Abstract
Belgian intestate inheritance law aims for mathematical equality between all children of the
deceased. However, an equal division is not always perceived as equitable, leading to various
inheritance conflicts. Consider, for example, two children who receive an equal share of the
inheritance, while one child was the only one to take care of the parent for many years, protecting
the value of the inheritance from the costs of at-home care. The proposed research first seeks to
uncover the different types of inheritance disputes, and to examine how case law currently deals with
them. It then proposes to draw inspiration from the law of obligations and contract law, as well as
from foreign legal systems (France, the Netherlands and England). In this way, it will be possible to
finally explore the role an equity correction mechanism could play in Belgian inheritance law.
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