Your questions, our answers

Twenty-five questions, organised across four areas of practice, designed to give you precise reference points on couples and their matrimonial regime, succession, transmission, wealth structuring and the international dimension. Whether you live in Paris 15, Paris 7 or anywhere else in France, the office welcomes families at every important stage of their patrimonial life.

The answers that follow are not legal fact-sheets. They set out to show where the real issues lie, what merits a careful arbitration, and how a patrimonial organisation is built over time. Law features here because it is our material, but our work consists, first and foremost, in thinking a family, an estate and a transmission together.

Does a question concern you directly ? The first meeting is precisely intended to translate these general reference points into an analysis tailored to your situation. We hold it at the office, by videoconference or over the telephone, at your convenience. Maître Virginie LAIDET : book an appointment · Maître Flore de SAINT MAURICE : book an appointment.

I. Family, couples and matrimonial regime

Marriage contract, « préciput », change of regime, universal community, « PACS », protection of the surviving spouse and of the family home, divorce and balancing payment, mediation : eight questions among those that couples most frequently put to us, irrespective of where they live.

1. Is a marriage contract necessary before getting married ?

A marriage contract is not mandatory. In the absence of a contract, spouses are subject to the statutory regime of « communauté réduite aux acquêts » (community of acquests).

This regime suits some couples ; it may prove ill-adapted to others. Much depends on the professional situation of the spouses, the existence of children from a previous union, the structure of the estate, entrepreneurial prospects or the objectives of future transmission.

In practice, the choice of a matrimonial regime almost always deserves prior reflection. Many couples discover too late the concrete consequences of the regime adopted by default : implicit economic solidarity, difficulties in the event of separation, blending of estates, or transmission that was not anticipated sufficiently early.

The notaire’s role is not to promote a « standard » regime, but to help each couple build an organisation consistent with their situation and life project. A one-hour meeting is generally enough to settle together the regime that suits you and to schedule the signing in time before the wedding date. We meet future spouses at the office, by videoconference or over the telephone, as your constraints require.

Articles 1387 et seq. of the French Civil Code (conventional regime). Statutory regime : articles 1400 et seq.

2. The « préciput », an often overlooked tool to protect the surviving spouse

The « préciput » is a clause inserted in the marriage contract allowing the surviving spouse to take, before any partition and free of transfer duties, certain assets from the matrimonial community. It may relate to a sum of money, to assets in kind (the principal residence, a car, a securities portfolio) or to a defined quantity of assets within a given category.

The « préciput » offers three decisive advantages, often unknown to the couples we receive. First, it is legally qualified as a marriage convention and not as a liberality : it escapes transfer duties on gratuitous transmissions. Second, it operates outside the successional share, with no impact on the freely disposable portion or on the children’s « réserve héréditaire » (forced share). Third, it can be confined to chosen assets (the house, the life-insurance policy, the contents of the principal residence), which makes it a surgical tool, particularly well-suited to targeted spousal protection.

In the event of divorce, the « préciput » in principle ceases to produce its effects, save for a clause to the contrary. It also lapses if the beneficiary predeceases.

It is a clause to be inserted either in the initial marriage contract or upon a subsequent change of regime. We systematically examine its relevance at the first patrimonial meeting, because it is too often overlooked while it offers strong and inexpensive protection. If the question matters to you, take a few minutes to discuss it with us.

Articles 1515 to 1519 of the French Civil Code. « Préciput » and divorce : article 265.

3. How to change matrimonial regime, and what cost should be expected ?

Since Law no. 2019-222 of 23 March 2019, a change of matrimonial regime is possible at any time during the marriage, without any prior minimum duration. The operation is carried out by authentic instrument, after notification of adult children and creditors, who hold a right of opposition. Where a minor child is involved, or in the event of opposition from an adult child or a creditor, the deed must be ratified by the « juge aux affaires familiales » (family judge).

In practice, a change of matrimonial regime is often triggered by a significant evolution : creating a business, acquiring a substantial estate, remarriage, the birth of children, departure abroad, or preparing the family transmission. The deed does not consist solely in « modifying a regime » : it allows the couple to reorganise its patrimonial balances at a key moment in its history.

The cost comprises the notaire’s fees (proportional to the value of the assets transferred to the community or to the couple’s overall assets, depending on the regime targeted), registration duties and statutory publicity. We provide a detailed estimate at the preliminary study stage, and full preparation typically requires two to four months, depending on the complexity of the case and the timing of children’s notification.

The opening meeting allows us to identify your real objective (protection of the spouse, transmission, simplification, integration of contributions) and to choose the regime best suited. It is useful to plan, for this first meeting, the attendance of both spouses and the production of a few key documents (initial marriage contract if any, title deeds, latest wealth statements).

Article 1397 of the French Civil Code. Cost and duties : French General Tax Code, articles 680, 879 and 1020.

4. « Communauté universelle » with full attribution : for whom, and on what conditions ?

The « communauté universelle » (universal community) with a full-attribution clause is often presented as a tool of maximum protection for the surviving spouse. It nevertheless deserves particularly close analysis before being adopted.

This mechanism leads, upon the first death, to automatic attribution of the entire common estate to the surviving spouse. This automaticity may simplify certain situations, but it is not suited to every family or every estate.

In certain configurations, particularly where the estate is significant, where the children should be progressively involved in the transmission, or where a future vulnerability of the surviving spouse may be anticipated, this regime may produce unwelcome effects : excessive concentration of the estate, full deferral of transmission to the second death, loss of tax opportunities, or subsequent family difficulties.

Where children from a previous union are concerned, specific protective rules apply, notably the « action en retranchement » (action for reduction).

We therefore approach this regime with caution and systematically compare it with other, often more flexible solutions : « préciput », gift between spouses, targeted arrangement of the matrimonial regime, will or split ownership. The only serious way to arbitrate is a comparative analysis meeting. We conduct it as a planning review, having each scenario costed, so that each couple may understand, in figures, what each option produces.

Articles 1526 and 1527 of the French Civil Code. Cass. 1re civ., 6 March 2013, no. 12-12.338.

5. « PACS » or marriage : what patrimonial differences ?

The « PACS » (civil solidarity pact) and marriage produce very different patrimonial effects, particularly with respect to succession, protection of the family home and organisation of the couple’s assets.

Under its statutory regime of separation of property, the « PACS » leaves each partner the owner of what he or she acquires ; it may be modified by an option for indivision, but it remains, on the successional plane, far less protective than marriage. On that score, the « PACS » partner has no legal successional right to the predeceased partner’s estate : only a will may grant him or her a vocation. The married spouse, by contrast, benefits from a statutory vocation, which may be strengthened by a marriage contract, a gift between spouses or a will.

The choice between the two should not be reduced to a symbolic or fiscal question. It also depends on the degree of protection sought, the willingness or not to pool certain assets, the presence of children and the level of patrimonial anticipation desired. On the tax plane, marriage and « PACS » are aligned (same allowances for gifts between spouses or partners, full exemption upon death) ; the difference is therefore played out chiefly on the civil terrain.

We regularly meet couples hesitating between the two statuses. The meeting, which lasts about an hour, allows the two scenarios to be set side by side, to identify the concrete consequences for your estate and for the protection of the survivor, and to start, where appropriate, the chosen procedure without delay.

Articles 515-1 et seq. of the French Civil Code. Successional vocation of the married spouse : article 757.

6. What happens to the family home upon the death of a spouse ?

The surviving spouse benefits, as of right, during one year from the death, of a temporary right of free enjoyment over the family home and over the furniture that adorns it, when that home belonged to both spouses or formed part of the estate. This right is of public order : it cannot be set aside by will.

At the end of that year, the spouse may apply for a « droit viager au logement » (lifelong right of residence), allowing him or her to live there for life. This right is imputed on the spouse’s successional rights and may be converted, by agreement with the other heirs, into a lifelong annuity or a capital sum. It must be expressly claimed within the year of the death.

These mechanisms form a useful baseline, but they do not always suffice to organise serenely the position of the surviving spouse. The practical question then shifts to other tools : « préciput », arrangement of the matrimonial regime, gift between spouses, « attribution préférentielle » (preferential allotment), or split ownership organised upstream. We systematically address this dimension at the patrimonial meeting, because it is often around the principal residence that the peace of the spouse who remains is at stake. For couples whose principal residence forms the bulk of the estate, the examination deserves to be conducted without delay.

Articles 763 and 764 of the French Civil Code.

7. Divorce, balancing payment and bank release : how our office intervenes

When divorce coincides with a common immovable estate or with an indivision, two questions almost always arise. The first concerns the partition with « soulte » (balancing payment) : if the substance of the estate does not allow the formation of lots of equal value, the inequality is offset by a sum of money paid by the assignee for the benefit of the other spouse. The second concerns « désolidarisation » (release from joint liability) : will the bank agree to release the spouse who is withdrawing from the loan commitment that remained joint ?

These two questions are connected in a sequence we know well. A preliminary agreement under private signature, before the authentic instrument of « liquidation et partage » (liquidation and partition), allows valuations, masses, liabilities and allotments to be fixed in advance. This preliminary agreement is the document the bank will require to instruct the release. Once the release has been obtained, the notarial deed of liquidation and partition can be signed, followed by the deposit of the divorce agreement with the minutes of a notaire (article 229-1 of the French Civil Code) where the divorce is consensual.

The office regularly conducts such cases, either acting directly in a notarial divorce, or assisting the colleague or lawyer in charge. Signing the preliminary agreement and steering the banking and legal calendar require attentive monitoring : this is the purpose of the first meeting, which most often takes place in the weeks following the decision to separate.

Articles 826, 1469 and 229-1 of the French Civil Code. Tax rate on partition : article 746 of the French General Tax Code.

8. Family mediation : a framework to reopen the dialogue

When a succession, a divorce or a patrimonial transmission creates tensions within the family, the litigious reflex is not always the right one. Family mediation, conducted by an independent mediator or by a notaire trained in these techniques, offers an alternative framework : a space in which each may voice his or her concerns and seek with the others common ground, in confidentiality and without giving up the rights conferred by law.

For an estate administration that has stalled, for a partition the heirs cannot finalise, for the exit from a conflicting indivision, or for a « donation-partage » not all the children spontaneously accept, a few mediation sessions often allow the situation to be unlocked. The agreement reached can then be formalised by notarial deed, which gives it executory force.

We propose to our clients, where the case warrants, either intervening ourselves as a trusted third party between heirs or spouses, or directing them towards a certified family mediator who is a partner of the office. The first meeting is intended to identify the most appropriate path.

Articles 1530 et seq. of the French Code of Civil Procedure (conventional mediation).

II. Succession and estate administration

Time-frame, costs, protection of the spouse, earlier gifts, life insurance, support of the siblings : seven questions to clarify what is really at stake during an estate administration and when preparing the transmission.

9. How long does the administration of a succession take ?

An estate administration without particular difficulty takes six to twelve months. The first steps (« acte de notoriété » / certificate of heirship, query of the central register of last wills, FICOBA query of bank accounts, inventory of assets) are initiated in the weeks following the office’s involvement.

The « déclaration de succession » (estate tax return), which materialises the fiscal side of the administration, must be lodged within six months of the death where it occurred in metropolitan France, and within one year in other cases. This time-frame may seem short ; in reality, it sets a heading that structures the entire sequence of operations. Beyond that, late-payment interest and, where appropriate, penalties become due.

In practice, the duration of an estate administration depends less on the law than on the family and patrimonial reality of the file : presence of an immovable to be sold, numerous or distant heirs, disagreement on the course of action, foreign element, business to be transmitted. Our role is then to hold the fiscal calendar while preserving the quality of the family dialogue, giving at each stage clear visibility on what comes next. If you have just lost a loved one, do not wait to set a first meeting : it serves to open the file calmly, to organise the first steps and to lift a great deal of the anxiety of the calendar.

Article 641 of the French General Tax Code.

10. What are the costs of a succession and how are they calculated ?

The costs of a succession comprise three components : duties owed to the State, the notaire’s fees and disbursements.

Inheritance duties are calculated on a progressive scale that depends on the kinship between the deceased and each heir. The surviving spouse and the « PACS » partner are wholly exempt. Children benefit from an allowance of EUR 100,000 per parent and per child, and are then taxed on a scale ranging from 5 to 45 %. Brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, and third parties bear significantly higher rates. This scale is rarely neutral in transmission choices : it orients, sometimes strongly, the arbitrage between transmission inter vivos and at death, and between the available tools.

The notaire’s fees follow a regulated tariff, proportional to the value of the successional assets. The overall cost deserves to be anticipated as soon as the file is opened : we provide a tailored estimate and, where the succession’s cash-flow requires it, we examine with the heirs the possible payment terms, including instalments. A significant part of our work consists in ensuring that the fiscal question does not, by itself, become the file’s urgency. The first meeting is the opportunity to set a clear view of the sums at stake, allowing the family to approach what follows with less uncertainty.

French General Tax Code, articles 777 et seq. Notaires’ tariff : French Commercial Code, article L. 444-1.

11. How to protect one’s spouse after death ?

Protecting one’s spouse is rarely a matter of a single tool. It is almost always a combination to be built : « préciput » in the marriage contract, arrangement of the matrimonial regime, « donation entre époux » (gift between spouses) known as « au dernier vivant » (to the last surviving), will, and even a life-insurance arrangement. Each of these tools answers a logic of its own, and their articulation is what makes the protection robust.

The gift between spouses is a particularly flexible instrument. It opens to the surviving spouse, when the moment comes, a multi-branch option : full usufruct, one quarter in full ownership and three quarters in usufruct, or the freely disposable portion in full ownership. This choice is made upon death, in light of the family and patrimonial situation at that time, allowing the changes of life to be absorbed without rewriting everything.

The will, by contrast, serves more targeted objectives : legacies of identified assets, preferential allotment, faculty of « cantonnement » (limitation by the beneficiary), organisation of a successive usufruct. For couples whose estate is essentially immovable, the overall coherence is built over time : we take the time of this examination with you at a dedicated patrimonial meeting, and we keep it up to date as the family evolves. None of these tools deploys correctly without a prior exchange, because the right combination depends on the exact composition of your estate and on the configuration of your family.

Article 1094-1 of the French Civil Code (gift between spouses). Statutory vocation : article 757.

12. What becomes of a life-insurance policy upon the policyholder’s death ?

Life insurance is, in principle, outside the civil succession : the capital or annuity paid to the designated beneficiary does not form part of the successional assets and is subject neither to « rapport » (reporting) nor to reduction, save for premiums manifestly excessive in light of the policyholder’s means. This singularity explains its central place in transmission strategies.

On the tax plane, the applicable regime depends on the date of payments and on the policyholder’s age at the date of payment. For premiums paid before the age of 70, each beneficiary enjoys an allowance of EUR 152,500, the excess being taxed at 20 % up to EUR 700,000 per beneficiary, then at 31.25 % beyond. For premiums paid after 70, an overall allowance of EUR 30,500 applies to all beneficiaries together, the remainder being integrated into the successional assets under the ordinary rules.

The real effectiveness of life insurance nevertheless turns on a point often overlooked : the beneficiary clause. A poorly drafted clause, or one that has not been updated after a family event (marriage, divorce, birth, death of a designated beneficiary), may produce effects opposite to those sought. We systematically check the clause of each policy on the occasion of a patrimonial review, and we place it within the overall coherence of the transmission. If your policies are more than five years old, it is useful to discuss them at a meeting.

French General Tax Code, articles 990 I and 757 B. French Insurance Code, article L. 132-13.

13. Earlier gifts, « rapport » and reduction : why the memory of liberalities matters

Every succession requires, to be correctly liquidated, identifying the entirety of the gifts the deceased made during his lifetime. Gifts going back over the last fifteen years have direct fiscal effects : they consume the allowances and the brackets of the tariff. Beyond fifteen years, those fiscal effects vanish, but the civil effects remain : the civil « rapport » of a simple gift made as an advance on share is not subject to the fifteen-year period, and the reduction of an excessive liberality may be claimed by the forced heirs without limit of duration.

This memory of liberalities also includes manual gifts, formalised or not by declaration on form 2735, « présents d’usage » (customary presents) requalified as gifts, advances on price paid by a parent on behalf of a child, indirect contributions, and sums credited to a current account in a company. The omission of any of these operations may disorganise the liquidation and create, later, a dispute among co-heirs or with the tax authorities.

The opening meeting on a succession comprises, in our practice, an entire section dedicated to earlier liberalities. We question precisely the siblings, we retrieve the deeds from the offices that received the gifts, we reconstitute the full chain. This work avoids, in nine cases out of ten, friction that might have arisen later. If you sense that an old liberality may have been overlooked, signal it to us at the first meeting.

Articles 843 et seq. of the French Civil Code (« rapport »). Reduction : articles 920 et seq. Fiscal fifteen-year period : article 784 of the French General Tax Code. Form 2735 : declaration of manual gift.

14. Family support : standing with the siblings when a parent dies

The phase that immediately follows the death of a parent is, for the children, made of uncertainty. Which steps must be taken ? On what calendar ? Should the succession be accepted purely and simply, accepted up to the net assets, or can it still be renounced ? How is the news to be announced to the banks and to the insurance companies ? How should the siblings divide among themselves the steering of the file ?

The office conceives of its intervention, during these first weeks, as a practical support as much as a legal one. We meet the siblings rapidly in an opening meeting, sometimes by videoconference if not all heirs are in Paris. We provide a clear list of the documents to gather, indicating which are priorities and which can wait. We query in your place the central register of last wills and the banks, which spares the heirs from having to dialogue simultaneously with several interlocutors.

This mode of intervention, broader than mere technical processing, is a hallmark of the office. We explain it at the first meeting : it gives you, from the outset, a clear view of the path ahead and designates a single point of contact for the siblings. If a parent has just passed away, do not hesitate to call upon us rapidly : the fiscal calendar runs, and several steps gain by being engaged without delay.

Articles 768 et seq. of the French Civil Code (successional option). Article 641 of the French General Tax Code (filing time-frame).

15. When to bring the notaire in at the planning stage ?

The notaire is generally consulted when an instrument has to be received (sale, gift, marriage contract, succession). A significant part of his or her value is actually exercised far upstream, when a patrimonial decision is being prepared : the purchase of a significant immovable, the creation or transfer of a company, family restructuring, the choice of a matrimonial regime or a « PACS », an arbitrage on the organisation of transmission.

At that stage, the notaire’s role is that of a counsel who looks at every dimension at once : civil, fiscal, financial, international, family. He or she does not steer towards a product, and is not remunerated on a future instrument ; he or she takes the measure of the whole and proposes the most coherent trajectory. The planning review itself may give rise to a meeting or a short series of meetings, at the office or by videoconference, sometimes in the presence of the client’s other counsels (lawyer, chartered accountant, wealth manager).

Our office meets clients for preliminary patrimonial reviews, with no settled instrument project. If you hesitate to invest, to transmit, to restructure, or simply to open the reflection, do not wait for the signing to seek out this first exchange. It will allow you, thereafter, to act in full knowledge.

Articles 1 and 2 of the National Regulation of the Notariate (role of counsel and authentication).

III. Gifts and transmission

Simple gift or « donation-partage », trans-generational and skip-generation, split ownership, principal residence, taxation : five questions to prepare transmission over time and in family coherence.

16. Simple gift or « donation-partage » : which to choose ?

A simple gift transfers an asset to a designated donee, as an advance on share or outside it. Upon the donor’s succession, it is in principle reported to the mass, and its value is reassessed as at the day of the partition : if the asset given has gained in value, the report is calculated on that updated value, which can create significant gaps between children.

The « donation-partage », by contrast, freezes the value of the lots as at the date of the deed. If the donee receives an asset that subsequently appreciates, this gain accrues to him or her in full, without report to the succession.

Beyond its civil and fiscal effects, the « donation-partage » often holds a major family interest : it allows the balances between children to be organised during the parents’ lifetime, within a clear framework accepted by each. It thus avoids that, upon death, discussions migrate onto the historic value of assets transmitted several years earlier. Many family conflicts arise precisely from these deferred reassessments : the « donation-partage » is one of the rare tools that genuinely allows them to be prevented.

It nevertheless presupposes the agreement of all the children present at the deed and the allotment of assets between them (a single lot per child suffices). Where a child is absent or reluctant, a simple gift may remain the most reasonable path. This arbitrage requires a dedicated meeting, because each family presents a configuration of its own. At the patrimonial meeting, we set out the two options in parallel, with costed simulations, which helps parents to choose in full awareness.

Articles 843 and 1078 of the French Civil Code. Trans-generational « donation-partage » : article 1078-4.

17. The trans-generational « donation-partage » : transmitting across a generation

When the donors’ children are themselves established, professionally and patrimonially, certain parents wish that transmission should benefit grandchildren directly. The trans-generational « donation-partage », provided for by articles 1078-4 et seq. of the French Civil Code, organises precisely this skip of generation. The donors’ child consents to having his or her own descendants allotted in his or her stead, in whole or in part, in the anticipated partition.

The civil effect is powerful. The child who consents to the allotment of grandchildren is not regarded as having himself received : he or she does not have to report to his or her own succession the assets received by his or her children, avoiding a double transmission and a double taxation across generations. The fiscal effect is equally appealing : the allowances applicable are those that would have benefited the intermediate child (who transmits without receiving), allowing families whose children are themselves patrimonially established to make the grandchildren benefit directly from the allowances and the lower brackets of the tariff.

The trans-generational gift presupposes a refined family analysis. It does not suit every configuration, particularly when grandchildren are minors, when the stability of unions is not assured, or when the intermediate child may, in the future, require parental support. Where the configuration lends itself, it is one of the most elegant tools of patrimonial transmission. We systematically present it to families whose estate and family unit lend themselves, at the preliminary patrimonial meeting.

Articles 1078-4 to 1078-10 of the French Civil Code. Fiscal regime : article 776 ter of the French General Tax Code.

18. « Donation-partage » with split ownership : how does it work ?

The « donation-partage » with split ownership combines two tools. The parents transfer to their children the « nue-propriété » (bare ownership) of one or several assets and retain the « usufruit » (usufruct), that is, the right to use the asset and to perceive its revenues. Upon the parents’ death, the usufruct extinguishes without formality and without inheritance duties, and the children become full owners.

The fiscal benefit is substantial. The value of the bare ownership is lower than that of full ownership, according to the scale set by article 669 of the French General Tax Code, depending on the usufructuary’s age. For a usufructuary aged 61 to 70, the bare ownership represents 60 % of the asset’s value, and duties are calculated only on that fraction.

But the civil interest often outweighs the fiscal interest. Split ownership organised within a « donation-partage » allows the distribution between children to be fixed from today, while leaving the parents the mastery of the asset and of its revenues. It establishes a temporality, a progressive sharing of powers and responsibilities, that may itself become a tool of transmission in the broadest sense. The choice of the assets to split and the drafting of the clauses (clause for the reversion of usufruct, quasi-usufruct convention, faculty of reinvestment) call for a case-by-case analysis.

This analysis is precisely the purpose of the preliminary patrimonial meeting. It is usefully conducted with both parents and, where possible, with the children, so that each understands the sense of the arrangement and accepts its overall logic.

Articles 578 et seq. of the French Civil Code. Tax scale : French General Tax Code, article 669.

19. How to transmit one’s principal residence through split ownership ?

The gift of the bare ownership of the principal residence to the children, with reservation of usufruct to the parents, is technically possible. So long as the parents reside in the property, they retain its full enjoyment. Upon their death, the usufruct extinguishes and the children become full owners, with no inheritance duties on that asset.

The operation nevertheless requires deep reflection. The sale of the property can be carried out only with the bare-owner children’s agreement, or will require the conclusion of a quasi-usufruct convention to reinvest the price. Any plan to move, to enter a specialised establishment, or to reinvest will require formal discussion with the children, at a moment when peace of mind is not always at its best.

The question is therefore not only : « can the principal residence be split ? », but : « does this split leave the parents the freedom of life that will remain useful to them ? ». For assets whose use and valuation are stable (secondary residence, income-producing building, « SCI » shares), split ownership finds its natural ground. For the principal residence, other paths are frequently preferable : « préciput », arrangement of the matrimonial regime, simple gift with occupancy convention, preferential allotment. We systematically examine the two scenarios before choosing one path or another, in the framework of a patrimonial meeting dedicated to the transmission of the principal residence.

Articles 578 to 624 of the French Civil Code. Quasi-usufruct : article 587.

20. Optimising transmission tax : three major levers

The fiscal optimisation of a family transmission rests, in most cases, on three cumulative levers.

The first is the temporal lever : allowances applicable to gifts are reconstituted every fifteen years. A parent who transmits at regular intervals, by successive tranches, can substantially reduce the overall fiscal cost, without giving up any control. The second is split ownership : transmitting the bare ownership of an asset immediately reduces the taxable value, in accordance with the scale of article 669 of the French General Tax Code, and removes any taxation upon the second death. The third lever is that of sectorial regimes : « pacte Dutreil » for business transmissions, specific exemptions for rented immovable property (in tense zones, in revitalisation zones), Madelin allowance on sums of money transmitted inter vivos.

These levers combine. A single case may, for instance, articulate a « donation-partage » with split ownership, a « pacte Dutreil » on the shares of the family company, and a calendar of staggered transmissions. It is this combination, and not any single tool taken in isolation, that produces the most solid optimisation.

We systematically propose, where the estate lends itself, a fiscal transmission review prior to the deed. It takes the form of a patrimonial meeting, followed by a costed note. This note enables the client to arbitrate in full knowledge and to schedule, over the years ahead, the most effective sequence.

Article 784 of the French General Tax Code (fifteen-year period). Article 669 (usufruct scale). Article 787 B (« Dutreil »).

IV. Wealth, companies and international matters

Family « SCI », « pacte Dutreil », private international law, patrimonial counsel : five questions for structured estates and cross-border situations.

21. Why set up a « SCI familiale » ?

The « société civile immobilière » (family real-estate civil company) allows several persons to hold one or more immovable assets within a flexible legal framework. It is used in particular to transmit ownership progressively by gift of shares, to organise split ownership directly on the shares, and to prepare the governance of an estate destined to remain in the family.

The « SCI » does not, however, constitute an automatic solution. In certain families, it needlessly complicates the holding of the estate and creates management constraints disproportionate to the objectives pursued. Its interest must be appreciated concretely, in light of the family project, the number of partners, the horizon of holding the asset and the family members’ capacity to manage together over time.

Where it is relevant, the « SCI » presupposes carefully drafted articles : object, terms of share transfer, approval, split ownership, scope of the manager’s powers, exit of a partner. It is these clauses, more than the company form itself, that make the vehicle’s quality. We take the time to build them with you at a dedicated meeting, and to update them when the company’s life requires. If you are contemplating the constitution of a « SCI », make a date with us before signing any preliminary contract : the company’s final configuration is thought through upstream of the immovable acquisition.

Articles 1832 et seq. of the French Civil Code. Tax regime : French General Tax Code, article 8 (personal income tax) or option for corporation tax (article 206, 3).

22. The « pacte Dutreil » : how to transmit a family business ?

The « pacte Dutreil » allows the transmission, by gift or by succession, of the shares of a company carrying on an industrial, commercial, craft, agricultural or professional activity, with a 75 % exemption of their value for the calculation of gratuitous transfer duties. The fiscal saving is considerable, which makes it one of the pillars of family business transmissions.

Three commitments structure the regime. A « collective commitment » to retain the shares, taken on upstream by the directors and partners for a duration of at least two years, bearing on precise thresholds of capital and voting rights. An « individual commitment » taken by each beneficiary upon the transmission, for a duration of four years from the expiry of the collective commitment. Finally, the exercise by one of the signatories of a « fonction de direction » (management function) during the duration of the collective commitment and during the three years that follow the transmission.

Beyond the technical framework, the transmission of a family business is rarely a punctual event : it is a process, which is prepared upstream and continues long after the deed. The coherence over time among the pact, governance, each child’s place in the activity and the manager’s patrimonial organisation is, in practice, what makes the solidity of the whole. We build this articulation with you, in close coordination with the chartered accountant, the wealth manager and, where appropriate, the tax lawyer. If you are a manager and the transmission of your company falls within your horizon, the opening meeting serves to settle together the trajectory over several years.

French General Tax Code, article 787 B.

23. Which law applies to the succession of a French national living abroad ?

Since 17 August 2015, European Regulation 650/2012 designates, for successions opened within the European Union (except Denmark and Ireland), the law of the deceased’s last habitual residence as the law applicable to the entire succession, both movable and immovable.

The deceased may nevertheless choose, by express disposition during his or her lifetime, that his or her national law shall apply to the entire succession. For a French national settled abroad who wishes to retain the benefit of French law, in particular the « réserve héréditaire » (forced heirship in favour of the children), this choice, formulated in an authentic or holograph will, is precious. Its drafting requires particular precision, and its effect must be re-examined at each lasting change of residence.

The situation becomes more complex in the presence of third States (United Kingdom, Switzerland, United States, and more generally any country outside the European Union) which do not apply the Regulation and follow their own conflict-of-law rules. The risk, in an international life, is not always the one one imagines : it often relies less on the law designated than on the articulations among the national fiscal regimes, on the movable or immovable nature of assets, and on the place of the spouse in the devolution of the host country. We regularly practise private international law of successions, in liaison where appropriate with a foreign colleague, and we situate your planning within this overall logic, on the occasion of a dedicated meeting on international files.

Regulation (EU) no. 650/2012 of 4 July 2012, articles 21 and 22.

24. International estate : which reflexes to adopt at the planning stage ?

An estate becomes international as soon as one element is located abroad : an immovable in Italy, an account in Luxembourg, a life-insurance policy in Switzerland, shares of a non-resident company, a tax residence in the course of being transferred. Each foreign element calls, in time, for an articulation between French law and local law, both in civil matters (matrimonial regime, succession, gift) and in fiscal matters (residence, bilateral conventions, declaration of foreign assets).

Three reflexes are worth adopting at the planning stage. The first is the complete and precise inventory : no foreign element should be omitted, even if it appears modest or dormant. The second is the mapping of bilateral conventions : France has signed fiscal conventions with most countries, organising the allocation of the right to tax ; the reading of the applicable convention conditions the strategy. The third is the opening of a dialogue with a foreign colleague or a local counsel : the coordination of two notaires (or notaire and notary, or notaire and solicitor) is, in nine cases out of ten, the key to successful planning.

For clients whose estate takes on an international dimension, the office organises specific patrimonial reviews, conducted with particular attention to the coordination of French and foreign counsels. If your situation includes one or more foreign elements, a dedicated meeting will allow the foundations of lasting planning to be laid.

Regulation (EU) no. 650/2012 (successions). Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 (matrimonial property regimes). The Hague Convention of 14 March 1978 (earlier matrimonial property regimes).

25. The notaire’s patrimonial counsel : why turn to it ?

The notaire is, within the legal professions, the only public officer endowed with the prerogative of conferring on instruments authenticity, probative force and executory force. This specificity conditions his or her practice of patrimonial counsel. Where another professional will steer towards a product (insurance, real-estate investment, fiscal arrangement) he or she markets, the notaire proposes the civil and fiscal arbitrage that is most balanced, with no interest in promoting one solution rather than another. It is this independence, combined with mastery of the legal tools (matrimonial regime, gift, split ownership, company, « pacte Dutreil »), that makes the singular value of notarial counsel.

Concretely, the notaire’s patrimonial counsel unfolds in three movements. A planning review, which consists in understanding the present situation, the composition of the estate, the family configuration and the objectives. A proposal phase, which examines several costed scenarios and compares their civil and fiscal effects. An execution phase, which transcribes the chosen arbitrage into the appropriate instruments and organises their sequencing over time.

Our clients who solicit this counsel do so at several moments of their life : before a marriage, on the occasion of a change of regime, upon the creation or transfer of a company, in preparation of a transmission, on the occasion of a move abroad, after a divorce. Whatever your moment, the first meeting comes without commitment and allows us to evaluate together whether the office’s accompaniment suits your situation.

National Regulation of the Notariate, articles 1 et seq. Regulated tariff : French Commercial Code, article L. 444-1.