Lawyer · Inheritance & Co-ownershipA contract outside the estate
In France, assurance-vie is the most popular savings product. When the policyholder dies, the insurer pays the capital directly to the beneficiaries named in the beneficiary clause. These sums are, in principle, not part of the estate (article L. 132-12 of the French Insurance Code): they are not shared between heirs and are not taken into account to calculate the children's reserved share.
This means a parent can, through life insurance, favour one child, a new partner or a charity, sometimes to the detriment of the other children.
How to find out whether a policy exists
Any person who believes he or she may be the beneficiary of a policy can ask the AGIRA body, free of charge, to search all French insurers. The request is made online with a copy of the death certificate. If a policy exists in your favour, the insurer must contact you.
Heirs who are not beneficiaries often have difficulty obtaining information. Where there is a serious suspicion that large sums have been moved into life insurance, information can be obtained through the courts, including by urgent application.
Getting paid as a beneficiary
- Send the insurer the documents it requests (death certificate, proof of identity, sometimes a tax certificate).
- Once it has received all the documents, the insurer must pay within one month. Beyond that, late-payment interest is due by law.
- If the insurer delays, raises doubts about the beneficiary clause or receives conflicting claims, a lawyer can put it on formal notice and, if necessary, bring proceedings.
How the sums are taxed
| Premiums paid by the policyholder | Tax treatment (general rule) |
|---|---|
| Before the age of 70 | Allowance of €152,500 per beneficiary, then a specific levy of 20% on the next €700,000 and 31.25% beyond |
| After the age of 70 | Global allowance of €30,500 shared between beneficiaries, then ordinary inheritance tax on the premiums (the interest earned is exempt) |
The surviving spouse and the PACS partner are fully exempt. Whether these rules apply also depends on where the policyholder and the beneficiary are resident: an international situation must be checked case by case. See also French inheritance tax.
Heirs: when can a policy be challenged?
Manifestly excessive premiums
Heirs may ask the court to bring the premiums back into the estate when they were manifestly excessive in view of the policyholder's means (article L. 132-13 of the Insurance Code). The court looks at the age of the policyholder, his or her assets and income, family situation and whether the contract was useful to him or her at the time of each payment.
A disputed beneficiary clause
A clause changed shortly before the death, by a person who was ill, under influence or under guardianship, or a handwritten change that is unclear, may be challenged. The validity of the change and the mental capacity of the policyholder are then examined.
A disguised gift
When the policy was in reality a way of making a gift without risk (for example a policy taken out by a person at the very end of life), it can be requalified as a gift and brought back into the estate.
This page provides general information on French law and does not replace individual legal advice.