{"id":9312,"date":"2024-12-16T15:18:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T15:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willedonker.nl\/nieuws\/generous-donors-or-legal-hassles\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T11:42:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T11:42:25","slug":"generous-donors-or-legal-hassles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.willedonker.nl\/en\/nieuws\/generous-donors-or-legal-hassles\/","title":{"rendered":"Generous donors or legal hassles?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Around Christmas, gifts often fly around your ears. Sometimes even in the form of a gift. December is the month when people surprise their nearest and dearest with a donation in the amount of the exempt amount – that is the part on which you do not have to pay gift tax. A nice gesture, right? But can you give away just anything? And how much is actually allowed? <\/p>

Gifts by stepmother<\/h3>

Imagine this: a stepmother, after her partner’s death, gives \u20ac15,000 from his estate to her own children and grandchildren. His will stated that she would inherit everything, with the understanding that after her death, his daughters would get everything. <\/p>

The daughters of the deceased partner were not happy about this and went to court. The stepmother said her gifts were “small and customary. By law, such gifts may be made without the consent of other heirs. <\/p>

The judge thought otherwise: within this family, gifting was not a tradition and amounts of \u20ac1,000 each time, up to a total of \u20ac15,000, were not “small or customary. Result: stepmother had to repay the amount to the estate. <\/p>

Gifts and the legitimate portion<\/h3>

Another case revolved around the legitimate portion, the legally guaranteed inheritance for children. Gifts count in the calculation unless they are “customary and not excessive. <\/p>

“Usual non-superfluous donations” are donations that fit what we consider normal. Think birthday presents, Christmas gifts or donations to charities. What is “usual” depends on how much money the donor has. For someone with a large fortune, a “small” donation may be a lot higher than for someone with a modest income. <\/p>

The executor of the estate thought he was being clever and pointed to the gift tax exemption limit, or maximum amount for which no gift tax is due. But the court was implacable: that limit is not all-important. Gifts for birthdays, weddings or holidays can be “customary,” but it depends on how much money the donor has and how close the recipient is. <\/p>

In this case, the gifts were not customary and were included in the calculation of the legitimate portion.<\/p>

Conclusion: donate smartly and carefully<\/h3>

These statements show that you better think carefully before playing generous. Gifts that are too large or unusual can cause problems later. So keep it “usual” and “small,” and you’ll avoid legal problems. <\/p>

Do you have questions about gifts and inheritance law?<\/strong><\/h4>

Please feel free to contact one of our specialists: Kimberly Rozema,<\/a> Elina Jonis<\/a> or Kim van der Bijl<\/a> for advice and consultation.<\/p>

Source: Overijssel District Court June 5, 2024, ECLI:NL:RBOVE:2024:2983<\/p>

Amsterdam Court of Appeal October 29, 2024, ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2024:3000<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read what you need to know about gifts and inheritance law in this blog to avoid legal problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"sectoren":[],"class_list":["post-9312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inheritance-law"],"yoast_head":"\nGenerous donors or legal hassles? - Wille Donker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inheritance law specialist Kimberly Rozema explains what you need to know about gifts and inheritance law to avoid problems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.willedonker.nl\/en\/nieuws\/generous-donors-or-legal-hassles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Generous donors or legal hassles? 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