Stepchild and foster child

A stepchild does not inherit automatically. The tie arises because a parent marries, or enters into a partnership with, the child's parent, not because the child itself becomes an heir. In the file the stepchild stands as a person involved with that family tie. The role of heir stays empty, unless a will or another recorded basis gives that role. A place in the family is not a fraction. The software does not turn a stepchild into a child for the purposes of the statutory division.

The same file can show a different outcome for inheritance tax. Inheritance law and tax diverge. For inheritance tax in 2026 a stepchild counts for the child exemption of €26,230, if the conditions of the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) are met. A foster child counts for that same exemption, again only if those conditions are met. The file does not name the amount because the person looks like a child. It names the exemption only in the tax field, and only with the conditions as an open point or as a fact that has been applied.

The two fields stay side by side. Role under inheritance law: not an heir, or an heir if the will says so. Tax class: the child exemption of €26,230, provided the conditions of the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) apply, or still empty. One field is not updated because the other field has been filled in. A stepchild who does not inherit can therefore stand differently in the indication than in the division. The indication is not a tax return. Ervazo does not file the tax return.

A foster child calls for the same separation. The family tie of foster child comes from a source, not from a nickname. The conditions under which the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) includes a foster child in the child exemption are not filled in by the file itself. There is a reference to those conditions, and further only what a document in this file already establishes. No extra thresholds and no extra amounts. The exemption of €26,230 is the 2026 figure for this class, not an amount the child thereby receives from the estate.

Ervazo keeps the family tie, the role under inheritance law and the tax exemption apart. It does not calculate by way of advice, draws up no deed and makes no payment. The exemption does not supplement the share of the estate. The civil-law notary, the court or the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) decides the specific case. Whether the conditions for a stepchild or a foster child are met remains a decision of the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) and not a consequence of the surname.