What happens to your ZZP after death

This is not paperwork that can wait. Active client contracts, ongoing invoices, tax obligations, a business bank account, software subscriptions, an insurance policy — each needs an answer in the first weeks. The person who has to find those answers is usually a partner, an adult child, or a sibling who does not know your trade.

This article explains what dies with you legally, what the heirs must do, and what you can prepare now to make their work possible.

What dies with you, legally

What happens depends on the legal form of your business. Three are common in the Netherlands.

Eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship). The business is legally inseparable from you. When you die, the business ends as a legal entity. Your assets, debts, and contracts become part of your estate (nalatenschap) and are inherited under the rules of your testament or, if there is none, under intestate succession.

ZZP under an eenmanszaak structure is by far the most common shape. From the perspective of the law, "ZZP" is not a separate legal form; it describes how you work. Most ZZP'ers operate as eenmanszaak.

VOF (vennootschap onder firma). A partnership between two or more people. When one partner dies, the VOF can either dissolve or continue, depending on what the partnership agreement says. If there is no agreement, the default is dissolution.

BV (besloten vennootschap). A limited company. The BV is a separate legal entity and does not die with you. What dies is your shareholding, which passes to your heirs. The BV continues to exist and to owe its obligations; the question is who runs it. If you were the DGA (directeur-grootaandeelhouder, director–major shareholder), the heirs need to appoint a new bestuurder quickly so the company can act.

Most ZZP'ers reading this are eenmanszaak. The rest of this article assumes that, with notes where BV differs.

Three things heirs must do, quickly

1. Notify the Kamer van Koophandel (KvK). The KvK runs the Handelsregister (trade register). When the owner of an eenmanszaak dies, the heirs must notify the KvK so the registration can be ended or transferred. The KvK accepts notification with a copy of the akte van overlijden (death certificate). The same step is needed for a VOF when a partner dies. For a BV, the death of a director is registered separately; the BV itself is not deregistered.

2. Notify the Belastingdienst. The Belastingdienst learns about the death automatically through the BRP (the population register), but the business side is not automatic. Heirs may need to file the final BTW (VAT) declaration, the final inkomstenbelasting (income tax) over the period the business was active, and to deal with any outstanding aangiften. The Belastingdienst publishes a guide for heirs of an eenmanszaak; in many cases an accountant is needed. The estate can be liable for taxes owed up to the date of death.

3. Deal with active client contracts. This is often the most urgent and the most invisible. Active contracts do not automatically end when you die — they continue to bind your estate. Clients may have paid advances that have to be returned because the work cannot be delivered. Other clients may need their project finished by someone else. Some contracts include force majeure or termination clauses; many do not. Without a written list of active engagements, heirs are forced to reconstruct your client relationships from emails, invoices, and bank statements, often under time pressure.

Who can finish your invoices and projects

Strictly, no one can step into your role automatically. An eenmanszaak ends with you. But the executor or heirs can, in practice:

• Send a notification to active clients explaining the situation.
• Issue final invoices for work already done.
• Refund advance payments for work that cannot be completed.
• Arrange, with the client's agreement, for another freelancer to finish the work — through a new contract between the client and the substitute.

Refunds of advance payments are a common shock. If you received €10,000 for a six-month project and die three weeks in, the unspent portion is owed back to the client and is a debt of the estate. This can wipe out a meaningful share of what your heirs receive.

Insurance: AOV usually does not cover death

Many ZZP'ers carry an AOV (arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering, disability insurance). It pays out if you become unable to work. It is not life insurance. With very rare exceptions, an AOV does not pay out on death.

Specific death cover for ZZP exists but is sold separately, usually as an overlijdensrisicoverzekering (term life insurance). Whether it makes sense depends on whether you have dependants, a mortgage, or business debts that would otherwise burden the estate. The Verbond van Verzekeraars publishes general consumer guidance; an independent financial adviser can run the numbers for your situation.

Pension: there is usually no employer pension

Employees in the Netherlands typically have a workplace pension that includes a survivor's element (partnerpensioen). ZZP'ers do not. What you have built up depends on what you actively saved for — through a lijfrente, a bank pension, a third-pillar product, or, in some sectors, a verplichte beroepspensioenregeling.

This matters at death because:

• A surviving partner of a ZZP'er often does not receive an automatic partnerpensioen.
• The state pension (AOW) and the survivor's benefit ANW exist but are limited.
• Whatever lijfrente or pension product you hold is governed by its own contract — some pay out on death, some do not, some pay only to a named beneficiary.

If you have a DGA construction inside a BV, your pension situation can be different — the BV may hold a pensioenvoorziening on your behalf, with its own rules.

For each pension or lijfrente product you hold, write down: the provider, the policy number, the named beneficiary, and what happens on death.

The handover document

The single most useful thing you can leave is a written summary of how the business runs and what needs to happen if you cannot. A practical handover document includes:

• KvK number, BTW number, and the legal form of the business.
• Business bank account(s) and the bank name. (Not the password.)
• Accountant or bookkeeper, with contact details.
• Active client contracts with status, agreed deliverables, advance payments received, and expected end dates.
• Recurring invoices and standing arrangements with clients.
• Software subscriptions tied to the business (and how to cancel them).
• Insurance policies (AOV, business liability, term life if any) with policy numbers and beneficiaries.
• Pension and lijfrente products with provider, policy number, and named beneficiary.
• The named person you trust to wind down or hand over the business — and their agreement.
• A short note on which clients should be contacted first, in what order.

This document does not need to be elaborate. A two-page overview, kept updated once a year, is enough.

In the app

In the Personal Portal, Stage 11 (Work & Business) is where you record your KvK details, active clients, ongoing contracts, software licenses, and the named person who can wind down the business if you cannot.

Join the beta ->

Closed beta — access by invitation.

Sources

1. Kamer van Koophandel (KvK) — Handelsregister: deregistration and changes after the death of an owner. https://www.kvk.nl
2. Belastingdienst — Overlijden van een ondernemer, tax obligations after the death of a self-employed person. https://www.belastingdienst.nl
3. KNB / notaris.nl — Erfenis, executeur, and the role of the notaris in handling business assets in an estate. https://www.notaris.nl/erfenis