In estate tax, the wording of a temporary housing right can matter more than its everyday duration.
A father wants to give his adult child time. The child lives near the family business, perhaps in a house on the same yard. Moving immediately after a death would cause needless disruption, so the will allows the child to remain for one year.
That sounds simple around the kitchen table. Inheritance tax may see a more detailed arrangement.
Belastingdienst guidance values a temporary right to use a home through its full legal design. Duration matters. So do early termination events, the beneficiary’s age, the property value and the obligations attached to the right.
This is a warning against casual precision. “One year” sounds exact, yet it may describe only part of the arrangement.
The clause does more than grant time
Suppose the will gives the child twelve months in the home, but ends the right earlier if the child dies. That condition matters. Belastingdienst guidance distinguishes between a fixed known term and a term that also depends on one or more lives.
For inheritance and gift tax, the annual value of usufruct over a home or another asset is calculated at 6 per cent of the asset’s full value. A prescribed factor then converts that annual amount into the tax value of the right.
During the first five years of a known-term right dependent on one person’s life, the factor is 0.75 where that person is aged 60 or older. For a right not dependent on that person’s life, the corresponding factor is 0.85.
A right that passes to the beneficiary’s heirs after death falls into the latter category under current guidance. The practical difference sits in a few words. Does the right stop when the person dies, or can someone else inherit the remaining months?
A family may see little difference. Both arrangements offer short-term shelter. The tax calculation values two different rights.
Start with the correct value
Before applying the 6 per cent rate or any factor, the estate needs the right property value. For a home inherited in 2026, the taxpayer may generally choose the lower of the 2026 WOZ value, based on 1 January 2025, and the 2027 WOZ value, based on 1 January 2026, once that later value is available.
If the 2027 assessment arrives after the return and proves lower, Belastingdienst guidance allows a later objection, including after the ordinary six-week objection period. A home substantially altered before death may require a different valuation route.
Here the family scene changes. The child may still be arranging removal boxes while the other heirs discuss a sale. Mortgage payments, insurance and municipal charges continue. The estate’s tax value depends on dates and documents that nobody considered when the will was signed.
For a child, stepchild or foster child, the 2026 inheritance-tax exemption is €26,230. Tax applies to the acquisition above the relevant exemption. A difference in the WOZ value or the applicable factor can therefore flow directly into the taxable amount, especially when the child also receives savings, shares or another legacy.
This makes the housing right more than a small appendix to an estate. In a founder family, the home may stand beside a workshop, farm, hotel or trading premises. Occupation, business continuity and sale timing can become connected very quickly.
Bills need names, dates and reasons
Families often agree that the person staying in the property will pay the bills. That may feel fair, but “the bills” is not a tax category.
Mortgage debt existing at death differs from mortgage interest arising later. Municipal charges may concern ownership, use or different periods. Insurance may protect the building, its contents or both. Maintenance may preserve an estate asset, or reflect the occupant’s personal choices.
Belastingdienst guidance calculates the inheritance as assets less debts. A debt attached by the will to a particular acquisition may reduce what that recipient receives. For mortgages and other loans, unpaid interest accrued up to the date of death can form part of the debt.
A careful estate administration separates each payment by legal liability, period and purpose. A bank statement shows that money moved. The estate file must also show why that payment belongs to a particular part of the inheritance calculation.
The distinction protects family relationships as well. If one heir pays building insurance and another pays urgent repairs, both may later feel that they carried an estate cost. Clear records allow reimbursement, tax treatment and final distribution to be discussed as separate questions.
Use the extra time well
For deaths in 2026, the inheritance-tax return letter states a deadline 20 months after death. Tax interest may arise from that point, including where an extension has been granted. The longer horizon can give a family time to obtain the following year’s WOZ value and gather mortgage, insurance and municipal records.
It is still a poor setting for drift. Memories fade, invoices scatter and informal agreements harden into competing accounts. The useful work begins with the wording of the will, followed by the termination conditions, relevant WOZ decisions, outstanding debts and a dated schedule of property costs.
Back at the family home, the original intention remains decent and understandable: give someone time to grieve, move and preserve continuity. The tax pressure does not arise because that intention was wrong. It arises when family language leaves the financial mechanics unstated.
A temporary right can offer genuine breathing room. It works best when the will, the property records and the available cash tell the same story.
If a will grants a temporary right to use a home, careful review can help align its wording, valuation and cost allocation.
The data, sourcing, and analysis behind this article were conducted by Linda Pavan Geraedts. AI was not used to identify sources, build the factual basis, or produce the analytical judgment contained here. AI was used only as a drafting aid. The final English text was personally reviewed, edited, and approved by Linda Pavan Geraedts before publication.
References
- Kapitalisatiefactor geldt ook bij tijdelijk vruchtgebruik - Taxence
- Belastingdienst - Valuation of a temporary usufruct or right of use that may end on death
- Belastingdienst - WOZ value and the valuation base for an inherited home
- Belastingdienst - 2026 inheritance-tax exemptions and the effect of valuation disputes
- Belastingdienst - Filing timetable and evidence horizon for deaths in 2026
- Rechtspraak
- Belastingdienst - Tax interest on an inheritance-tax assessment
