Inheritance Law in France

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Inheritance Law in France

The rules of inheritance in France are affected by the fact that French law does not have testamentary freedom for all, meaning a person may not leave assets to who ever and in whatever proportions they please, if they have children.

Inheritance Rules

In France, a person's children are considered reserved heirs (héritiers réservataires). (Prior to 1 January 2007 parents were also considered reserved heirs). The spouse or legal partner joined by a PACS (Pacte Civil de Solidarité) contract is not considered a reserved heir.

Reserved and unreserved

Reserved heirs inherit a portion of their deceased parent's estate. This is the reserved portion (reserve légale). Exactly what the reserved portion is depends on the number of children. For example, for someone with three children, 75 percent of the estate must be left to those heirs in equal shares. The remaining 25 percent is considered the unreserved portion (quotité disponible) and may be left to whomsoever the owner pleases.

The role of a will

A will cannot override the law of reserved heirs. On this basis the surviving spouse could end up "sharing" ownership of their home with the children of the deceased. However, it is possible to leave the surviving spouse the usufruit, or life interest of the estate, by including that in a will. This gives the surviving spouse considerable extra protection; difficulties may remain if the surviving spouse wishes to sell the property.

Significant Changes to the Law: January 2007

On 1 January 2007 certain changes were introduced which eased the restrictions of forced heirship:

• Parents are no longer reserved heirs in the majority of cases
• A parent is able to leave assets directly to grandchildren (as long as the children agree)
• A reserved heir may, during the parents' lifetimes, formally renounce (in the presence of two notaires) their right to inherit. Their decision cannot be revoked after the death of a parent
• New "marriage contracts" will no longer have to be ratified by the courts, in any circumstances, which will make the use of this type of arrangement simpler and cheaper
• A family agreement (Pacte de Famille) allows a person to get family members to agree to the organisation of their inheritance during their lifetime. All interested parties sign a Pacte de Famille with a notaire which binds them to agreements made during the life of the deceased
• The will maker may leave an asset to a particular person, but with instructions that the asset, or its equivalent value, will be returned to a second person using a bequest (legs résiduel). This is commonly used in the case of the protection of the surviving spouse, with the children ultimately inheriting the asset
• The delay for accepting or refusing an inheritance has been reduced from 30 years to 5 years

Marriage Regimes (Régimes Matrimoniaux)

There are various ways of being married in France and these are called marriage regimes.

These control how assets are dealt with between spouses and can be an effective tool in financial planning to deal with succession rules. However, these rarely provide an adequate solution for those with children from a former marriage. Problems with dealing with alterations to marriage regimes are frequent, since for many the change is dealt with under international law and there is much confusion as to how they should be drawn up, especially when dealing with non-French citizens.

A notaire is able to provide information on will making and estate protection in France.

Further Information

• See AngloINFO INFOrmation Page Will Making in France

Note: Siddalls are qualified and registered financial advisers in France and are not lawyers. Please remember that the above comments are merely a summary of our understanding of existing and new legislation. This summary cannot hope to cover every detail of inheritance law or the measures proposed. The details of exactly how the new measures will be applied had not been published at the time of writing and are based on our interpretation of the new law and the subsequent press comments. You should always seek legal advice before deciding on any changes to your arrangements.

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