Investigation into Unclaimed Estate Assets
Belgium currently holds more than 700 million euros* in dormant assets. These include funds from bank accounts, insurance policies, safe deposit boxes, and the cash value of unclaimed securities, whose rightful owners have not come forward.
*Source: VRT News, August 6, 2024
There may be several reasons for this:
- all heirs renounce the inheritance
- no known heirs
- no one has a legal right to the inheritance (due to the absence of relatives within the hereditary line)
- no one comes forward to claim the inheritance
Locating Beneficiaries
Banks and insurers are legally required to identify the rightful owners of dormant assets. Sometimes, the account or policyholder’s identity is uncertain. In other cases, the beneficiary has passed away, and there is uncertainty regarding their potential heirs. International Genealogy Services Belgium can assist in locating beneficiaries. If the search extends beyond Belgium, we coordinate the inheritance research in collaboration with local heir-tracing agencies.
Unclaimed Estates
If an estate is vacant, any interested party (usually a creditor) or the public prosecutor may petition the Family Court to appoint a judicial administrator. This request can only be made if no one has claimed the estate and the required waiting period has passed.
The appointed administrator verifies whether heirs exist to ensure the proper distribution of the estate. This involves consulting court records, civil registries, and the central wills database. The administrator may also engage a specialist firm for genealogical research, subject to prior authorization from the Family Court judge.
If probate research identifies heirs, the administrator must notify them immediately and invite them to express their attitude rearing the inheritance. If the heirs accept the estate—whether outright or under the privilege of inventory—they automatically assume ownership and management of the estate, bringing the administrator’s mandate to an end.
If heir-tracing efforts do not identify any rightful claimants, the administrator manages the unclaimed estate and may proceed with its liquidation. This may include the public sale of any real estate belonging to the estate, subject to prior approval from the Family Court judge.
Vacant Estate
A vacant estate refers to a situation where the Belgian state requests provisional possession of the inheritance from the Family Court. The state must periodically publish this request in the Belgian Official Journal and the Registry of the Court of First Instance (three times every three months). Following this procedure, the state is permanently granted possession of the estate and manages it theirs hrough the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. Following this procedure, the state is permanently granted possession of the estate and manages it through the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
The reserved heir, that is, the heir entitled to a minimum share under the law, may claim their portion of the inheritance from the Belgian state. The heir has 30 years to make this claim. They must be able to prove their status as an heir based on a certificate of inheritance. The state will then reassign the estate to the heir. An estate without heirs can be consulted via the Belgian Official Journal. After 30 years, the 30-year prescription period applies, and the funds are permanently returned to the public treasury.
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