Forced heirship share (réserve héréditaire)

The réserve héréditaire (forced heirship share) is the minimum part of the estate that French law allocates to the children of the deceased or, if there are none, to the surviving spouse. It limits freedom of disposition: one may favour a child, a spouse or a third party, but only within the disposable portion. The French Civil Code defines it as the part of the assets and rights of the estate which the law ensures passes free of charges to certain heirs, if they are called to the succession and accept it.

The fractions are fixed: half of the estate for one child, two thirds for two children, three quarters for three or more, the reserved share being divided between them equally. Where there are no descendants, the surviving spouse who is not divorced has a reserved share of one quarter. Parents, brothers and sisters are not protected heirs.

Where the rule comes from

Articles 912 to 914-1 of the French Civil Code define the forced heirship share and its fractions. Article 921 reserves the action for abatement to protected heirs and sets its time limit. Article 922 describes the mass on which the share is calculated: assets existing at death, after deduction of debts, to which are notionally added the gifts made by the deceased, according to their condition at the time of the gift and their value at the opening of the succession. Since 2006, a presumptive protected heir may waive in advance, by a notarial deed received by two notaires (French civil-law notaries), the right to bring an action for abatement against a specified gift (articles 929 and 930).

In a valuation report

The reserved share is calculated as a fraction, but its amount in euros depends on the mass, and therefore on valuations. I am involved at two points. At death, to value the buildings existing and the buildings given away by the deceased during their lifetime, the latter in their condition on the day of the gift. At partition, if an abatement is owed, to update the value of the gifted property at that date. The report states clearly, for each property, the valuation date and the condition adopted, and details what is set aside: a house built by the donee on land given bare, a renovation, an extension. At the notaire’s request, it also gives the value of the divided interests where the gift concerned a bare ownership.

Example

A man leaves two children from a first marriage and a wife. Estate at death: a house worth €350,000 and €50,000 in cash, with no debts. By will, he leaves his wife the special disposable portion between spouses in the form of one quarter in full ownership and three quarters in usufruct. Forced heirship share of the two children: two thirds of €400,000, that is €267,000 rounded, or €133,000 each. The wife receives €100,000 in full ownership and the usufruct of the remaining €300,000; the children receive the bare ownership of that €300,000. This option, opened by article 1094-1, is permitted even though the children receive their reserved share only in bare ownership; quantifying their rights requires valuing the wife’s usufruct, according to her age and the income of the property.

Not to be confused with

The disposable portion is the complementary fraction. The hotchpot of gifts concerns equality between heirs, not the protection of the reserved share. The civil-law reserved share is not to be confused with the tax-free allowances for inheritance tax.