The rights of heirs and spouses under French inheritance rules

Children and grandchildren – and, in their absence, a surviving spouse – have reserved rights to a share of the estate under French inheritance law.

They are called héritiers réservataires (heirs to a 'reserved' portion). Then what is left to be disposed of by will is the quotité disponible.

In the absence of a will there are rules providing for children, surviving spouses and parents and, in their absence, other relatives in decreasing order of closeness. 

Spouses (called époux or conjoints) have the most rights.

Partenaire refers to those with a French pacs – or other form of recognised civil partnership.

Others living together are called concubin(e)s or compagnon (m) / compagne (f).

If you are unmarried a will or assurance vie may help to provide for your partner.

Note that while relatives inheriting a share of the estate are known as your héritiers, a narrower term légataire, refers to someone receiving a specific bequest in a will.

Héritiers, as well as inheriting a share of the estate, are, in proportion to their share in the estate also responsible proportionally for debts of the estate.

However, if heirs are concerned about liability to debts, they have the option to renounce their inheritance after their relative dies. There is also an option by which they may accept only 'to the net value', with their liability limited to the value of property the heir stands to inherit.

It is also possible for a reserved heir to renounce an inheritance in advance of their relative dying in a legal document signed in front of two notaires.

Héritiers réservataires 

According to the standard French inheritance rules children, natural or adopted – but not stepchildren – whether born inside marriage or not, have set minimum inheritance rights.

They are known as héritiers réservataires (reserved heirs).

Note that this does not apply if you opt to make use of the law of your nationality via the EU regulation – see here, though bearing in mind the issues raised by the 2021 French law (see here).

The portions are as follows:

• An only child receives half the estate 

• Two children share two thirds

• Three or more children share three-quarters of the estate.

If a child dies before their parent but leaves children or grandchildren, the latter share what their parent/grandparent would have had.

If the deceased left a greater share of their estate (by will or lifetime gifts) to someone other than their children, then the children may apply for a reduction of the excessive bequests or gifts, applying to all or specific recipients of these.

Parents and grandparents are not héritiers réservataires, although if their child dies without children they may, if they wish, reclaim any gifts they had made to that child.

This right is limited, per parent, to a maximum of a quarter of the value of the whole estate.

An héritier réservataire may, at any time, relinquish all or part of his or her rights by a deed made before two notaires.

Rights of a surviving spouse

If there are no surviving children or grandchildren but there is a surviving spouse, the spouse is a réservataire and must receive at least a quarter of the estate.

If there are surviving children or grandchildren (from outside the marriage or not) the testator may, by will, leave to a surviving spouse, either the quotité disponible, a usufruit over the whole estate, or a usufruit over three-quarters of the estate and the rest in full ownership.

A will may leave to the surviving spouse the choice of which option he or she wishes to take, to be decided after the death. 

An usufruit gives its owner the right to 'enjoy the fruits' of the asset, i.e, if it is a property, to live in it or to rent it out, or if it is cash or investments to have the income.

However, a usufruitier has no right to sell the asset without the consent of those (called nue-propriétaires) entitled to the remainder on his/her death.

Where a spouse or civil partner is living in the family home, he or she has the right to stay for a year free of charge (if it was rented, the estate pays). This does not apply to people who have no legally-recognised partnership and, in the case of civil partners, it can be cancelled in a will.

In the case of married couples only, a right of occupation – and to use the furnishings – continues for the survivor's whole lifetime unless the deceased cancelled this right by will. 

However the survivor must state his or her wish to benefit from this, within a year of the death.

Stepchildren

French inheritance tax depends on the degree of family relationship between the deceased and the beneficiary.

Stepchildren are not considered blood relatives under French law. As a result, they are treated in the same way as unrelated beneficiaries for inheritance tax purposes, meaning tax is charged at 60% after a very small allowance of €1,594.

There have been political discussions in recent years about increasing this allowance for stepchildren, but no reform has yet been implemented.

In some cases, families consider adoption as a way of creating a legally recognised parent–child relationship. This would make the stepchild a reserved heir (héritier réservataire), alongside any other children.

Under private international law, adoption is generally governed by the national law of the person seeking to adopt. In the UK, adult adoption is not permitted in the same way as in some other jurisdictions, which limits the scope for using this route compared to certain countries.

Under French law, there are two forms of adoption: adoption plénière (full adoption) and adoption simple. Only adoption simple is possible where the person adopted is an adult.

Adoption simple does not completely sever the legal relationship with the biological family, but it can, in certain circumstances, allow the adopted person to be treated as a child for inheritance tax purposes. One key example is where the person adopted is the child of a spouse or civil partner (ie. a stepchild).

Where an adoption has taken place abroad, French authorities will assess whether it is equivalent in effect to a recognised form of French adoption, particularly in terms of whether it creates a full legal parent–child relationship.

Another commonly used tool is assurance vie (life assurance). Under certain conditions, this can allow assets to pass to a named beneficiary outside the estate, often with more favourable tax treatment than standard inheritance rules, and may therefore be used as part of planning for stepchildren.

Reader question: children from previous marriage

My wife and I are in our second marriages with children from our own and previous marriages. Our house is in my name. Should I die, she may be left with no property. Apart from selling, is there a solution?

If your children – not your stepchildren who have no rights against your estate – are prepared to enter into a pacte successoral by notarial deed, they may waive their rights against the house (or any other part of your estate) in advance in favour of your wife.

You could then by will, also preferably by notarial deed in this case, leave the title to the house absolutely to your wife in the event of you predeceasing her.

You must understand in that case, that her children – your stepchildren – would then inherit the house on her death, to the exclusion of your own children.

An alternative is to leave a life interest (usufruit) in the house to your wife by will, and the reversion (nue-propriété) in equal shares to your children. Your wife would then retain use of the house for her lifetime and your children would only enter into possession on her death.

You could also look at using the ‘EU regulation’ option to use the law of your nationality, however this has been complicated by the 2021 French law on children's reserved portions.