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According to INSEE figures, in mainland France, in 2011, 1,5 million children under 18 lived in a stepfamily (or 11% of minor children). In 2011 there were some 720 blended families, families where the children are not all those of the current couple. If it is difficult to estimate the number of blended families in France, which is constantly increasing, it is certain that these families are now an integral part of the family landscape.
Consequently, the question of patrimony arises, especially since it can be more complex than in a so-called “traditional” family, that is to say made up of both parents and without half-brothers and sisters.
A blended family can thus include children from a first bed, children from a second union (who are therefore half-brothers and half-sisters of the first), and children raised together without blood, these being the children of the new spouse of one of the parents, from a previous union.
Succession: how is it organized between children of different unions?
Since the law of December 3, 2001, there is no longer any difference in treatment between children born out of wedlock and born out of wedlock, from a previous union or from adultery. Thus, children or their descendants succeed their father and mother or other ascendants, without distinction of sex or primogeniture, even if they come from different unions.
When opening the estate of a common parent, all the children of the latter must be treated in the same way. They will therefore all benefit from the same inheritance rights.
Blended family: how does the division of property take place upon the death of one of the parents?
Let us take the simplest and most common hypothesis of a married couple without a marriage contract, and therefore under the regime of the community reduced to acquests. The patrimony of the deceased spouse is then made up of all of his or her own property and half of the common property. In fact, the surviving spouse’s own property and his or her own half of the common property remain the full property of the latter.
The surviving spouse is one of the heirs in the estate of his spouse, but in the absence of a will, his share depends on the other heirs present. In the presence of children from a first bed, the surviving spouse inherits a quarter of the deceased’s property in full ownership.
Note that while it is possible to deprive the surviving spouse of any inheritance rights via a will, it is not possible in France to disinherit a child. Children indeed have the quality ofreserved heirs : they are intended to receive at least a minimum share of the estate, called “Reserve“.
The amount of the reserve is:
- – half of the deceased’s property in the presence of a child;
- -two-thirds in the presence of two children;
- -and three quarters in the presence of three or more children (article 913 of the Civil Code).
Note also that the succession also depends on the type of marriage contract entered into, and that in the absence of marriage or special provisions to protect his surviving partner, the entire estate of a deceased person goes to his children.
Blended family and inheritance: adopting a spouse’s child to give him rights
In blended families, it often happens that the children of one spouse are brought up like their own or almost by the other spouse. However, unless arrangements have been made, only children recognized by the deceased spouse will inherit it. The children of the surviving spouse are therefore excluded from the succession.
Therefore, it may be a good idea to ensure that the children of one’s spouse are treated like one’s own children during the succession. The main solution is to adopt them, by submitting a request to the tribunal de grande instance. With a simple adoption, which does not remove the original filiation, the children thus adopted by their stepfather or stepmother will inherit from the latter and their biological family, under the same tax conditions. The child of the surviving spouse thus adopted will benefit from the same inheritance rights as his half-brothers and half-sisters, resulting from the relationship between his step-parent and his parent.
There is also a form of donation, donation-sharing, which makes it possible to give part of the couple’s common heritage to the children whoever they are, whether they are common or not. It is a solution to balance the inheritance.
In all cases, parents living in a blended family are strongly recommended to consider the issue of their inheritance, why not by consulting a notary, to favor or not their own children, their spouse, or the children of their spouse. . Or put everyone on an equal footing.