Give the civil court more room to determine unworthiness

Amend the law so that civil courts can determine unworthiness in certain situations. This is the advice of Marije de Vries, who obtained her doctorate in unworthiness from the University of Groningen.

De Vries graduated with a thesis on inheritance law. "But I wanted to continue my research. My master's program covered both private and criminal law, and indignity is a common theme in that. It also appeals to the imagination. It often involves very serious offenses. Murder and manslaughter."

Reasons for unworthiness
For her research, De Vries examined Article 4:3 of the Dutch Civil Code. It lists five grounds for someone being unworthy of receiving an inheritance. "These are intentionally killing the testator, intentionally committing a crime against the testator punishable by a maximum of at least four years in prison, slanderously accusing the testator, forcing or preventing the testator from making a will, and embezzling, destroying, or falsifying the will."

Bloody hand
The first category is regularly seen in the media. The bloody hand does not inherit. The second category also occurs occasionally, but the other categories are much less common. Wills are drawn up by a notary, who guarantees that the will reflects the testator's wishes. Small details can be arranged in a codicil. This can sometimes be dismissed by family, which leads to unworthiness. Although that is difficult to prove.

Belgian law
For her research, De Vries also examined how unworthiness is regulated in Belgium. "Belgian law differs in some areas. There, separate regulations have been chosen for statutory inheritance law and testamentary inheritance law. If the perpetrator has died, and therefore no criminal proceedings can follow, the civil court has a role in certain situations. Wouldn't it be logical to give them a role in the Netherlands as well?" She also refers to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). "Romanian law required a conviction for unworthiness. That couldn't be done because the perpetrator had committed suicide. But in this case, the perpetrator had confessed to his crime, and the family and authorities had no doubts. The ECtHR stated that in that specific situation, you shouldn't be too strict about the requirement of a criminal conviction."

Reasonableness and fairness
In the Netherlands, judges must currently rely on reasonableness and fairness in certain cases to prevent someone from inheriting. De Vries advocates giving civil courts a role in determining unworthiness in certain situations, so that resorting to reasonableness and fairness is no longer necessary.

Beuningen torture murder
A well-known case in the Netherlands is the Beuningen torture murder. "The perpetrator was not convicted criminally because he acted under psychosis. Therefore, the court allowed him to inherit." Parliamentary questions followed, and the minister considered amending the law. "But it's questionable whether he'll pursue that now that the Court of Appeal has ruled on appeal that he is not entitled to inherit after all. My conclusion, in any case, is that amending the law is a good thing. This also applies to these cases."