According to INSEE, France had 800,000 blended families in 2019, in other words made up of a couple living with at least one child born from a previous union.
If this family pattern is increasingly common in society, what happens when one of the spouses dies?
How to organize yourself in inheritance matters?
The rights of the surviving spouse
The more members of a family there are, the more complicated the succession is likely to be.
In the case of a blended family, the most difficult thing is not to harm any of the parties.
The law then protects the surviving spouse.
But only married couples are affected.
Under article 757 of the Civil Code, if your husband were to die, you would be able to obtain ownership of a quarter of his assets if your children are not all from the same bed.
In addition, the surviving spouse also benefits from a right of occupation and use of the principal residence, if the deceased owned it, pursuant to article 764 of the Civil Code.
However, if you consider, for example, that your loved one already has a comfortable situation and that you wish to bequeath more to your children, it is possible to mention your wishes in an authentic will, in the presence of two notaries or of a notary and of two witnesses.
It will then be necessary to specify that you deprive your spouse of his rights of residence and use of the accommodation.
In the absence of marriage, the protections devolved to your other half are much meager.
In principle, the surviving PACS partner only has the right to live in the accommodation for one year after the death when only his partner owned it.
As for the partner, he has no rights.
To be able to bequeath property to your companion, go to a notary to stipulate it in your will.
Children, legitimate heirs
When a person dies, their children are immediately designated priority heirs.
In other words, they cannot be disinherited and necessarily have access to a share of the heritage of their deceased parent.
This is called the hereditary reserve.
It applies to each child, in terms of a share.
If you have one child, he will receive half of your assets, if you have two, they will inherit two-thirds of your estate, and if you have three or more, their share will be three-quarters.
Do you have several children from different unions?
Whether you are divorced and have rebuilt your life, cohabiting, civil partnership or married, they will all have the same rights after your death.
Your spouse's children will not be your heirs, since they will benefit from the estate of their biological parents.
If you consider them your own flesh, then it is possible to adopt your stepchildren so that they receive the same treatment as your own.
Simple adoption does not change the original filiation.
In other words, the adopted child “gains” a new parent.
He will thus be able to access the inheritance rights and property of his adoptive parents, in the same way as those of his biological parents.
The other solution is otherwise to go through the will, knowing however that you will only be able to bequeath to them the part of the heritage not devolved to your own children (we speak of available portion).
Again, check with
living donations
To succeed in succession, many people choose to make donations during their lifetime.
Married couples can notably choose in advance to leave the future surviving spouse the usufruct over all or part of their assets.
But beware of this practice which, although starting from a good intention, can create later difficulties.
If at the death of the legatee, his dear and beloved does not get along with his stepchildren and the property is, for example, life insurance or bank accounts, the usufructuary could indeed benefit greatly from these funds at the risk that the children will never touch their inheritance…
A will can then make it possible to be more precise and more protective for all the members of this blended family.
Economy
And if you get your hands on a treasure, can you keep it?
Economy
Life insurance: Why it is important to correctly fill in the beneficiary clause
In numbers
As we have said, according to INSEE, there are some 800,000 blended families in France.
This represents :
nearly 1 in 10 families with minor children
1.5 million children under 18 living in these siblings
43% of blended family couples are married
13% are PACS members and 44% live in a free union.
Family
Heritage
Money
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print