Your partner has died: what happens to your home in Flanders?
After the death of your partner, you mainly want to know whether you can stay at home. The answer depends on how you lived together: married, legally or de facto cohabiting. Here you read what each means for the home, the inheritance tax and a possible sale later.
As surviving partner you pay no inheritance tax in Flanders on the family home if you were married, legally cohabiting or had been de facto cohabiting without interruption for at least 3 years (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, checked 28 October 2026). By law a spouse receives at least the usufruct of the family home, a legally cohabiting partner the usufruct of the family home and its contents (notaris.be). If you were de facto cohabiting, you inherit nothing without a will: your partner's share goes to their heirs.
What is your home worth?
First see what your home is worth. Then start preparing early and without obligation: free, for as long as you like.
Married, legally or de facto cohabiting: what is the difference?
Who inherits what depends first on what you owned. If you bought the home together, your share simply remains yours; inheritance law only concerns your partner's share. For married couples the matrimonial regime also counts, and the notary checks which part of the home belonged to the community.
A spouse is best protected. A will cannot take everything from a spouse: they always keep a minimum, at their choice the usufruct of the family home and its contents or the usufruct of half of the estate. For a legally cohabiting partner, a will can extend the inheritance rights, but also limit them (notaris.be).
Without a will, this applies (notaris.be):
Married, with children: you inherit the usufruct of the whole estate, the children receive the bare ownership.
Married, without children: you inherit the common assets in full ownership. On your partner's own assets you receive the usufruct, and the bare ownership goes to their other heirs. If there are no other family members, you inherit everything in full ownership.
Legally cohabiting: you inherit the usufruct of the family home and its contents, if you made a declaration of legal cohabitation at the municipality.
De facto cohabiting: you have no statutory inheritance rights. You only inherit what your partner left you by will.
Part 2
May you continue to live in the home?
As a spouse, yes. You have at least the usufruct of the family home, and a judge can never convert that usufruct without your consent: on the family home you always have a right of veto (notaris.be). So your children or other heirs cannot force you out of the house.
As a legally cohabiting partner, the usufruct gives you the right to continue living in the family home, or to let it and keep the rent, unless a will limited that right (notaris.be).
As a de facto cohabiting partner, without a will you have no right to stay. If you bought together, you remain owner of your own share, but your partner's share goes to their heirs, for example children from a previous relationship or parents. You are then owner together with them. If your partner was sole owner, the whole home goes to the heirs (notaris.be, 2019).
Part 3
Do you pay inheritance tax on the family home?
Not in Flanders, if you were married, legally cohabiting or had been de facto cohabiting without interruption for at least 3 years before the death (Vlaamse Belastingdienst, the Flemish Tax Administration, checked 28 October 2026). The family home is the main residence where you lived together at the time of death. You apply for the exemption in the estate declaration, under "Gunstregelingen" (preferential schemes); if you forget, you can still request it with an objection.
The exemption continues to apply after a de facto separation, in case of force majeure such as a long hospital stay, and if one of you or both moved to a residential care centre or service flat. It does not apply to a second residence, and children or parents living in are not exempt (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
On savings and other movable assets the partner receives an exemption of € 75,000 for deaths from 1 January 2026 (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). What you inherit above that is taxed at the rate for direct line and partners: 3 % up to € 50,000, 9 % up to € 250,000 and 27 % above that, separately for movable and immovable assets.
A de facto cohabiting partner who inherits by will falls under that partner rate if, on the day of death, you had been cohabiting without interruption for at least one year and ran a joint household. Otherwise the rate between others applies: 25 % up to € 35,000, 45 % up to € 75,000 and 55 % above that (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
If your partner lived in Brussels or Wallonia, the rules of that region apply. In Brussels the spouse or legally cohabiting partner pays no succession duties on their share of the family home (notaris.be); for Wallonia ask your notary about the rules.
Part 4
What do you arrange in the first months?
You do not have to do everything at once. These are the steps with a date or a consequence:
Contact a notary. They draw up the certificate or deed of succession, check the matrimonial regime and any will, and tell you what you inherit.
To cover the first costs, as surviving partner you may withdraw half of the balance on the current and savings accounts, with a maximum of € 5,000. Whoever withdraws more accepts the estate, with all the risks that entails (notaris.be).
Ask the bank how much is still outstanding on the home loan and whether there was an outstanding balance insurance, which may repay the loan in whole or in part.
File the estate declaration within 4 months after a death in Belgium, with 2 months of extension on simple written request before the end of the deadline (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). Request the exemption for the family home in it.
Discuss with your bank and your insurer what changes to the loan and the fire insurance if you stay in the home.
Part 5
What if the home becomes too big and you want to sell?
Maybe the house becomes too big, too expensive or too full of memories. That is understandable, and you do not have to decide on it right away. What you do need to know: whoever is co-owner signs too.
If you have the usufruct and the children have the bare ownership, you cannot sell the home alone, and neither can the children (notaris.be). You sell together, and the price is divided according to the value of the usufruct and the bare ownership. That value depends mainly on your age; your notary calculates it for you. Another route is the conversion of the usufruct, but for the family home that can never happen for a spouse without your consent.
If you are owner together with your partner's heirs, for example as a de facto cohabitant, nobody can be forced to stay that way: you sell together, someone takes over, or one of you asks the court for the division (notaris.be). If you take over their share, you pay 2.5 % division duty (verdeelrecht) in Flanders on the total value of the home (notaris.be, May 2024).
If you then buy a smaller home as your sole owner-occupied home, you pay 2 % registration duty if you meet the conditions. If you are still full and sole owner of your previous home, you commit to selling it within 2 years after the purchase deed (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). The Flemish Government wants to raise that rate to 3 % from 1 January 2027; that has been announced, but the decree is not there yet.
Part 6
You were de facto cohabiting: what can you still do?
Without a will, as a de facto cohabiting partner you inherit nothing (notaris.be). Have the notary check whether there is a will. If there is one, it determines what you receive, within the limits the law sets for children: you cannot disinherit children.
If nothing was arranged, your partner's share goes to their heirs. You can agree with them that you take over their share, that you sell together or that you stay there for a while longer, for example against a fee. Put such an agreement in writing, so that everyone knows where they stand.
For the inheritance tax, how long you lived together counts: after 1 year of uninterrupted cohabitation with a joint household the partner rate applies, after 3 years also the exemption for the family home (Vlaamse Belastingdienst).
If you later start living with someone again, a will, a legal cohabitation or a marriage changes what your partner inherits. That is best discussed with a notary at a calm moment.
Part 7
How do you prepare a later sale, without haste?
If you decide to sell later, that starts with a complete dossier: among others the EPC (energy performance certificate), the soil certificate, the electrical inspection, the planning information and an asbestos certificate if the home dates from before 2001 (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government).
An inheritance does not fall under the Flemish renovation obligation. Whoever buys the home from you with label E or F does have to renovate it to at least label D within 6 years after the deed (Vlaamse overheid). An EPC that is ready early prevents surprises in the negotiation.
At Hoobler you start a sale dossier for free from the address, with an account via itsme, and you see which documents the home needs. A free first valuation gives you an idea of the value, as a starting point and not as a valuation for the declaration. How and when you sell, yourself or with a realtor, you decide when you are ready for it.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
Do I have to pay inheritance tax when my partner dies?
Not on the family home, if you were married, legally cohabiting or had been de facto cohabiting without interruption for at least 3 years (Vlaamse Belastingdienst). On movable assets an exemption of € 75,000 applies for the partner for deaths from 1 January 2026. A second residence does not fall under the exemption.
May I continue to live in our house if my husband or wife dies?
Yes. A surviving spouse has at least the usufruct of the family home, and a right of veto over its conversion (notaris.be). The children cannot sell the home without you.
What does a legally cohabiting partner inherit?
The usufruct of the family home and its contents, if you made a declaration of legal cohabitation at the municipality (notaris.be). A will can extend or limit that right. On the rest of the estate you have no statutory right.
We were de facto cohabiting and the house was in my partner's name: what now?
Without a will the home goes to your partner's heirs, and you have no statutory right to continue living there (notaris.be). Discuss with them and the notary what is possible, such as a takeover or an agreement on how long you still stay.
Can I sell the house if the children have the bare ownership?
Not alone. Selling is possible if you and all the children sign together, or after a conversion of the usufruct, and for the family home that conversion cannot happen for a spouse without your consent (notaris.be).
How much money may I withdraw from the account after the death?
The surviving partner may withdraw half of the balance on the current and savings accounts, with a maximum of € 5,000, to cover the first costs (notaris.be). Whoever withdraws more accepts the estate.
Sander, co-founder of Hoobler with 15 years of experience in property sales, calls you when it suits you. Together you list what needs to happen with the home now and what can wait.