A spouse with the usufruct (usufruit, the right to use a property and take its income) of the whole estate, children with the bare ownership (nue-propriété), real property jointly owned (indivision) for years: at the partition (partage), some heirs claim a reduced value, arguing that such a property would sell badly. In a reported decision of 22 June 2016, the First Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation (France’s highest court for civil matters) rejects that reasoning: between co-partitioners (copartageants, the heirs sharing out the estate), neither joint ownership nor split ownership (démembrement) affects the market value of the estate’s real property. The valuer therefore values it in full ownership, with no discount.
The facts
A man died on 5 April 1989, leaving his wife, married under community of property and donee of all the property in his estate, and their three children. The widow opted for the usufruct of the entire estate. One of the daughters sued her co-heirs for partition: her mother, her brother and her sister.
On 25 February 2015, the Paris Court of Appeal held that the valuation of the jointly owned real property in full ownership must not be subject to any discount, and that it must be increased by the value of three lots in a building. It also allotted to the bare owners alone the funds from the distribution of a company’s reserves, and dismissed the daughter’s request to end her mother’s usufruct.
The mother, the son and the other daughter appealed: the assets should be valued taking account of burdens likely to depreciate them, and therefore of the loss of market value caused by joint and split ownership, under article 824 of the Civil Code in the version applicable to the case. The daughter also appealed.
The decision
On the discount, the Court dismissed the ground of appeal (Cass. 1re civ., 22 June 2016, appeals no. 15-19.471 and 15-19.516, reported): “the Court of Appeal rightly states that neither their state of joint ownership nor the splitting of their ownership between bare owners and usufructuary affects, in the relations between the co-partitioners, the market value of the real property belonging to the estate” (translated from the French, as are the other quotations).
The same decision approved the Court of Appeal for having “correctly stated that while the usufructuary is entitled to the distributed profits, he has no right to the profits that have been placed in reserve, which constitute the increase of the company’s assets and as such belong to the bare owner”.
The appeal judgment was quashed, under article 455 of the Code of Civil Procedure, only on two points unrelated to the discount, for lack of reasons: the increase for the three lots and the dismissal of the request to end the usufruct. Remitted to the Versailles Court of Appeal.
What this changes for valuation
Everything rests on the words “in the relations between the co-partitioners”. The Court says no more; what follows is the valuer’s reading. The partition ends the joint ownership: no share is sold to a third party, each heir receives their part of a common pool. A joint-ownership discount, which measures how hard an undivided share is to sell on the market, therefore has no purpose. What the decision implies for split ownership: the spouse’s usufruct takes nothing away from the value of the whole property, which is shared between usufruct and bare ownership. The report values the whole property in full ownership, at the date closest to the partition, in its condition at that date, as the article on the home valued as close as possible to the partition recalls.
The property’s real burdens are still taken into account. The decision refuses to treat joint and split ownership as depreciating burdens, without ruling on others. It was given under that former version of article 824; article 829 of the Civil Code, now in force, requires assets to be valued at the date of division of enjoyment (jouissance divise) taking account, where relevant, of the burdens on them. A current lease is one: on 10 December 2025 the Court held that a farm let to the allottee heir’s company is valued as let if the lease still exists at that date, as the article on the farm let to the heir’s company explains.
The difference with tax discounts. For tax, the question is the price a third party would pay for what the taxpayer holds, judged on the actual possibilities of sale. On 27 March 2019 the Commercial Chamber thus upheld the refusal of a joint-ownership discount for a town house (hôtel particulier) jointly owned by spouses who live in it, as set out in the article on the property jointly owned by spouses and wealth tax. A partition contemplates no sale of a share. The 2016 decision concerns real property; it does not rule on company shares included in the estate.
Split ownership is computed afterwards, where needed. Where the joint ownership exists only in bare ownership, preferential allocation (attribution préférentielle) can bear only on it, the Court held on 30 April 2025; the equalising payment (soulte) is then computed on the value of that right, as the article on the farm held in bare ownership explains. For the valuer, the two decisions combine as follows: the value of the property is first set in full ownership, with its real burdens; the bare ownership value then follows by deducting the usufruct’s value, estimated from the usufructuary’s life expectancy and the income they keep. That is a split between rights, not a discount on the property.
Distributed reserves remain capital. In the partition accounts, they enter the assets of the joint estate for the bare owners. The Third Civil Chamber followed the same line on 19 September 2024 for the sale price of all the real estate of an SCI (société civile immobilière, a French property-holding company) distributed as a dividend, which goes to the bare owner, the usufructuary holding only a quasi-usufruct over the sum, subject to returning it, as the article on the SCI selling all its property describes.
What the report delivers. The market value of each property in full ownership, as a range and a point figure, with a statement that no discount is applied for joint or split ownership; where relevant, the bare ownership and usufruct values. Valuing the lots of a gift partition (donation-partage) for the reserved share follows another rule, set out in the article on the gift partition and the reserved share.
What the valuer takes from it
- Between the heirs dividing the estate, its real property is valued in full ownership, with no discount for joint or split ownership.
- Real burdens on the property, such as a current lease, still count, under article 829 of the Civil Code now in force.
- The joint-ownership discount debated in tax matters answers the price a third party would pay; it does not carry over to the partition accounts.
- Reserves distributed by a company whose shares are burdened by a usufruct belong to the bare owner; for the sale price of all the real estate of an SCI, the 2024 decision leaves the usufructuary a quasi-usufruct over the sum.
Further reading
The Market value page describes the assignment, its timescale and its fee. The guide Inherited house in France: how to leave a family joint ownership? and the glossary entries indivision, démembrement and nue-propriété complement this article. On the gift partition, decided the same year: Gift partition and reserved share: real value, not deed figures. On the same theme: Farm held in bare ownership: allocation in bare ownership only and Divorce in France: home valued at partition, even if run down. The decision is available on Légifrance.
What next
Jointly owned property to share between the usufructuary spouse and the children?
I establish the market value of each property in full ownership at the date closest to the partition, taking account of its real burdens, then, where needed, the value of the bare ownership and of the usufruct, for the notaire, the heirs or the court.
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