Testament — what a will actually does in the Netherlands

What a testament is, and when it works

A testament is drawn up in front of a notaris (civil-law notary) and signed in their office. The original stays with the notaris. A copy goes home with you. Its existence and the name of the holding notaris are recorded in the Centraal Testamentenregister (CTR), a national register run by the KNB. After your death, any notaris in the Netherlands can check the CTR and find out whether you left a will and where it is kept.

A testament only takes effect after you die. While you are alive, you can change or revoke it at any time, as long as you are wilsbekwaam (mentally able to understand the consequences). For decisions during life, including incapacity, the relevant document is a levenstestament (continuing power of attorney), which is a separate instrument.

What you can put in a testament

The notarial profession lists several things a Dutch testament can do. The most common include:

• Naming erfgenamen (heirs) and the share each receives.
• Leaving specific gifts (legaten) to people or charities outside the standard heirs.
• Appointing an executeur (executor), the person who handles the estate after your death.
• Naming a voogd (guardian) for minor children if both parents die.
• Setting a tweetrapsmaking or similar construction so assets pass first to one person and later to another.
• Excluding inheritance from in-laws (uitsluitingsclausule), so what you leave stays with your child rather than entering a marriage's joint property.
• Arranging digital legacy, business succession, or property abroad.

A testament cannot be used to give someone authority over you while you are still alive. It also cannot override the legitieme portie, the legally protected minimum share that a child can claim even if disinherited.

What happens without one: wettelijk versterferfrecht

If you die without a will, Dutch law applies the rules of versterferfrecht (intestate succession). Heirs are grouped in four legal categories, and the law works through them in order:

1. Spouse or registered partner, plus children (and grandchildren if a child has died).
2. Parents, brothers and sisters (and their children).
3. Grandparents and their descendants.
4. Great-grandparents and their descendants.

Only if there is no one in group 1 does the law move to group 2, and so on. For people with a partner and children, the default is the wettelijke verdeling: the surviving partner inherits everything, and the children receive a claim against the partner that is paid out only when the partner dies. That is often the outcome people would have chosen anyway. Where it tends to misfire: unmarried couples without children, blended families, partners with property abroad, parents of young children who have not appointed a guardian, and people who want to leave something to a friend, a charity, or a stepchild.

Cohabiting partners without marriage or registered partnership do not inherit from each other under intestate rules, no matter how long they have lived together. Only a testament fixes this.

What it costs

Notaris fees are not regulated. According to the KNB, a basic testament typically starts around EUR 650 including VAT, and the price rises with complexity, for example with business assets, foreign property, or a tweetrapsmaking construction. Couples can often draw up two related testaments at the same appointment for less than the sum of two single ones. Online notarissen offer fixed-price testaments at the lower end of the range. [Cost figure from notaris.nl; final fee depends on the office and the complexity of your situation.]

For comparison, a verklaring van erfrecht, the post-death document your heirs need to access larger bank balances (banks commonly require it above a threshold of roughly EUR 10,000 to EUR 25,000, which varies per bank) or to transfer property, costs roughly EUR 350 to EUR 1,265 at a traditional notaris.

How the process actually goes

A typical testament involves two appointments at the notaris. The first is a conversation about your situation and your wishes, and a discussion of what each choice means in practice. The notaris then drafts the document and sends it to you to read at home. The second appointment is short: the notaris confirms that you understand what you are signing, you sign, and the document is registered in the CTR the same day. Most people complete the process in two to four weeks.

You can revoke or revise a testament whenever you want. The KNB suggests reviewing it after major life events: marriage or divorce, a new child or grandchild, the death of an heir, a significant change in assets, or moving country.

When it makes sense to write one

A testament is not for everyone. If you are unmarried, have no children, no significant assets, and no particular wishes, the default rules may be acceptable. For most other situations, a testament is the only way to:

• Provide for an unmarried partner.
• Give a stepchild the same share as your own children.
• Appoint a guardian for minor children.
• Leave anything to a friend, a charity, or a community.
• Protect what you leave from ending up with an in-law after a divorce.
• Choose your own executeur instead of leaving the role to whoever the family agrees on.

In each of these cases, the cost of not writing one is paid by the people you leave behind, in time, in legal fees, and sometimes in conflict.

In the app

In the Personal Portal you record your notaris's contact, the date your will was signed, and the date of last revision. The app reminds you to revisit it after life events such as marriage, a new child, divorce, or a major change in assets.

Join the beta ->

Closed beta, access by invitation.

Sources

1. KNB / notaris.nl — Testament, including the Centraal Testamentenregister and the standard process for drawing up a will. https://www.notaris.nl/testament
2. KNB / notaris.nl — Testament opstellen, the ten steps and indicative starting price (EUR 650 incl. VAT). https://www.notaris.nl/testament/testament-opstellen
3. Rijksoverheid — Erfenis en erfrecht, the rules of statutory succession (versterferfrecht) and wettelijke verdeling. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/erfenis