{"id":1016,"date":"2023-03-09T11:38:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T10:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rechtsanwalt-erbrecht.eu\/internationales-erbrecht\/erbrecht-in-der-eu\/erbrecht-im-ausland\/der-deutsch-franzoesische-erbfall\/gibt-es-in-frankreich-ein-pflichtteilsrecht\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T17:47:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:47:57","slug":"is-there-a-right-to-a-compulsory-portion-in-france","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rechtsanwalt-erbrecht.eu\/en\/internationales-erbrecht\/erbrecht-in-der-eu\/erbrecht-im-ausland\/der-deutsch-franzoesische-erbfall\/gibt-es-in-frankreich-ein-pflichtteilsrecht\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a right to a compulsory portion in France?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In France, children and the surviving spouse have what is known as a right of intestate succession. They receive a certain share of the estate as if they were heirs themselves - in other words, they receive more than a monetary claim. Conversely, this also means that the testator can only dispose of part of the estate in a self-determined manner, the so-called\u00a0Free part<\/strong>\u00a0(Quotit\u00e9 disponible<\/em>). The rest of his assets, the so-called\u00a0Reserved part<\/strong>\u00a0(r\u00e9serve<\/em>), remains reserved to the heirs<\/p>\n

What reserved portion are the children entitled to?<\/h3>\n

According to Art. 913 of the Civil Code, the reserved portion is one half for one child, two thirds for two children and three quarters for three or more children. The testator can only dispose of the portion that is not due to the children.<\/p>\n

What reserved portion are the children entitled to?<\/h3>\n

In principle, the surviving spouse is only entitled to a right of emergency inheritance if the deceased leaves no descendants, Art. 914-1 Code civil. In this case, he or she receives a quarter of the estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the spouses contractually agree on community of property (communaut\u00e9 universelle<\/em>) in accordance with Art. 1497 et seq. Code civil. They can then include a full acquisition clause with regard to the common property (clause d'attribution int\u00e9grale<\/em>) in favour of the surviving spouse in the contract. If the spouses only have children in common, they will then only inherit after the last to die, Art. 1525 of the Civil Code.<\/p>\n

Example: Spouses M and F live under the statutory matrimonial property regime. They have a child together. M dies in France and has excluded the joint child from the succession by will and left everything to F. The child now wants to know what claims it has.<\/em><\/p>\n

The child is entitled to inherit. He or she receives not just money, but a right in rem to the estate. As there are no other children, the child's share of the inheritance is half of the estate. The testator can therefore only give one half to the wife, the other half is reserved for the child. The child must enforce his or her right in court.<\/p>\n

How do I enforce the reservation part?<\/h3>\n

1. action for reduction<\/p>\n

If the reserved portion is reduced by gifts or a disposition of property upon death, the heirs can take action against this by way of an action for reduction (action en r\u00e9duction) pursuant to Art. 921 et seq. Code civil against this.<\/p>\n

The action must be brought within five years of the occurrence of the inheritance (Art. 921 II Code civil). If the heir only becomes aware of the infringement of the right of succession at a later date, a time limit of two years applies from the date on which knowledge is obtained.<\/p>\n

2. anticipation of the reduction action<\/p>\n

Even during the testator's lifetime, a potential heir who has reached the age of majority may waive the right to bring an action for reduction in accordance with Art. 929 et seq. Code civil to waive the right to bring an action for reduction. This is an exceptionally permissible inheritance contract in accordance with Art. 929 I of the Civil Code.<\/p>\n

In the case of such a waiver, particular attention must be paid to the mandatory formal requirements. The waiver must be notarised in the form of a public deed by two notaries, whereby one notary must be appointed by the chairman of the notarial chamber of the department (Art. 930 Code civil).<\/p>\n

The deed must precisely indicate the specific legal consequences of the waiver and must not be misunderstood.<\/p>\n

In practice, the waiver of a reduction claim is often combined with a gift.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Frankreich haben die Kinder und der \u00fcberlebende Ehegatte ein sogenanntes Noterbrecht. Sie werden zu einem bestimmten Teil so am Nachlass beteiligt, als ob sie selber Erben w\u00e4ren – sie erhalten also mehr, als einen Geldanspruch. Das hei\u00dft umgekehrt aber auch, der Erblasser kann nur \u00fcber einen Teil des Nachlasses selbstbestimmt verf\u00fcgen, den sogenannten\u00a0Freiteil\u00a0(quotit\u00e9 disponible). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1016","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t