Inheritance in Belgium. Is this a violation of Human Rights?

Sorry for your loss. I am no expert but I think I understand your question.
Regarding inheritance, it is common that if you claim inheritance you will inherit both good and bad after the deceased.
Once renounced, inheritance cannot ever be claimed back unless you can prove you were physically forced to renounce and that you can't in this case.
If you claim inheritance, and his undoubted responsibility for the company's failiour be proved in the court proceedings, you will inherit all of the penalties and liabilities.
His assets are blocked until court decision regarding his influence on the bankruptcy is reached.
Sorry but that's risk that has to be taken based on your personal knowledge of judgement of the deceased.

Thank you for your very quick response.
My irritation for want of a better word is that in this case there is no legal action taking place but we are being advised to decline inheritance absolutely on the possible chance that there is a legal case and that it is an absolute decision. There seems to be no allowance to maybe put it on hold until a decision is reached.
I know that you can't have your cake and eat it however this is such an outside possibility it seems unfair.
Not only have they lost their Father, we are having  to sell the family home and they will also have lost everything that he has worked for on what I again see as a slight possibility.
The win win is the state and the lose lose family.
I feel that their rights are being eroded because of the rigidity of the laws here.

Here is something that can be of real use to you.

If the deceased has one or more children, the spouse is entitled to an usufruct in the estate

The usufruct is the right to hold the assets of the estate and to collect and use the dividends, interest, rent, etc. It is comparable to a life interest. It does not give a right to sell the assets of the estate. Both the heirs and the spouse have the right to ask that the life interest is converted into full ownership of some of the assets, but the spouse may refuse this conversion in respect of the house.

Community property is a typical continental form of matrimonial property. By default everything a Belgian couple acquires after their marriage is owned by both. The possessions they had before their marriage, as well as anything they inherit from their family, remain their own private property. They can change these rules by signing a marriage contract before a notary so that they either own everything separately or everything as community property

When one spouse dies, half of everything owned in community property remains the property of the surviving spouse and is not part of the deceased person's estate. The other half of community property falls in their estate.

If there is one child, he or she inherits at least half of the deceased's assets, two thirds are reserved if there are two children, and three quarters if there are three or more children
The surviving spouse has an usufruct in one half of the assets of the deceased, in particular in the family home
If there are no children, the parents or grandparents are entitled to one quarter of the assets for the mother's side and one quarter for the father's side
A will may only dispose of the assets that remain after these rules are applied. If there are no protected heirs then a will may dispose of all of a person's property.



The estate
The estate is made up of all the assets and all the debts of the deceased person.

The assets are:

All their private property
The deceased person's share of the community property
All income to which they were entitled up to the date of death
All debts owed to them
The debts are:

All private debts
Half of any debts of the the community property if applicable
Funeral and other final expenses (such as hospital fees)
Legal fees for managing the succession
Any legacies to be delivered
If there are more debts than assets, the heirs can reject the inheritance.

Acceptance or rejection of the inheritance
Any heir, however they inherit (by will or by law), may:

Accept all the inheritance, in which case their estate and all their share of the deceased person's assets and debts become one
Accept the inheritance under condition of inventory (beneficium inventarii) which keeps the estate of the deceased separate from that of the heir. The heir will then only pay debts up to the total value of the inherited assets
Reject the inheritance, in which case the heir will inherit neither the assets, nor the debts of the deceased. The inheritance then goes to the other heirs
If an heir accepts an inheritance under condition of inventory or rejects it, he or she must make a declaration to the clerk of the court of first instance in the place where succession is being settled.

An heir who accepts an inheritance under the condition of inventory can change their mind and accept the inheritance outright. However, an heir cannot undo his rejection of the inheritance, even if he did not understand the consequences of rejecting it. For this reason it is important to obtain legal advice before deciding whether to accept or reject an inheritance.

These decisions are subject to time limits:

Three months to have the inventory drawn up
Forty days to decide whether to accept or reject the estate