing laws, but also around non-traditional families, estranged families, and everything in between.

This book can help you make sound decisions that could help your loved ones when you are gone.

Content

• Dealing with Death
• Who inherits what?
• Last will and testament
• Forced heirship
• Usufruct
• Community property
• Inheritance Tax
• Cross border Successions
• The Art of Estate Planning
• Plan in your will
• Plan by donating
• Change your marriage contract
• Planning with an insurance policy
• Planning by contract
• Trusts and foundations
• Plan for yourself
• Practical planning
• Annexes

Marc Quaghebeur is a Belgian attorney, a member of the Brussels bar specialising in international tax and corporate structuring, in particular relating to holding structures, investment funds and real estate taxation.

He is particularly known for coordinating overseas structures, such as trusts, and cross border estate planning.

Cabinet DAVID is a Belgian law firm specializing in domestic and international tax and corporate matters, combining a focus on Belgian tax law with the experience of advising on complex international transactions and situations.

Marc is the author of European Cross Border Estate Planning (Belgium) (publ. Sweet and Maxwell) and the International Guide to the Taxation of Trusts (Belgium) (publ. International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation). He is the Belgian Contributor to Tax Notes International. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Tijdschrift voor Fiscaal Recht and the EC Tax Journal and has published on a wide range of tax matters relating to legal issues and trends in Belgium and across Europe.

Marc is a member of the Legal & Tax Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium, and he chairs the Tax, Legal and Finance Task Force of the British Chamber of Commerce.