A legacy is not a share of the estate

A legacy is a particular asset or a particular sum that the will leaves to someone. A share of the estate is a fraction of the rest of the estate. In the file those are two different rules. The ring to a niece is a legacy, linked to that ring. One third of the estate is a share of the estate, linked to an heir. The niece does not become an heir automatically because of the ring. The heir does not become the owner of that ring automatically because of the fraction.

The legatee stands as a person involved with the role of legatee, unless the deed also makes that person an heir. That second role is added only with a sentence of its own from the deed. The legacy itself points to an entry in the estate inventory or to a sum of money. The sum of money comes from the deed, not from an estimate. If the asset is no longer there, or if the amount has not yet been read, the rule stays open. The file does not fill the gap with a share of the estate.

The fractions of the heirs belong with what remains, not with the legacy. The file does not convert a legacy into a percentage of the estate and does not convert a share of the estate into a particular jewel. Debts remain a third layer. A debt is not a legacy and not a share of the estate. Three layers, three kinds of entries. In that way it stays visible that a sum of fractions is something other than a list of concrete gifts from the will.

Whether a legacy can be handed over depends on the estate inventory and on the deed. The file does not decide that. A house that has been named as a legacy remains a house in the estate inventory, with that legacy as a claim beside it. It does not disappear from the list on the day someone retypes the clause. A sum that has been named as a legacy is not noted as paid for as long as no payment appears in the documents. Ervazo does not make that payment.

The program keeps legacy and share of the estate apart and does not calculate by way of advice. It does not draw up the deed and files no tax return. A ring remains an entry, a fraction remains a fraction. The civil-law notary, the court or the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) decides the specific case. A concrete asset remains a concrete asset, and a fraction remains a fraction, until a document expressly mixes the two.