What protection and succession cover
Protection shields the family from life’s uncertainties (death, disability, separation) through the matrimonial property regime, beneficiary clauses, protection insurance and the way assets are organised.
Wealth is passed on during your lifetime (a gift) or on death (inheritance). The law reserves a share of the estate for certain heirs; only the remainder, the quotité disponible (the disposable portion), can be given as you choose. Inheritance and gift tax depends on the family relationship and the statutory allowances.
On death, assurance-vie follows its own rules, separate from the estate, depending on the insured person’s age when the premiums were paid and on the beneficiary clause, which should be reviewed at every family event.
Giving during your lifetime
The donation-partage (lifetime gift with division of the estate) fixes the value of the assets on the date of the deed; démembrement (splitting ownership between usufruct and bare ownership) passes on the bare ownership while you keep the use or the income. The notaire draws up these deeds and ensures that the réserve héréditaire (the share of the estate reserved by law for certain heirs) is respected.
Past gifts may be taken into account when the tax is calculated, within a statutory period.
How the firm works
The firm first establishes what would happen today in the event of death: who inherits what, what the spouse receives, what the transfer costs. This picture, which is often unfamiliar, shows what needs to change.
Then come the proposals (protecting the spouse, gifts, beneficiary clauses, organisation of assets), presented with their financial and family consequences, implemented with your notaire and reviewed at every family event.
Who it is for
Families who want to organise the future without waiting:
- couples who want to protect the surviving spouse;
- parents who want to help their children during their lifetime, fairly;
- blended families, where the law does not always reflect their wishes;
- business owners, for whom the business and their personal wealth pass on together.
What the firm looks at first
- Your family, your matrimonial property regime, and what the law provides in the absence of a will or a gift.
- What you want to pass on, to whom, when, and what you need to keep.
- The beneficiary clauses of your assurance-vie contracts, and how they fit with the rest.
Limits and risks
Passing on wealth calls for care: a gift is in principle irrevocable.
- Irrevocability: what is given cannot be taken back, except in cases provided for by law; keep enough to live on.
- Réserve héréditaire: heirs entitled to a reserved share cannot be excluded; an excessive gift can be challenged.
- Changing rules: allowances, tax scales and time limits can change.
- Value of assets: it can change between the gift and the death and unbalance the division.
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