We are four heirs. Our aunt died intestate in Antwerp, Belgium. One heir is entitled to half of our aunt’s estate, while each of the other three will receive 1/6. One of the lesser heirs refuses to sign the proxy the notary public requires to file the inheritance papers with the Belgian authorities. My interrelated questions are: under the circumstances, can the three remaining heirs claim their share of the inheritance, even if one refuses to cooperate? Can the troublemaker, by his refusal to sign anything, block the proceedings? How could we overcome this difficulty? The situation has deteriorated to the point where the notary has given up our case and refuses to answer our mail. Thank you
Reported for forum change.
To inquisitive: If you are still around to read this, we use this forum for different questions. There’s a particular forum for this type of question. I’m asking the mod to move it there, where it will get more response.
Moved this to a more appropriate forum.
You need to hire an attorney!
And I strongly doubt we’ll have a Belgian attorney around - if we did, (s)he would have shown up in any of the threads involving EU regulations and similar subjects. Laws change by jurisdiction, you need a Belgian attorney.
You can find some basic information about Belgian probate law here. Beyond that, you’ll need to hire a lawyer.
Assuming you’re in the US, your state bar association can help you locate a suitable attorney.
Intestate means without a will.
How was it decided that person A got 1/2, and person’s B, C, & D got 1/6 each?
Per the link I posted above, Belgium has statutes which govern the specific portions of an estate which go to each heir. Probably A is a spouse or child of the deceased and B/C/D are nieces and nephews (the OP is a niece or nephew).
Or the aunt might have assigned a portion of her assets to somebody before her death but not actually transferred the property.
Or the division could be per stirpes. If the Belgian intestacy law divides the estate equally amongst the aunts siblings per stirpes and there were two siblings - the OPs deceased parent and a survivng sibling then the surviving gets half and the OP and their brothers and sisters share in their parent’s half.
Thank you for all your replies and for Really Not All That Bright’s URL. I guess I’ll have to find a forum in Belgium. Now, to clarify how the estate is divided according to the Belgian statutes. The whole estate of a person who dies intestate goes to his/her siblings, whether dead or alive. My aunt had two sisters and each is entitled to half of the estate. One sister had only one daughter, the heiress who will get 50% of the estate. The other sister had three children, each of whom will get 1/6.
Ah. Thanks! I apologize for being so easilly confused and distracted.