More than 12 billion euro left in legacies

People who died in the Netherlands in 2008 left a total of more than 12 billion euro in legacies. This is the equivalent of an average 110 thousand euro per legacy.

Large differences in legacies

Six out of ten of the 111 thousand legacies consisted of assets worth less than 50 thousand euro. Half of these were worth less than 10 thousand euro.

Just over 15 percent of legacies were worth 200 thousand euro or more, and 4 percent 500 thousand euro or more. For a small number of legacies ((0.7 percent) the debts left behind were equal to or larger than the assets.

Twenty percent account for three-quarters of total value

The distribution of legacy amounts is very unequal. In 2008 20 percent of legacies accounted for three-quarters of the total value of assets left by the deceased.

Legacies by value of assets, 2008*

Three in ten decedents leave an own home

Nearly 30 percent of testators left an owner-occupied home to the inheritors. The average value of these properties was more than 200 thousand euro.
Bank and savings balances, which were included in almost all legacies, amounted to 38 thousand euro. Fifteen percent of legacies also included securities with an average value of 136 thousand euro.

Two percent of legacies included business assets. These were worth an average 180 thousand euro.

In addition to assets, testators also left debts. Around 16 percent of legacies included a mortgage debt of an average 64 thousand euro.

Average value of assets in legacies, 2008*

Jack Claessen