House in Morocco: the Netherlands still pay you… then send you the bill
A recipient of «bijstand» can continue receiving social assistance while an investigation is being conducted in Morocco. But these payments do not mean that their case has been settled: the municipality may later reclaim all or part of the money.
In the Netherlands, the opening of an investigation into a house, land or income in Morocco does not necessarily lead to the immediate termination of social assistance.
On Bladi.net : article 122972
The official framework set out in the Handreiking inkomen en vermogen in het buitenland V2026 instead provides for a situation in which the municipality continues to pay «bijstand» while awaiting the results of the international investigation.
The beneficiary must then be informed that the benefits may subsequently be reclaimed. In other words, seeing the payments continue to arrive in their account does not mean that the suspicions concerning their assets in Morocco have been dismissed.
Payments may be recalculated after the investigation
Once the inquiries have been completed, the municipality reassesses the entitlement to social assistance based on the information obtained.
If it establishes that a house or other assets in Morocco should have been declared and that their value exceeded the permitted amount, it may retrospectively revise the beneficiary’s entitlement. However, the municipality must make it plausible that the person was actually the owner or co-owner and that the value of their share was substantial enough to affect «bijstand».
If the beneficiary was nevertheless entitled to part of the assistance, it may be revised. If it appears that there was no entitlement to «bijstand» during the period concerned, it may be withdrawn retroactively.
The amounts considered to have been paid improperly are then subject to a recovery decision specifying the amount claimed and the period concerned.
The mechanism can therefore create a misleading situation for the beneficiary: several months of benefits may continue to be paid while the investigation in Morocco is still open. If it subsequently confirms the existence of assets that eliminated their entitlement to assistance, these new payments may also be included in the calculation of the amounts to be repaid.
On Bladi.net : article 122996
Continuing «bijstand» during the investigation therefore does not constitute approval of the case. It simply allows payments to continue while the municipality gathers enough information to make a final decision.
