The preferential right of a description of assets
The reader mentioned above also expressed her concern that she did not want to leave any 'debts' to the foundation. Indeed, if people want to leave a property to the foundation which has a mortgage, it is not inconceivable that if that property decreases considerably in value, a situation could arise whereby the inheritance actually places a burden of debt on the heirs. However, that risk can be overcome by means of the so-called 'beneficiary acceptance' ['beneficiair aanvaarden']. Another way of describing this is 'accepting under the preferential right of a description of assets' ['aanvaarden onder het voorrecht van boedelbeschrijving']. In the articles of association of our foundation it is stated under the chapter Capital: (The capital of the foundation shall be formed by:) what the foundation obtains through legacy, bequest, gifts or in any other form. The foundation may only accept legacies under the preferential right of description of assets.
When a notary public as delegated executor sees that a portion of inheritance has been apportioned to the foundation, he/she always first asks whether we will accept that inheritance. Our answer is then that we will accept that inheritance under the preferential right of a description of assets. The notary public draws up a description of assets which indicates precisely what the income and expenditure are from the inheritance, from which it can be seen whether the inheritance will result in a positive or negative final balance. So the foundation accepts the inheritance under the condition that the final balance will be positive.