How do I make or change a will in the Netherlands?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
A will records what you want to happen to your estate after your death. For the ordinary Dutch process, discuss your wishes with a notary. Your notes help prepare the meeting but do not become a legally valid will by completing this preparation.
On this page
- Check that you can decide personally
- Describe your circumstances and wishes
- Make the choices concrete
- Do I need a will to protect the surviving partner?
- What protection do you want?
- Have the draft explained
- Agree costs and record-keeping
- Review existing arrangements carefully
- Finding a will through the CTR
- Can I revoke my will by throwing away my copy?
- Documents to prepare
- Sources
1. Check that you can decide personally
You can have a Dutch will drawn up from age sixteen. You must understand your decisions and their consequences; the notary assesses this. Nobody can make your personal will for you. Mention concerns about health or understanding beforehand. A dementia diagnosis does not automatically mean you cannot make any decision.
2. Describe your circumstances and wishes
List your partner, children, other close people, home, assets, debts and existing deeds. Ask what would happen without a will and what you want to change. Mention earlier relationships, overseas assets and international connections. General Dutch guidance does not automatically determine the law governing every part of your circumstances. Write questions rather than attempting legal clauses. Foreign assets need a focused succession-law review, including a Dutch account alongside a foreign home. The EU Succession Regulation operates in EU countries except Denmark and Ireland; the UK is also outside it. Without a valid choice, the starting point is the law of habitual residence at death; work, duration of stays and family life may matter, and exceptions exist. Your will may choose the law of a nationality held when choosing or at death; with multiple nationalities you may choose one. Review existing foreign instruments, partner status and local implementation together; choosing Dutch law does not solve every foreign issue. Heirs can use a European Certificate of Succession to prove rights in participating countries; in the Netherlands apply through a notary. Discuss whether it is needed and useful for your case.
Rijksoverheid · Testament maken en inhoud ↗
KNB · Testament opstellen, wijzigen en bewaren ↗
Notaris · Bezit in het buitenland ↗
Rijksoverheid · Erfrecht binnen Europa ↗
Europese Commissie · Civil justice guide §8.2.4 and §8.3.2–3 ↗
3. Make the choices concrete
Consider intended heirs, particular possessions and who could administer the estate. Discuss minor children and possible protection of their inheritance. Ask separately about the consequences for a partner or a child you wish to disinherit. A brief list of wishes does not establish that every exclusion or distribution will work legally.
4. Do I need a will to protect the surviving partner?
If you are married or registered partners and there are children, Dutch statutory division may already protect the survivor: they receive assets and debts while children receive monetary claims. A will can depart from this arrangement. Cohabitation alone does not automatically make your partner an heir; discuss a will and its interaction with other agreements in good time.
5. What protection do you want?
Discuss housing, available income, children from earlier relationships, when children’s claims become payable and a possible new relationship. Ask what happens at each death. A survivor’s will is not a standard text producing the same outcome everywhere. Have older deeds and existing child claims reviewed. Separate guidance explains child shares and top-up legacies; a desired tax outcome is only one part of choosing suitable protection.
6. Have the draft explained
Discuss the draft deed, alternatives and any consequences you do not understand. Partners each make their own will, even with identical wishes. A codicil has limited uses, such as certain personal belongings; it cannot leave money. Do not use this preparation as a will or codicil. Arrange language support before signing if needed. A codicil can allocate certain individually described personal belongings, but not money, a car or a collection. Handwrite it entirely, date and sign it; Notaris.nl recommends signing every page. Identify item and recipient precisely. Date and sign changes. Keep it findable, possibly with a notary, and tell heirs where. A legacy in a will can also concern money. Receiving only a legacy or codicil does not make someone an heir; inheritance tax may still apply. You may bring someone to the meeting, but the notary also wants to speak with you privately to assess your own wishes and possible pressure. Your wishes are confidential; prospective heirs need not decide with you. Request the explained draft, resolve questions before signing and check that the notary arranges CTR registration. Notaris.nl recommends reviewing roughly every five years; this is not an expiry date.
KNB · Testament opstellen, wijzigen en bewaren ↗
7. Agree costs and record-keeping
Notaries set their own fees. Request a quotation covering advice, drafting, signing, registration and possible additional work. The notary keeps the original; you receive an official copy. The CTR records which notary made a will, not its contents. Keep your copy and details secure. Asking for a quotation does not decide the terms of your will.
KNB · Testament opstellen, wijzigen en bewaren ↗
8. Review existing arrangements carefully
Review an existing will after events such as a birth, divorce, new relationship or move abroad. A will does not expire automatically; destroying your copy does not revoke it. Discuss amendment or revocation with the notary while you can understand the consequences. For a legal dispute, use our own help-request route; it does not create a will or appoint a notary.
9. Finding a will through the CTR
After a death, the CTR lets you check free of charge whether, when and with which notary a Dutch will was made; it does not disclose contents. Online searching requires death after 30 September 1994, residence and death in the Netherlands, and no apostille requirement. Use full BRP names, birth date/place and death date. No result may reflect a typo or an unupdated BRP. If online fails, email ctr@knb.nl with your name and postal address plus a readable death certificate, not ID or a funeral notice. For post use the official private-person form and the same evidence (postage payable). Replies usually take a week; old files can take longer. Then ask a notary about contents, available only to directly interested persons. You cannot simply search another living person; check your own will through a notary or an in-person CTR visit. Foreign wills and living wills are outside this ordinary search; living wills use CLTR.
Can I revoke my will by throwing away my copy?
No. The notary keeps the original, and destroying a copy does not revoke your will. Discuss amendment or revocation with a notary; you must be able to understand the consequences.
Documents to prepare
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- Family relationships and international circumstances
- Existing wills and other relevant deeds
- Assets and debts
- Wishes for heirs, specific belongings and administration
- Open questions, language support and quotation
- Review of draft, official copy and later changes
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Rijksoverheid · Testament maken en inhoud ↗KNB · Testament opstellen, wijzigen en bewaren ↗KNB · Wilsbekwaamheid bij testament ↗Rijksoverheid · Voorbereiden op overlijden en codicil ↗Rijksoverheid · Centraal Testamentenregister ↗Rijksoverheid · Notaris en tarieven ↗KNB — erfenis partner ↗KNB — erfenis kinderen ↗Rijksoverheid — wettelijke verdeling ↗Notaris · Speciale spullen en wensen ↗Notaris · Centraal Testamentenregister ↗Notaris · Bezit in het buitenland ↗Rijksoverheid · Erfrecht binnen Europa ↗Europese Commissie · Civil justice guide §8.2.4 and §8.3.2–3 ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.