Abatement of gifts (réduction des libéralités)

A person cannot, by gifts or by will, deprive their children of the share of their estate that the law reserves for them. Gifts that exceed the disposable portion are “subject to abatement”: on death, the protected heirs may ask for them to be cut back in order to restore their forced heirship share. Since the 2006 reform, abatement is carried out in value: the donee or legatee keeps the property and pays an abatement indemnity, unless they choose to return it in kind.

The calculation proceeds in three stages. First the calculation mass is formed: the assets existing at death, after deduction of debts, to which all gifts made by the deceased are notionally added. Next, the disposable portion and the forced heirship share are determined from that mass. Finally, each gift is charged and those exceeding the disposable portion are abated, in the order fixed by law: legacies first, then gifts, from the most recent to the oldest.

Where the rule comes from

Articles 920 to 928 of the French Civil Code organise abatement. Article 922 specifies that gifted property is notionally added according to its condition at the time of the gift and its value at the opening of the succession; article 924 lays down abatement in value; article 924-2 provides that the abatement indemnity is calculated on the value of the property given or bequeathed at the time of partition or of its sale by the beneficiary, according to its condition on the day the gift took effect. Article 921 sets the time limit for the action: five years from the opening of the succession, or two years from the day the heirs became aware of the encroachment on their share, but never more than ten years after the death.

In a valuation report

I produce the values that the notaire (French civil-law notary) or the judge combines. For the calculation mass, I value each gifted property at the date of death, in its condition on the day of the gift: buildings or improvements made by the donee are set aside, as is any deterioration attributable to the donee. For the abatement indemnity, I provide the value at the date of partition, again according to the condition on the day of the gift. Where the gift concerned a bare ownership, I value the divided interest at those dates. The report describes the original condition from the deed of gift and the documents of the time, cites the comparables at the dates requested and flags what could not be reconstructed.

Example

A father leaves two children and a net estate of €400,000 at death. Ten years earlier, he had given his elder child, outside the inheritance share, a flat then valued at €150,000, which is worth €220,000 at death in its original condition (the elder child has since renovated it, which is set aside). Calculation mass: 400,000 + 220,000 = €620,000. Forced heirship share for two children: two thirds, that is €413,000 rounded; disposable portion: €207,000. The gift of €220,000 is charged against the disposable portion and exceeds it by €13,000: the elder child owes an abatement indemnity of €13,000 (to be recalculated on the value at the date of partition if that comes later).

Not to be confused with

The hotchpot of gifts (rapport des donations) restores equality between heirs for gifts made as an advance on their share; abatement protects the forced heirship share against all excessive gifts. A gift may be exempt from hotchpot yet still subject to abatement.