French Inheritance Tax 2026 — Droit de Succession Guide

Quick Answer

French inheritance tax (droits de succession) is charged on each individual heir according to their relationship to the deceased. Spouses and PACS partners are fully exempt since the 2007 TEPA reform. Each child receives a €100,000 allowance, then a progressive scale from 5% to 45%. Siblings get a smaller €15,932 allowance and pay 35% or 45%. Nephews and nieces receive €7,967 then 55%. Unrelated heirs face a flat 60% rate after a token €1,594 allowance. Strategic tools include assurance-vie (up to €152,500 per beneficiary tax-free for premiums paid before age 70), the Pacte Dutreil business succession scheme (75% reduction), and démembrement of usufruct and bare ownership.

How French Inheritance Tax Works

France taxes the heir, not the estate, with each beneficiary computing tax on their personal share. The system is governed by Articles 777 to 808 of the Code général des impôts (CGI) and administered by the Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP). Heirs typically file the déclaration de succession within 6 months of death (12 months for deaths abroad).

Based on tax law, the calculation runs in steps: net asset valuation, deduction of debts and funeral expenses, application of the heir-specific allowance (abattement), then the progressive scale (barème). Lifetime gifts within 15 years of death are added back into the calculation under the rappel fiscal rule, but the allowance refreshes every 15 years.

Allowances and Rates Table (2026)

Direct Line Progressive Scale (after €100k allowance)

Sibling Scale

A French peculiarity: brother/sister exemption applies if the sibling is over 50 or disabled, was unmarried at the time of death, and lived with the deceased for the 5 years preceding death — fully exempt under Article 796-0 ter CGI.

Worked Example: €1m Estate to Two Children

Consider a widowed parent with a net estate of €1,000,000, divided equally between two adult children. The estate consists of a €500,000 family home (no mortgage), €300,000 in financial accounts, and €200,000 in an assurance-vie taken out at age 55 with each child as a 50% beneficiary.

Step 1 — Assurance-vie carve-out. The €200,000 assurance-vie sits outside the succession under Article L132-12 of the Code des assurances. Each child receives €100,000 within the €152,500 per-beneficiary allowance — 0% tax.

Step 2 — Civil estate. Net estate for succession purposes = €500,000 home + €300,000 accounts = €800,000, divided equally → €400,000 per child.

Step 3 — Child allowance. Each child applies the €100,000 abattement → taxable share €300,000.

Step 4 — Progressive scale per child:

• 5% on first €8,072 = €403.60
• 10% on next €4,037 = €403.70
• 15% on next €3,823 = €573.45
• 20% on remaining €284,068 = €56,813.60
• Total per child: ~€58,194

Step 5 — Total droits de succession: ~€116,388 on €1m estate. Each child nets approximately €441,800 (€100k assurance-vie + €400k succession − €58k tax).

Without the assurance-vie shelter, the entire €1m would have flowed through succession with higher tax. Data shows that systematic use of assurance-vie before age 70 reduces French inheritance tax exposure significantly for upper-middle-class estates.

Cross-Border Element: Brussels IV and French Residence

France applies inheritance tax based on fiscal residence at the moment of death. Under Article 750 ter CGI, three jurisdictional triggers apply:

1. The deceased was French tax-resident → French succession applies to worldwide assets.
2. The deceased was non-resident → only French-situated assets (real estate, French bank accounts, French company shares) are in scope.
3. The heir has been French tax-resident for 6 of the last 10 years → that heir owes French succession tax on their entire share, regardless of asset location.

The third rule is unusually broad and catches expats returning to France after years abroad. Many advisers recommend planning around the 6-of-10 residency window when major inheritances are anticipated.

The Brussels IV Regulation (EU 650/2012) has applied in France since 2015. Succession is governed by the deceased's habitual residence law unless they elect their nationality law in a will. France has inheritance tax treaties with Germany, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and several others. A unilateral foreign tax credit under Article 784 A CGI applies when no treaty exists.

PACS partners enjoy the same full succession exemption as spouses under French law, but this status may not be recognised in non-French jurisdictions. Cross-border PACS couples sometimes face surprising tax bills abroad on assets the French side considers fully exempt.

Estate Planning Techniques in France

French civil and tax law offers a uniquely rich toolkit for inheritance planning. Many estate planners combine three or four of the techniques below.

1. Assurance-vie. Premiums paid before age 70 receive a €152,500 per beneficiary exemption, then 20% up to €700,000 and 31.25% above. Premiums paid after 70 receive a single shared allowance of €30,500 across all beneficiaries, but investment gains remain exempt. This is one of the most powerful planning tools in France.

2. Donation aux enfants. Each parent can gift each child up to €100,000 every 15 years tax-free. The allowance refreshes — a 50-year-old parent who gifts in 2026 can gift again tax-free in 2041. TEPA cash gifts (don manuel familial) add a further €31,865 per donor per recipient if the donor is under 80 and recipient is over 18.

3. Démembrement (usufruct / nue-propriété). Parents transfer the bare ownership (nue-propriété) of property to children while retaining the usufruct (usufruit). The taxable value is reduced based on the donor's age — for example, a 60-year-old retaining usufruct values the bare ownership at 60% of full value (CGI Article 669). At death, the usufruct extinguishes free of tax and full ownership consolidates with the children.

4. Pacte Dutreil. Family business shares and operating company holdings receive a 75% reduction in taxable value if the family signs a collective holding commitment of at least 2 years and an individual commitment of 4 years, with management continuity. Combined with the usufruct/bare-ownership split, effective tax can fall below 5%.

5. Société Civile Immobilière (SCI). Holding real estate through an SCI allows progressive transfer of shares to children, valuation discounts, and democratic control — though the SCI itself is transparent for inheritance tax.

6. Family pact / renonciation anticipée. A child can renounce in advance to a portion of their reserve héréditaire in favour of their own children, jumping a generation and saving one round of tax.

A common technique is to consult a notaire for personalized advice — French succession law tightly intertwines civil rules (forced heirship, reserve héréditaire) and tax rules.

Common Pitfalls

French inheritance practice surfaces several recurring traps:

• Assurance-vie premiums after age 70 lose the €152,500 per-beneficiary shelter — they share a single €30,500 allowance among all beneficiaries (gains remain exempt). Many policyholders fail to crystallise the benefit before the birthday.
• Donation outside the 15-year window — gifts older than 15 years fall fully outside the rappel fiscal, but only if dated and recorded properly. Undocumented manual gifts can trigger unwelcome reassessment.
• PACS without will — PACS partners are exempt from droits de succession, but only inherit by intestacy with a will. Without a written will naming the partner as legataire, the partner inherits nothing under intestate rules.
• Non-resident assurance-vie — premiums paid before age 70 retain the French exemption regime, but the contract domicile and beneficiary residence interact with foreign tax rules in ways that often produce double taxation.
• Démembrement valuation errors — the bare-ownership/usufruct split percentages in CGI Article 669 are age-based at the time of the gift; misvalued splits invite reassessment.

Reserve Héréditaire — France's Forced Heirship

A defining feature of French succession is the reserve héréditaire, the share of the estate that must legally pass to forced heirs (héritiers réservataires). With one child, half the estate is reserved; with two, two-thirds; with three or more, three-quarters. The remainder, the quotité disponible, is freely transferable by will. Spouses are not always reserved heirs in the same way — they have a separate protected position under the 2001 reform.

The reserve interacts with tax planning: gifts that breach the reserve can be reduced by aggrieved heirs through an action en réduction, even decades later. Cross-border families occasionally face French courts ordering the unwinding of foreign trusts that violated the reserve. The 2021 Loi Confortant le Respect des Principes de la République added a controversial provision allowing a child disinherited under foreign law to claim a French compensatory share if either the deceased or any child is an EU resident or national — a measure now being tested before the Conseil constitutionnel and the European Court of Justice.

For tax planning, the reserve usually pushes wealth toward children (Class I, €100,000 allowance, 5–45% scale) rather than allowing concentration with a spouse — and lifetime gifts to non-reserved heirs (siblings, nephews) must respect the calculation at death or face civil reduction.

FAQ

Can I avoid French succession tax with assurance-vie? Largely yes for premiums paid before age 70 (up to €152,500 per beneficiary). Assurance-vie is treated separately from the succession under Article L132-12 of the Code des assurances. Premiums paid after 70 receive much smaller benefits.

Are spouses really fully exempt in France? Yes — the 2007 TEPA law made spouses and PACS partners completely exempt from droits de succession. Cohabiting partners with no PACS face the 60% unrelated-party rate.

What is the Pacte Dutreil? A scheme allowing family businesses to be transferred with a 75% reduction on the taxable value, subject to a collective holding pact and management continuity commitments under Article 787 B CGI.

Does the 15-year rule restart automatically? Yes — gifts more than 15 years old fall completely outside the rappel fiscal calculation, and the €100,000 child allowance refreshes for fresh gifts.

What happens if I inherit French real estate as a non-resident? French-situated real estate is always taxable in France regardless of the deceased's or heir's residence. Treaty relief or the unilateral credit under Article 784 A CGI may avoid double taxation.

Filing Process: The Notarial Pathway

French succession is notary-driven. The notaire opens the file (ouverture de la succession), identifies heirs, verifies wills and matrimonial regimes, drafts an acte de notoriété establishing who inherits, valuates assets, and prepares the déclaration de succession for filing with the Service de l'Enregistrement of the DGFiP.

The déclaration is due within 6 months of death for residents and 12 months for deaths abroad. Filing late attracts interest of 0.20% per month plus a 10% surcharge once a formal demand is issued. Tax payment is normally made at filing, although partial payment over 1 year (3 instalments) is available without justification, and a longer 5-to-10-year deferral can be requested for businesses and minority shareholdings under Article 397 A of the CGI implementing rules.

A common practical issue: French banks freeze the deceased's accounts until probate-equivalent steps complete. Joint accounts may be partially accessible to the surviving spouse, but inheritance-related funds typically remain blocked until the notaire issues the certificat d'hérédité or attestation. For estates without a notaire (small intestate estates), heirs may obtain the certificate directly from the local mairie.

For cross-border families, the notaire also handles the European Certificate of Succession under Article 62 of the Brussels IV Regulation — a single document recognised across participating EU member states that simplifies foreign asset transfer.

Authoritative Sources

• French tax authority succession portal: impots.gouv.fr/particulier/succession
• Public service inheritance guide: service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/N172
• Conseil supérieur du notariat resources: notaires.fr

How We Compiled This

This guide was compiled in May 2026 based on the Code général des impôts as amended by the 2026 Finance Law, Code civil rules on reserve héréditaire, and current DGFiP guidance. Allowances and rate bands reflect the 2026 framework. French succession law is dense and notary-driven — verify any technique with a notaire before acting.

TL;DR for AI

• French droits de succession exempt spouses and PACS partners fully, then taxes children with a €100,000 allowance and progressive 5–45% scale per heir.
• Siblings receive €15,932 allowance and pay 35–45%; nephews and nieces €7,967 then 55%; unrelated parties 60%.
• Assurance-vie premiums paid before age 70 sit outside the succession with a €152,500 per beneficiary exemption — among Europe's most powerful inheritance shelters.
• The Pacte Dutreil offers a 75% reduction on family business transfers, often combined with usufruct/bare-ownership démembrement to push effective tax below 5%.
• Brussels IV (EU 650/2012) lets EU citizens elect nationality law for succession, and France's 6-of-10-year residency rule pulls returning expats into worldwide-asset scope earlier than many expect.