Inheritance & gifting
Gifting during your lifetime
Transferring wealth during life moves price risk, burden of proof and tax consequences too. With investments, the transfer moment is decisive — and provable.
Making a gift provable
A gift needs a moment, a value and an intention on record.
Write a gift document: parties, units, price or appraisal, date and signatures; for crypto add the transaction hash.
Mind timing rules: Dutch gifts within 180 days of death still count for inheritance tax.
Per asset class
Transfer ETFs in kind between accounts rather than selling first.
Send crypto to a wallet the recipient actually controls, otherwise it is custody, not a gift.
Gold passes by physical handover — document it with serial numbers and photos.
Common mistakes
Gifting assets without teaching the recipient how to keep them safe.
Gifting everything at once at a market peak instead of in tranches.
Ignoring your own buffer and pension needs.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a notary?
Not always, but for larger amounts registration is usually wiser.
Can I gift crypto without selling?
Yes, transferring the coins themselves is normally best.
Which price should I use?
The price at transfer, from a verifiable source, recorded in the document.
Read next
Passing on crypto
Without a plan, crypto disappears with the keys. How to document access, proof and valuation without exposing your seed today.
Inheriting ETFs
How a brokerage account passes to heirs: blocking, valuation at date of death, transfer in kind and pitfalls with foreign brokers.
Passing on precious metals
Physical metal is inherited differently from an account: without invoices and a known location, disputes follow with heirs and the tax office.