Contents
Inheritance rights: children’s inheritance
The inheritance tax regulates the transfer of the patrimony of the deceased to his heirs, according to a will established in advance, or not. It is up to the notary to summon the members of the family in order to enforce precise rules so that the succession goes as well as possible.
Inheritance tax: the stages
- First of all, the notary establishes the list of people affected by the succession, as well as their respective rights.
- It then proceeds to complete balance sheet of the deceased’s assets, listing the assets (bank accounts, securities, furniture, buildings), their values and any debts.
- After these two steps, the notary carries out the mortgage and tax formalities related to death: establishment and publication at the mortgage office of a real estate certificate for buildings, drafting of the declaration of inheritance with, where applicable, payment of inheritance tax to the tax collection within six months of death.
- The sharing between heirs is the fourth step. But the heirs can also decide not to share. In this case, they remain in “joint possession”, that is to say, for example, that they can jointly own a property.
Inheritance tax: allowances and taxation
The beneficiaries of an estate must subscribe a declaration of inheritance with taxes. The scale of inheritance and gift taxes depends on the relationship with the donor or the deceased. It applies to the portion received by each beneficiary, after deduction of allowances of succession in force.
Inheritance tax are calculated on the value of the patrimony, after setting off debts, in general, attributed to each heir. The steps are as follows:
When parents donate property (housing, money, etc.), the scale applies to the part given by each parent according to an allowance calculated according to the rank of kinship:
- Parent / child allowance: 100 euros
- Grandparents / grandchildren allowance: 31 865 euros (donation only)
- Great-grandparent / great-grandchild transmission: 5 310 euros (donation only)
- Allowance between spouses or civil partnerships: 80 724 euros (donation only)
- Abatement between siblings: 15 932 euros
- Abatement between uncles-aunts and nephew-nieces: 7 967 euros
Inheritance tax applies to the value of the inheritance transmitted, after deduction of the standard abatement below:
- In direct line (descendants, ascendants): from 5 to 45% on sums ranging from 8 to 000 euros.
- donations between spouses or PACS partners : from 5 to 45% (same slices as above).
- Succession or donation between brothers and sisters (live or represented): 35% on sums less than 24 euros and 430% above 45 euros.
- Succession among others: from 55 to 60%.
- For adopted children, they are subject to the same rights as unrelated persons (60%). However, there are exceptions: for a child from a 1st marriage, a child in care for more than 5 consecutive years.
(Source: Trésor Public, 2013 figures)
Inheritance tax: notary fees
The settlement of an estate has a cost and it is the notary who assesses it after obtaining the information detailed above and all of his work with the family.
The notary fees consist of three parts:
- Taxes due to the State (these are inheritance taxes which vary from 5 to 60%, depending on the degree of kinship and the amount transferred, stamp duties, value added tax in particular).
- Disbursements (the cost of certain compulsory documents, real estate security contribution in the presence of a building).
- The remuneration of the notary according to a tariff fixed by the State.