Inheritance in Aruba: the rules since 2021

We rely exclusively on Book 4 of the Civil Code of Aruba (BWA) as it has applied since 1 September 2021, on the transitional rules that accompany the new code, and on recent judgments of the Court of First Instance of Aruba and the Joint Court of Justice. The sources are listed at the end of this article.

1. What changed in 2021?

On 1 September 2021 the new Civil Code of Aruba entered into force. Book 4 (inheritance law) was completely rewritten and now closely resembles the inheritance law of Curaçao and Sint Maarten and that of the Netherlands. On one point Aruba goes further than the Netherlands: the forced share (legitieme portie) has been abolished. The main changes at a glance:

• The forced share (the “statutory child’s share”) no longer exists. Under the old law a parent could never completely disinherit a child: the child always kept a right to part of the estate. Since 1 September 2021 that is possible. In June 2026 the Court of First Instance of Aruba put it this way: since the new inheritance law “a testator can therefore fully disinherit his children; before that time this was not possible”.
• The statutory division has been introduced. If someone dies without a will and leaves a spouse and children, the spouse automatically receives all assets. The children receive a monetary claim that only becomes payable when the surviving spouse dies or goes bankrupt.
• New “other statutory rights”. Instead of the forced share, a few mandatory protective rules have been introduced for the spouse and for children who still need to be cared for or educated.
• Cohabiting partners sometimes count. Someone who lived together with the deceased for ten years or more “as if they were married” can be treated by the court as a spouse for the purposes of the care-related rights.
• Gifts no longer have to be brought into account automatically. A child who received a gift during the parent’s lifetime only has to set it off against the inheritance if the parent expressly stipulated so.

Separately from inheritance law, taxation has also changed: Aruba has not levied inheritance tax since 1 July 2018. More about that in chapter 10.

2. Who inherits if there is no will?

If the deceased did not make a will, the law determines who inherits (Article 4:10 BWA). The law works with four groups. Only if there is nobody in a group does the next group come into play:

1. the spouse (not legally separated) together with the children of the deceased;
2. the parents together with the brothers and sisters;
3. the grandparents;
4. the great-grandparents.

Within a group everyone inherits an equal share. A half-brother or half-sister inherits half of what a full brother or sister receives, and a parent’s share is never less than one quarter (Article 4:11 BWA). If a child has already died, his own children (the grandchildren of the deceased) take his place: this is called representation (Article 4:12 BWA). Relatives beyond the sixth degree do not inherit; the estate then goes to the Country of Aruba.

Please note: only those who had a legal family relationship with the deceased inherit. A child who was not acknowledged by the father is therefore not an heir of that father, unless paternity is still established by the court (which is possible after death). A stepchild does not inherit from a stepparent unless a will provides for it. And a partner with whom the deceased lived together without being married is never an heir without a will.

3. The surviving spouse: the statutory division

The greatest practical improvement of 2021 is the statutory division (Article 4:13 BWA). It applies automatically when someone dies without a will and leaves a spouse plus one or more children who are also children of that spouse. It works as follows:

• The spouse receives everything. The house, the car, the bank account and the household effects pass by operation of law to the surviving spouse, who also pays all debts of the estate.
• The children receive a monetary claim. Each child, as an heir, receives a claim against the surviving parent equal to its share, but cannot demand payment. The claim only becomes payable when the surviving spouse dies or goes bankrupt, or in other cases specified by the deceased in a will.
• Interest. Interest is only added to the claim to the extent that the statutory interest rate exceeds 6% per year. In practice the claim therefore usually does not grow.
• Second thoughts? Nine months to reconsider. The surviving spouse may undo the statutory division within nine months after the death by a notarial declaration registered in the estate register (Article 4:18 BWA). The estate is then divided in the ordinary way after all.

The statutory division protects the surviving spouse: he or she does not have to sell the house to pay out the children. To protect the children as well, a child may in certain situations nevertheless claim assets up to the value of its claim, for instance if the surviving parent wishes to remarry (Article 4:19 BWA) or if, after the death of the surviving parent, a stepparent inherits (Articles 4:20 to 4:22 BWA). This prevents the inheritance of the first parent from ending up with a “foreign” family through a new marriage.

The statutory division does not apply if not all children are children of the spouse (for example in a blended family). Anyone who wants to protect the surviving spouse in that situation must do so in a will. Conversely, the testator may stipulate in a will that the statutory division does not apply.

4. Disinheriting children: what is and is not possible?

The forced share has been abolished

Under the old Aruban inheritance law every child had a forced share: a minimum part of the estate that the parent could not touch. Since 1 September 2021 that is a thing of the past. Book 4 of the new BWA simply no longer contains the section on the forced share. A parent may now fully disinherit a child in a will, for whatever reason, and may leave his entire estate to, for example, one child, a new partner, a friend or a charity. The legislator thereby deliberately opted for the freedom of the testator to decide for himself what happens to his assets.

A disinherited child therefore no longer has any right to part of the estate. Nor can it invoke the Dutch rules: the Dutch Civil Code still contains a forced share, but it does not apply to an estate governed by Aruban law.

What does remain: the “other statutory rights”

Children are not entirely unprotected. Section 2 of Title 3 (Articles 4:28 to 4:41 BWA) grants a number of rights from which the testator cannot deviate in a will (Article 4:41 BWA). For children these are mainly:

• A lump sum for care and education (Article 4:35 BWA). A child who still needs to be cared for and raised at the time of death may claim a lump sum from the estate for its care and upbringing until the age of 18 and for maintenance and studies until the age of 21 (or until 25 if a course of study cannot reasonably be completed earlier). This also applies to a non-acknowledged child of whom the deceased is the biological father. The amount is reduced by what the child receives from the estate or from a life insurance policy anyway, and does not apply to the extent that the other parent already has to bear the costs.
• Fair compensation for unpaid work (Article 4:36 BWA). A child, stepchild, foster child, child-in-law or grandchild who worked in the household or business of the deceased without appropriate pay may claim a lump sum as reasonable remuneration.
• Takeover of the family business (Article 4:38 BWA). A child (or stepchild) who continues the business of the deceased may ask the court to order the heirs to transfer the business assets or the shares to him at a reasonable price.

These rights are subject to short time limits. Anyone who wants a lump sum must give notice no later than one year after the death; the claim lapses after eighteen months (Article 4:37 BWA). The request to take over the business must be made within eighteen months. The court may extend these periods on request (Article 4:40a BWA), but do not count on it.

What you need to know as a parent

If you want to disinherit a child, a notarial will is required; without a will the child simply inherits under the law. Bear in mind that a minor or studying child may still claim a lump sum. If, on the contrary, you want to prevent a child from being disinherited or “skipped”, for example in a blended family, a will is likewise the only certainty.

5. Protection of the spouse and the cohabiting partner

The surviving spouse also has a number of rights that the testator cannot take away, for example if the spouse has been disinherited by will or if there are children from a previous relationship:

• Staying in the home for nine months (Article 4:28 BWA). The spouse may continue to use the home and household effects for nine months after the death on the same conditions. This right also belongs to a person who shared a lasting joint household with the deceased until the death.
• Usufruct of the home and household effects (Article 4:29 BWA). If the spouse has not become the (sole) owner of the home, he may require the heirs to establish a usufruct on the home and household effects so that he can continue to live there. This must be invoked no later than nine months after the death.
• Usufruct of other assets for maintenance (Article 4:30 BWA). If the spouse needs the income from other assets (savings, investments) for his maintenance, he may also claim a usufruct on those. Anyone who, after deducting housing costs, is left with less than the highest statutory minimum wage is in any event deemed to have that need (Article 4:30a BWA). Time limit: one year and three months.

These rights do not apply if the marriage lasted less than five years and no children were born from it, unless that would be unacceptable (Article 4:32a BWA), nor if divorce proceedings had already been pending for more than a year (Article 4:32 BWA).

Cohabiting partners. Someone who lives together without being married does not inherit from his partner without a will. The new law does, however, contain a typically Aruban rule: if the deceased lived together with someone for ten years or more immediately before his death as if they were married, the court may, if reasonable, treat that partner as a spouse for the purposes of the care-related rights (home, usufruct) (Article 4:30b BWA). That is a safety net, not a right of inheritance. Cohabiting partners who really want to protect each other need a will.

6. Making a will

Only before a civil-law notary

In Aruba a will can only be made by notarial deed, or as a private document that you write yourself and deposit with a civil-law notary (Articles 4:94 and 4:95 BWA). A will that you draw up at home and put in a drawer is invalid. The only exception is the codicil: a document written entirely by hand, dated and signed, in which you may only allocate clothing, jewellery, certain household effects and books, and arrange your funeral and organ donation (Article 4:97 BWA). A joint will of two persons in one deed is void (Article 4:93 BWA).

You can always unilaterally revoke or change a will (Article 4:42 BWA). The last will prevails. Wills made before 1 September 2021 remain valid; the notary can, however, assess whether their contents still achieve what you intended under the new law.

What you can arrange in a will

• Appointing or disinheriting heirs (Article 4:115 BWA), in the proportions you wish.
• Legacies: leaving a specific asset or sum of money to someone, such as the home to one child with a right of use and occupation for your partner. In July 2026 the Joint Court confirmed once again that heirs must cooperate in the delivery of such a legacy; if they refuse, the judgment can replace the notarial deed of transfer.
• Switching the statutory division on or off, for example to let stepchildren share as if they were your own children (Article 4:27 BWA) or to make the children’s shares payable earlier.
• Appointing an executor who settles the estate (Article 4:142 et seq. BWA), and placing what a young or vulnerable child inherits under administration.
• An exclusion clause: stipulating that what your child inherits does not fall into that child’s marital community of property, so that it does not have to be shared if the child divorces.
• Prescribing that gifts must be brought into account (Article 4:229 BWA), so that a child who has already received a lot sets that off at the division.

Undue influence and unworthiness

A will in favour of close relatives (up to the fourth degree), a stepchild or foster child, the spouse or a partner with whom the deceased lived together for more than five years cannot be annulled for abuse of circumstances (Article 4:43 BWA). Anyone who killed the deceased, forged his will or forced him to make a will is by operation of law unworthy to inherit (Article 4:3 BWA).

7. Receiving an inheritance: accept or reject?

An inheritance consists of assets and debts. As an heir you have three options (Article 4:190 BWA):

• Pure acceptance. You receive everything, but you are also liable with your own assets for the debts of the deceased (Article 4:184 BWA). Beware: anyone who behaves as an heir by selling assets of the estate or withdrawing them from creditors thereby accepts purely, even without intending to (Article 4:192 BWA).
• Acceptance under the benefit of inventory. You accept, but you are not liable with your private assets. The estate must then be liquidated in accordance with the statutory rules (Article 4:202 BWA). This is the safe choice if there is any doubt about debts.
• Rejection. You want nothing: no assets and no debts. Your children then take your place, unless they reject as well.

The choice is made by a declaration at the registry of the Court of First Instance, which is entered in the estate register (Article 4:191 BWA). For minor heirs a parent or guardian may never accept purely; he must accept under the benefit of inventory within six months or, with the court’s authorisation, reject (Article 4:193 BWA). If, after pure acceptance, you discover a debt that you did not know of and could not have known of, you may within three months still request acceptance under the benefit of inventory or a release (Article 4:194a BWA).

8. Settlement: certificate of inheritance, division and the court

After the death the notary usually draws up a certificate of inheritance (verklaring van erfrecht). It states who the heirs are, whether there is a will and how the inheritance has been accepted. Banks and the Land Registry require this document before they cooperate. In a judgment of June 2026 the Court pointed out that without a complete certificate of inheritance it cannot even be established who the heirs are and whether there was a will; a division then comes to a standstill.

If there are several heirs, they are joint owners of all assets until the estate has been divided. Each heir may demand division at any time; that right does not lapse by prescription. If the heirs cannot reach agreement, the court can determine the division, authorise an heir to sell a house, or rule that its judgment replaces the signature of an unwilling heir. In a complex or contentious estate the court can also appoint a liquidator who takes over the settlement.

Gifts made by the deceased during his lifetime often play a role in the division. Under the new law a child only has to “bring in” a gift if the parent stipulated so at the time of the gift or in the will (Article 4:229 BWA). For gifts made before 1 September 2021 the old main rule still applies under the transitional regime: bring in, unless the parent provided otherwise. In May 2026 the Court applied this to an amount of more than Afl. 213,000 that had been transferred in 2019 from the mother’s account to one daughter: that daughter had to bring in the full amount and consequently received nothing more from the sale of the house.

9. Transitional law: which rules apply to whom?

The date of death determines which inheritance law applies. If someone died before 1 September 2021, his estate is in principle settled under the old law, even if the division only takes place now. If someone died on or after 1 September 2021, the new law applies, even if the will is much older.

A separate transitional rule was made for the forced share (Article 83 of the transitional provisions to the new Civil Code, AB 2021 no. 43). Children of a person who died before 1 September 2021 kept their forced-share claim, but had to assert it within a limited period:

• if the parent died before 1 September 2017, the child had until 1 September 2022 at the latest;
• if the parent died between 1 September 2017 and 1 September 2021, the child had to assert its claim within five years after the death, i.e. at the latest in the course of 2026.

These periods have now (almost) all expired. In June 2026 the Court of First Instance dismissed the claim of three children who in 2025 claimed their forced share in the estate of their father who had died in 1993: they were too late and were moreover ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings, because they had never made contact before. Anyone who believes he still has a forced-share claim from an old estate would therefore do well to have that assessed immediately.

10. Taxation

Aruba has not levied inheritance tax since 1 July 2018; the State Ordinance on Inheritance Tax was repealed by the State Ordinance of 24 May 2018 (AB 2018 no. 34). In 2022 the Court of First Instance even annulled assessments that had been imposed after that date in respect of earlier deaths, because the legal basis was lacking. If you receive real estate from an estate, transfer tax may be payable on registration (3% up to Afl. 250,000 and 6% above that); the notary calculates this at the settlement.

If the deceased lived in the Netherlands, or emigrated from the Netherlands less than ten years ago, the Netherlands may levy inheritance tax on the entire estate, including assets in Aruba. For Dutch nationals with assets in Aruba this is an important point to arrange in advance.

11. Practical tips

• Make a will if you want something different from what the law provides. Cohabiting partners, blended families, business owners and parents who want to give one child more or less cannot do without one.
• Have an old will reviewed. Wills from before 2021 remain valid, but provisions that were tailored to the forced share or the old intestate rules may now work out differently.
• Protect your partner. Without marriage and without a will your partner inherits nothing. With marriage and without a will your partner receives everything (statutory division), but only if all children are also his or her children.
• Heir? Choose deliberately. Do not sell or divide anything until you know how many debts there are. If in doubt: accept under the benefit of inventory.
• Watch the time limits. Nine months for the statutory division and the right to stay in the home, one year for the lump sum, eighteen months for the business takeover. Whoever is late is left empty-handed.
• Put gifts in writing. If you want a gift to a child to be set off later, record that at the time of the gift or in your will; otherwise it will not happen.

Finally

Aruba’s inheritance law of 2021 gives the testator a great deal of freedom and the surviving spouse a great deal of protection, but it leaves children and cohabiting partners more to their own devices than before. Those who arrange nothing let the law decide, and that decision does not always turn out the way you would want. A good will, made in time and reviewed again after 2021, prevents most problems.

Do you have questions about your own situation, would you like to have a will drawn up or reviewed, or are you involved in the settlement or division of an estate? Glas & Glas Attorneys and Legal Consultancy is happy to assist you, in English, Dutch, Spanish or Papiamento.

This article is intended for general information only and is based on Book 4 of the Civil Code of Aruba (text in force as of 1 September 2021), the transitional provisions to the new Civil Code and judgments published on rechtspraak.nl up to and including August 2026. No rights can be derived from this article. For advice on your personal situation, please contact us.

Sources

• Civil Code of Aruba, Book 4 (Inheritance law), text in force as of 1 September 2021 (AB 1989 no. GT 110): incl. Articles 4:1–4:3, 4:10–4:13, 4:18–4:22, 4:27–4:41, 4:42–4:43, 4:93–4:97, 4:115, 4:126, 4:142, 4:182–4:194a, 4:202, 4:229
• State Ordinance on transitional provisions to the new Civil Code (AB 2021 no. 43), Article 83 (forced share)
• State Ordinance of 24 May 2018 (AB 2018 no. 34) repealing the State Ordinance on Inheritance Tax as of 1 July 2018
• Court of First Instance of Aruba 10 June 2026, ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:156 (forced share abolished as of 1 September 2021; transitional periods expired)
• Court of First Instance of Aruba 27 May 2026, ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:171 (bringing in of a gift made before 2021; old and new inheritance law; transitional rules)
• Court of First Instance of Aruba 17 June 2026, ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2026:173 (certificate of inheritance, manner of acceptance, claim for division not subject to prescription)
• Joint Court of Justice 28 July 2026, ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2026:232 (Aruba; delivery of a legacy of a home with a right of use and occupation)
• Joint Court of Justice 31 March 2026, ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2026:66 (Aruba; appointment of a liquidator)
• Court of First Instance of Aruba 20 May 2022, ECLI:NL:OGEAA:2022:136 (repeal of inheritance tax; assessment without legal basis annulled)
• A.J.M. Nuytinck, Het nieuwe erfrecht van Aruba, Curaçao en Sint Maarten (Erasmus University Rotterdam)