An estate that stalls rarely looks like what the heirs expected. There is the house, the bank accounts, the furniture — and then there is everything else: who looked after the parent at the end, who received what while they were alive, who moved away, who stayed. When the estate is divided, those accounts resurface too.
In Belgium, an inheritance dispute can run for years if it has to go through the courts. Family mediation offers another route: bringing every heir together, in a confidential setting, to build an agreement they accept rather than a decision imposed on them. This article explains why estates deadlock, what Belgian law provides when heirs cannot agree, and what mediation changes in practice — including the cases where it is the wrong tool.
Why estates deadlock, beyond the money
In a contested estate, the amount at stake rarely explains how fierce the conflict becomes. Three forces are usually at work.
Family history resurfaces all at once. Dividing an estate reopens old comparisons: the child whose studies were paid for, the one who took over the family business, the one who always lived far away. The death removes the person who, until then, arbitrated those comparisons or kept them quiet.
A sense of unfairness cannot be put in a spreadsheet. An heir who housed, nursed and accompanied a parent for years rarely sees that effort appear in the notary's figures. Their feeling of having given more than the others is real, even when the law does not recognise it in the form they hoped for.
Unspoken things harden into certainties. With no direct conversation, everyone interprets: silence becomes bad faith, a delay becomes a manoeuvre, a request for documents becomes an accusation. Communication moves to the lawyers, and then stops altogether.
A notary winds up an estate. Untangling thirty years of family relationships is not part of that role — and it is not the judge's role either.
The most common sticking points
The following situations come up again and again in estate mediation.
The family home. One heir wants to sell, another wants to keep it. The one who wants to keep it often cannot afford to buy out the others; the one who wants to sell cannot see why capital they need is being locked up.
The heir living in the property. One heir has lived in the house since the death, sometimes long before. The others believe an occupancy indemnity is owed; that heir points to the upkeep and to the years spent caring for the parent.
The carer who feels short-changed. Whoever handled the daily life of an ageing parent expects a recognition that an equal split does not provide for.
Gifts made during the parent's lifetime. One child was helped to buy a flat, another received regular informal support. When the estate is divided, the question becomes: what goes back into the pot, and at what value?
Blended families. Children from a first marriage, a surviving spouse, half-brothers and half-sisters: interests diverge and trust is often more fragile.
A business or professional asset. When the main asset is a shop, a practice or a company, dividing it threatens a working tool and jobs.
What Belgian law provides when heirs cannot agree
Since 1 July 2022, Belgian succession law has been set out in Book 4 of the Civil Code ("Successions, gifts and wills"). The substantive rules were overhauled by the reform of 31 July 2017, which came into force on 1 September 2018 and applies to estates opened from that date.
Nobody can be forced to stay in joint ownership. On death, assets that have not been divided are held jointly (indivision) by the heirs. Article 4.66 of the Civil Code is unambiguous: no one can be compelled to remain in joint ownership, and division can always be demanded, whatever any clause may say. In practice a single heir can therefore force the division — and where the asset is a house that cannot easily be split, that often means a sale.
The heirs can agree to wait. They may suspend the division by agreement for a period that cannot exceed five years, renewable (article 3.75, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code). This is the tool to know about when one heir needs time to raise the money to buy out the others.
Lifetime gifts come back into the calculation. Gifts made during the parent's lifetime are, in principle, brought back in value: the value taken is that of the asset on the day of the gift, indexed up to the date of death (articles 4.89 § 1 and 4.90 § 2 of the Civil Code). Children also share between them a reserved portion equal to half the estate, whatever their number (article 4.145) — not half each.
Failing agreement, the division goes to court. If the co-owners do not all consent to an amicable division, it takes place judicially, at the request of the most diligent party, before the family court (article 1207 of the Judicial Code). The court then refers the parties to the liquidating notary they agree on, or appoints one itself if they cannot agree (article 1210 § 1).
That notary is under a legal duty to try to conciliate the parties and to tell them they may be assisted by a lawyer (article 1214 § 1). They draw up a liquidation statement; each party may file objections; whatever remains in dispute goes back to the court, which decides (article 1223). The law sets deadlines for each step — two months to submit claims, four months for the liquidation statement — and anything filed late is disregarded (articles 1218 and 1220).
What the law does not set is a total duration. Between valuations, objections and trips back to court, a judicial liquidation stretches out. And all that time, the family still is not talking.
These procedural rules were reworked by the Act of 18 June 2025, in force since 7 July 2025: older material found online may be out of date on this point.
What mediation changes
Mediation replaces neither the notary nor, if it fails, the court. It works where neither of them can.
Every heir is in the same room. No more messages relayed by a third party, no more parallel versions of the same conversation. Each person hears what the others actually say, which is sometimes enough to clear up misunderstandings months in the making.
The discussions are confidential. Article 1728 of the Belgian Judicial Code sets out the confidentiality of mediation: what is said during the process cannot, in principle, be used afterwards in proceedings. That is what allows an heir to say "I can let the house go if what I did for our mother is acknowledged" without that sentence being used against them later.
The work focuses on what each person is trying to protect. Behind "I want the house" there may be a childhood memory, a housing need, or the fear of being the only one to lose something. Those three motives call for very different solutions.
The notary and the lawyers keep their place. Mediation does not push them aside. Heirs can be advised throughout, and the notary remains the professional who turns the agreement into deeds. A mediator gives no legal advice: they run the process.
The agreement can be made enforceable. Signed by the heirs, the agreement first binds them by their own commitment. Where the mediation was conducted by a mediator accredited by the Federal Mediation Commission, the parties may ask the competent court — in family matters, the family court (tribunal de la famille) — to approve it under article 1733 of the Judicial Code. The agreement then carries the same force as a judgment.
How an estate mediation runs
First contact. An heir, a lawyer or a notary gets in touch. The mediator checks that mediation fits the situation and works out who needs to be at the table: in an estate, that means every heir, otherwise the agreement will be incomplete.
The information session. The mediator explains their role, the framework and confidentiality. Each heir freely decides whether to take part. A mediation protocol is signed, setting out the framework and the fees, which are shared between the parties.
The working sessions. Everyone sets out their view, including what has never been said. The mediator alternates between joint sessions and individual meetings as needed. Financial questions are handled once the question of recognition has had room — the order matters.
Looking for solutions. A staged buy-out of shares, a sale with an agreed split, one heir taking a particular asset and compensating the others differently, a timetable for vacating a property: there are far more possible arrangements than an equal split.
The agreement. It is drafted, reviewed by each party's adviser, then signed. The notary draws up the deeds required. The heirs may ask the court to approve it.
There is no standard duration: an estate blocked on a single point can be settled in a few sessions, while a long-running conflict between several branches of a family takes longer.
When mediation is not the right tool
It is worth being blunt: mediation is not the answer in every estate.
- When an heir refuses to take part. Mediation is voluntary. An heir can say no, and nobody can be compelled.
- When there is violence or coercive control. If one person cannot speak freely in front of another, the protective framework simply does not exist. Other routes must come first.
- When information is being hidden. Mediation assumes everyone puts their cards on the table. Where there are serious suspicions that assets have been diverted, a court-ordered investigation may have to come first.
- When a point of law has to be decided. If the disagreement is about the validity of a will or the interpretation of a rule, a court ruling is needed. Mediation can resume afterwards, for everything else.
- When an heir is only playing for time. Mediation assumes a genuine intention to reach an outcome.
In those cases, an honest mediator says so at the first meeting rather than starting a process that will fail.
Frequently asked questions
Do all the heirs have to agree before mediation can start?
Yes. Mediation is voluntary, so every heir must agree to take part. And because an estate can only be divided between all of them, a mediation missing one heir would produce no more than a partial agreement.
Can we mediate if court proceedings have already begun?
Yes. Mediation remains possible during proceedings, and the judge can suggest it to the parties. An agreement then brings the dispute, or part of it, to an end.
Does mediation sideline the notary?
No. The notary keeps their role in winding up the estate; mediation deals with the conflict between the heirs. The two run alongside each other, and it is often the notary who points a family towards a mediator once a deadlock sets in.
Can what I say in mediation be used against me later?
No — that is precisely the point of the confidentiality set out in article 1728 of the Judicial Code: documents drawn up and communications made during the mediation are confidential and cannot, in principle, be relied on later in proceedings.
Is the agreement as binding as a judgment?
It binds the heirs by their own commitment first. Where the mediation was conducted by an accredited mediator, the parties can ask the competent court to approve it (article 1733 of the Judicial Code); once approved, the agreement is enforceable like a judgment.
An inheritance deadlocked in your family? Take stock in a few minutes with our free diagnostic, or read about our approach to family mediation in Brussels.