Petra Knoppers is a lawyer who enjoys an excellent reputation, specialising in inheritance law. As part of the team at SmeetsGijbels, she represents parties involved in all kinds of inheritance law matters. Petra is committed to dealing meticulously and resolutely with her cases, with a particular focus on her relationship of confidentiality with her clients. Being able to rapidly switch between personal, commercial, and legal aspects means Petra is able to provide robust support during particularly complex inheritance law cases. Together with estate mediator Lonneke Timmermans, she also assists clients – in her capacity as an inheritance law specialist – who are involved in complex legacy negotiations.
Petra obtained her degree in Dutch law at Utrecht University in 2006. As soon as she had graduated, she began her career at CMS Derks Star Busmann in Utrecht, first in personal and family law, before specialising in inheritance law and setting up an inheritance law consultation and litigation practice. Petra joined SmeetsGijbels in 2016, where she has expanded the inheritance law practice. She has been a partner/shareholder of SmeetsGijbels since 1 July 2018.
Petra is actively involved with various inheritance law organisations. For instance, she holds a board position at the ‘Stichting tot Behoud der Notariële Wetenschap’, she is a member of the Advisory Board of the ‘Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Executeurs (NOVEX), where she sat on the board, and she is a member of the ‘Vereniging Erfrecht Advocaten Nederland (VEAN)’. She is part of the inheritance law working group of the ‘Nederlandse Vereniging Familie- en erfrecht Advocaten Scheidingsmediators’ (vFAS).
Petra regularly publishes in legal and scientific magazines and is, as an editorial member and author, affiliated with various legal magazines and books, including ‘Tijdschrift Erfrecht’.
Petra lectures within her discipline as a senior lecturer of the Grotius Specialised Training in Inheritance Law, she is a guest lecturer at Utrecht University and the University of Groningen, she lectures, inter alia, at SSR Studiecentrum Rechtspleging, NOVEX, SDU, vFAS, Academie voor de Rechtspraktijk, Centrum Permanente Educatie, and she provides many in-house courses.
Since October 2017 Petra has been a deputy judge at the Rotterdam District Court where she handles cases in the area of inheritance law. In November 2023, Petra was sworn in as a deputy judge at the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal.
Petra Knoppers has a listing in the Netherlands Bar register for the following principal and secondary fields of law:
- Inheritance law
A condition of her registration is that, every calendar year, she is required to obtain ten study credits for each of the main fields of law for which she is listed, in accordance with the standards of the Netherlands Bar.
