Can the farming lease be continued by the heirs after the death of the lessee? If so, what are the conditions?

1. General principle

The rules provided for in the Farming Lease Law for when the lessee dies are taken over in the Farming Lease Decree, albeit with some legalistic and linguistic adjustments.

In principle, the farming lease continues in favour of the heirs or successors unless: 

• The lessor has given notice in accordance with the lease agreement, namely within 1 year of death with a notice period of at least 2 years;
• The heirs or successors terminate the farming lease within 1 year after the death with a notice period of at least 3 months.

2. To what extent do heirs have the right to take over use? 

The rules for continued operation by the heirs of the deceased lessee, as contained in the current Farming Lease Law, are adopted in this with minimal changes. Apart from the equalisation of legal cohabitation and marriage, there are some legological and linguistic adjustments.

The heirs or successors of the deceased lessee can agree to continue the exploitation jointly. 

What is new is that the heirs and successors must now announce the agreement they have concluded within three months. If the continuation was ratified by a judgement, the person continuing the exploitation must inform the lessor within three months of the judgement becoming final and conclusive. This adjustment improves transparency and ensures that the lessor remains aware of who the final user of the property is.

3. Farming Lease renewal in the absence of opposition 

The provisions of the current Farming Lease Law are reproduced in this Farming Lease Decree, with legological and linguistic adjustments. The reference to legal cohabitants is also included here and the text is made gender-neutral. 

Finally, it clarifies that a farming lease can only be renewed after timely notification.

If, at the death of the lessee, the lessor does not know which heir or heirs will continue the exploitation of the leased property, he may consider as operator the heirs or assignees who paid the last rent or, in the absence of payment, the heirs or successors who have their domicile in the registered office of the deceased lessee’s agricultural business.

If you would like more information on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact our specialists at info@be.Andersen.com or +32 (0)2 747 40 07.