Inheriting a French house occupied by my brother: how is it valued?

Your mother has died. Your brother lives in her house in France, sometimes for years, sometimes since he moved in to help her. The notaire (French civil-law notary) asks you for a value for the inheritance tax return, your brother talks of a house “that is not worth much, being occupied”, and you do not know whether he owes you anything for living there. This guide explains what is at stake, what French law says, and what a valuation report brings at each stage.

What happens in practice

On death, the house passes into indivision (joint ownership) between the heirs. Each holds a share; nobody owns it alone. The notaire in charge of the estate draws up the deed identifying the heirs, lists the assets and files the inheritance tax return within six months of the death (article 641 of the French General Tax Code). That return states the value of the house at the date of death, and the tax is calculated on that value.

Meanwhile, the occupant stays in the house. If all the heirs agree, the situation can be organised by a joint ownership agreement: duration, outgoings, indemnity or not. If nothing is written down, the occupation simply continues, and the question of the occupation indemnity will come up at partition, sometimes years later.

Partition follows. Three outcomes are possible: the occupant buys out the others’ shares and pays a soulte (equalising payment); the house is sold and the price divided; or, failing agreement, one of the heirs applies to the tribunal judiciaire, which orders partition and, if need be, a sale at auction known as licitation. In every case, two figures drive the result: the value of the house and the amount of the occupation indemnity.

What French law says

Nobody can be forced to remain in joint ownership. Partition can always be demanded (article 815 of the Civil Code). An heir cannot block the others’ exit by occupying the house.

The occupant owes an indemnity. A co-owner who uses or enjoys a jointly owned property for himself alone owes an indemnity to the joint estate (article 815-9, paragraph 2). The Cour de cassation (the French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) has made clear that it is assessed by reference to the rental value of the property over the whole period of sole use, not on a value frozen at an old date (Cass. 1re civ., 1 October 2025, appeal no. 23-16.501, discussed on this site). This indemnity goes into the estate to be divided: the occupant therefore bears the share that goes to the others, not his own. No claim is admissible for income received, or which could have been received, more than five years earlier (article 815-10, paragraph 3).

The occupant may also be a creditor. If he has paid the property tax, the insurance or works needed to preserve the property, the joint estate reimburses him on production of receipts (article 815-13). The two accounts are set off at partition.

The value at the date of death is used for tax. French inheritance tax is based on the real market value of the assets at the date of death (article 761 of the General Tax Code). The 20 % allowance of article 764 bis applies only to the deceased’s main home when it is also the main home of the surviving spouse, the civil partner or a minor or protected adult child. An adult brother or sister living in the house does not qualify for it. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter) notes that the tax authorities accept a discount for let property, depending on the type of lease, but not for property left at the disposal of family members (6th edition, November 2025, Title II, § 8.14).

The value at the date of partition is used for partition. Assets are valued at the date of jouissance divise, the date from which each co-owner enjoys their share separately, as close as possible to the partition (article 829). If the market has moved between the death and the partition, the value used for the soulte is no longer the one in the inheritance tax return.

Preferential allocation. The heir who had his home in the house at the time of death may apply for its preferential allocation (article 831-2). He then pays a soulte to the others, calculated on the value at the date of partition and payable in cash unless otherwise agreed (article 832-4).

What a valuation report changes

The report supplies the three figures that the notaire, and then the court if the matter goes that far, need.

The market value at the date of death, in the condition of the property at that date, for the inheritance tax return. It is established with vacant possession where the occupant has no lease, which is almost always the case within a family. The report says so and explains why, which avoids a discount that the tax office would later correct.

The market value at the date of partition, if partition takes place well after the death, using the sales that have occurred in between.

The market rental value over the whole period of occupation, year by year if the market has moved, with a reasoned deduction for the precarious nature of the occupation. That deduction is a practice accepted by the courts, most often between 10 and 20 %, never an entitlement: the report justifies the rate it applies.

The format matters. A report ordered by a single heir is admissible, but the court cannot base its decision solely on an expert report that was not adversarial (Cass. ch. mixte, 28 September 2012, appeal no. 11-18.710). A joint private valuation, to which all the heirs are invited, carries far more weight and is enough in most cases to reach a settlement before the notaire.

What the report does not do: it does not say who should keep the house, it does not itself fix the indemnity, and it replaces neither the notaire nor the court. It gives them figures they can check.

A worked example

A house in Plonéour-Lanvern, in Finistère. The mother dies on 1 March 2024, leaving three children. The eldest son has lived there since 2019 and stays on alone after the death. He proposes to declare the house at €190,000 “given the occupation” and to buy out his sisters’ shares on that basis.

The valuation establishes a market value with vacant possession of €240,000 at the date of death, from six sales of comparable houses in the town and neighbouring towns. No discount for occupation: no lease, only family tolerance. The inheritance tax return is filed at €240,000.

Partition takes place in March 2026. The updated value comes out at €250,000. The rental value is estimated at €800 a month, reduced to €680 after a 15 % deduction for precariousness. Over twenty-four months, the indemnity owed to the joint estate amounts to €16,320, of which two thirds, €10,880, go to the two sisters. The brother has paid €2,400 of property tax over the period, reimbursable by the joint estate.

If the brother keeps the house, he owes his sisters a soulte of two thirds of €250,000, that is €166,667, increased by their share of the indemnity and reduced by their share of the property tax. On the basis first proposed, €190,000 with no indemnity, the two sisters would together have received €126,667 instead of about €175,000. The gap is over €48,000.

Common mistakes

• Declaring a low value “because the house is occupied”. The tax office has three years to correct it, with late-payment interest. Occupation by an heir without a lease does not justify a discount.
• Letting the years pass without writing anything down. The occupation indemnity is time-barred after five years. A joint ownership agreement or a simple letter reserving your rights avoids the loss.
• Valuing the house at the date of death for a partition three years later. The soulte is calculated on the value at the date of partition.
• Forgetting the occupant’s own account. Property tax, insurance, a replaced boiler: these expenses are owed to him on production of receipts and are deducted from what he owes.
• Setting two estate agents’ estimates against each other. Two opinions without a method do not make a value. The notaire cannot arbitrate between them.

What to gather

• The death certificate and, if it exists, the deed identifying the heirs (acte de notoriété).
• The title deed of the house and the latest property tax notice.
• Any available surveys and diagnostics, plans and photographs.
• The date on which the occupation began and the circumstances.
• Invoices for works and outgoings paid by the occupant since the death.
• Letters exchanged between the heirs and with the notaire.
• The inheritance tax return, if it has already been filed.

Timeframe and fee

The appropriate service is a market value report with an inspection of the house: about 15 hours, that is from €975 travel not included, with the report usually delivered three weeks after the inspection. Where the report must establish a value at death, a value at partition and a rental value over several years, the quote states the additional hours. Travel is charged at €65 per hour or part hour from PONT-L’ABBÉ, there and back. A 50 % deposit is requested on ordering. VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French General Tax Code.

For a joint private valuation, with all the heirs invited and a meeting on site, the quote is prepared according to the number of parties. The Market value page describes the content of the report and the Fees page gives the full scale.