As in German law, French law also applies the principle of universal succession. According to this principle, all rights and obligations are automatically transferred to the heirs upon the death of the testator.
While German law provides for considerable options for the deceased's estate planning by means of the will, French law does not allow the statutory succession to be overridden entirely. It is therefore not possible for the testator not to appoint heirs not provided for by law.
In the absence of an effective testamentary disposition upon death, the statutory succession pursuant to Art. 731 et seq. Code civil.
What does the surviving spouse inherit?
In principle, the inheritance share of the surviving spouse is determined by which relatives the deceased leaves behind.
In addition to joint children, the spouse receives either ownership of a quarter of the estate or a usufructuary right to the entire estate. If, on the other hand, there is a non-common descendant, the spouse has no right of choice and always receives a quarter of the estate, Art. 757 CC.
If there are no descendants but only parents, the spouse is entitled to half of the estate and the parents to a quarter each. If there is only one parent, the surviving spouse also receives the inheritance share of the other parent, i.e. a total of three quarters, Art. 757-1 CC.
If there are no descendants or parents, the spouse receives the entire estate as sole heir, Art. 757-2 CC.
Each heir may request the spouse in writing to exercise his or her option in accordance with Art. 757 of the Civil Code. If the surviving spouse does not decide in writing in favour of an option within three months, this is deemed to be a decision in favour of the usufructuary right.
Example: Spouses M and F have two children together. M dies in France, but without a will.
As the spouses only have joint descendants, F has the right to choose. She could either acquire ownership of a quarter of the estate or a usufructuary right to the entire estate. If the F delays the decision, the children can ask her to make a declaration.
Modification: In addition to the two joint children, M has another child from a previous marriage.
In this case, there is no right of choice. The F receives ownership of one quarter of the estate.
What is the order of succession if there is no surviving spouse?
If the deceased leaves no spouse, the other relatives inherit according to the general rules, Art. 734 of the Civil Code. The surviving relatives are categorised according to the degree of kinship in the resulting order of inheritance. A distinction is made between the following orders:
1st order: children and their descendants
2nd order: parents, siblings and their descendants
3rd order: Other ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents etc.)
4th order: Other collateral relatives up to 6th degree
Art. 734 of the Civil Code stipulates that living members of a higher order generally exclude members of lower orders from succession (principle of representation). However, there is an exception if the third order of succession applies. From this point onwards, the maternal and paternal lines are divided. (so-called fente successorale).
1st order: Children and theirDescendants
If the deceased leaves no spouse, the children (or their descendants) inherit the entire estate. The other living relatives are completely excluded from the succession by the first order. Within this order, the children inherit in equal shares. No distinction is made here either as to whether they are legitimate or illegitimate children (Art. 735 CC in conjunction with Art. 744 II CC)
Example: Testator E dies and leaves behind two children. Both children inherit 1/2 each.
Adopted children are treated in the same way as biological children in terms of succession. Under inheritance tax law, the type of adoption chosen can have an influence on the legal assessment. French law differentiates between full adoption (adoptions plénière) and simple adoption (adoption simple). For tax purposes, a fully adopted child is treated as a natural child, whereas a child simply adopted is treated as a third party, unless the spouse's child was adopted by the other spouse or the child was raised by the deceased.
2nd order: parents, siblings and their descendants
If there are no heirs of the first order, the entire estate passes to the heirs of the second order.
If the deceased leaves neither descendants nor siblings, the entire estate is divided equally between the parents. In particular, they each inherit one half of the entire estate (Art. 736 Code civil).
If the deceased has left neither descendants nor parents, but only siblings, they inherit alone and also in equal shares (Art. 737 Code Civil).
If the deceased leaves both parents as well as siblings or their descendants, each parent inherits one quarter of the estate and the siblings (or their descendants) the remaining half (Art. 738 I Code civil). If there is only one parent left, this parent receives one quarter of the estate and the siblings the remaining three quarters (Art. 738 II Code civil).
3rd order: Other ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents etc.)
If there are no heirs of the first or second order, the deceased's relatives in the ascending line inherit (Art. 739 of the Civil Code), whereby the estate is divided into a maternal and a paternal line (Art. 747 of the Civil Code). If the deceased only leaves ancestors of one line, the estate is inherited by these ancestors alone (Art. 748 III Code civil).
Example: Testator E dies and leaves only his maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather. Both inherit one and a half each.
Variation: Testator E dies and leaves only his grandmother. She inherits the entire estate.
4th order: Other collateral relatives up to the 6th degree
If there are no heirs of the first, second or third order, the closest collateral relatives of the fourth order up to the sixth order inherit.